Parish Registers of Milton Abbas

Parish registers in England were first kept in 1538, recording details of baptisms (not births) marriages and burials (not deaths). However the earliest surviving examples are those entered into the new books as ordered in the reign of Elizabeth I in 1598. The earliest we have for Milton Abbas begin in 1650 and are continuous from then on. The Churchwarden’s Books start in 1638 but there are some years missing in the 17th century.

The parish registers have been transcribed by the Online Parish Clerk project and can be read here. I believe that this site is not being kept up any more, but the information is still there for free. It is a vital resource and especially for checking the neighbouring parishes, where people moved, rented, married into or died.

From 1598 the parish incumbents had to make copies of every entry in the Parish Register and send it to the Diocese. These are known as Bishop’s Transcripts. However for Milton Abbas these records have had a very difficult existence. The parish was once part of the Diocese of Bristol and seem to have been lost in WW2 bombing. The existing records only start in 1731. But need to be checked when doing family history.