Appleby History > Records > Parish Records
St Michael & All Angels' Church Registers, 1572 to 1906
UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2013 - We now have access to (but not permission to publish) more information from registers of Baptisms up to 1911 (our version below goes up to 1862) and Marriages up to 1920 (our version 1837). If you have any queries that fall into this time range, please post a question on our Discussion Board.
UPDATE DECEMBER 2010 - Transcripts now available as a single, large (7 MB) file. Click here to download - for fast connections only (everyone else, see below)
Links to the record files
Index of transcript files
Notes on searching the files
In 1934, A William Read Esq of Leicester undertook a transcription of the Baptism, Marriage and Burial records at Appleby church. These have now been digitised, page by page, and we are very pleased to publish them here in a searchable format, thanks to Chris Bee, who did the scanning and conversion to searchable text and additional research, and the kind permission of the Appleby Group Parochial Church Council.
The records, in two volumes, cover the years 1572 to 1906, and provide an extremely valuable record and resource for anyone researching Appleby's past or their own family history.
The original registers are held at the Leicestershire Record Office, and there is a microfiche copy at Coalville library. A copy of the typed transcript is held by the Parochial Church Council in Appleby. Richard Dunmore used these transcripts for his analysis of the population of Appleby; see In Focus 17: The Growth of Appleby's Population.
There is a gap in the transcriptions, between 1725 – 1731. The Bishop's Transcript for this period has been tracked down and digitised separately.
If you wish to discuss your findings, don't forget you can post on the Appleby discussion board.
The Files for Download
These are large pdf files. You will need a pdf reader (eg Adobe Acrobat reader) to open them, and they may take a while to download if you have a slow connection. The files will open in a new browser window or tab
Bishop's Transcript 1725 – 1731 - 0.75 MB
Indexes and Contents
The page numbers in the pdf files match the page numbers in the transcribed volumes. The transcriptions reference the page numbers in the original hand-written books. The following indexes appear at the front of each volume.
Volume 1 Index
Baptisms |
1572 - 1804 |
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Burials |
1572 - 1804 |
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Marriages |
1573 - 1753 |
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Oath of Protestation |
Page 83 |
Volume 2 Index
Marriages |
1754 - 1783 |
Pages |
1 to 15 |
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Baptisms & Burials |
1805 - 1812 |
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16 to 33 |
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Banns |
1784 - 1823 |
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34 to 48 |
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Marriages |
1784 - 1812 |
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49 to 67 |
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Marriages |
1813 - 1837 |
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68 to 86 |
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Baptisms |
1813 - 1862 |
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87 to 187 |
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Burials |
1813 - 1906 |
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188 to 267 |
There are some points to note:
In Volume 1, before 1752 the first day of each new year was 25th March, so most January-March events are listed under what we today would think of as the preceding "calendar" year. Here is more detail about the changing year.
The records do not cover all the births and deaths in Appleby during these years, only the baptisms, weddings and burials that were recorded at St Michael's church, although this would include the majority of these events in the village.
In the original transcripts, volume 2 pages 87 - 267, a presiding minister was listed. For technical reasons it was not possible to include this information in the digitisation.
As in 1934, every effort to minimise errors has been taken. But unfortunately in an undertaking such as this, errors can occur in the conversion to digital text, which may have escaped our notice.
Searching the Files
After opening in a pdf reader, the files can be searched using the Search function. Depending on the reader you are using, this may be a 'Find' box in the toolbar, an option in the Edit menu, or click the 'binoculars' button. You will have to search each of the files separately.
Names are often spelt in various different ways (eg Jordan, Jorden, Jordayne, Jordane, Jordaine, Jordon). Try different spellings or use a string search (eg 'Jord') making sure you have not selected 'whole words only'.
You will find it quicker to do repeated searches if you save the files on your own computer (eg use File, Save As). If you do this, please remember that the information remains the property of the Parochial Church Council and should not be distributed or used for anything other than personal research without permission. Contact website @ applebymagna.org.uk.
The Bishop's Transcripts - An Explanation
Chris Bee, April 2010
The keeping of Parish Registers was first introduced in 1538, but it was not until 1598 that it became a requirement that the records be maintained in “great decent books of parchment”. A second requirement introduced in 1598 was that a copy of the entries were to be sent to the local Diocesan Registrar. This second copy is known as “The Bishop’s Transcript”.
The Bishop’s Transcripts for Appleby Magna were submitted on an annual basis, covering the previous “church year”, before 1751 this was March 25th (Lady Day) to the following Lady Day, March 25th. The available records are now held by The Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland in Wigston Magna, which acts as the Diocesan Archivists.
The Bishop’s Transcripts are normally considered to be not as accurate as Parish Records (an unwanted end of year chore for the Rector) and are quite often not as well preserved. But where Parish Registers are unavailable they can provide an invaluable source.
The St Michael’s Parish Registers were missing most of the entries for the period 1725 – 1731. The surviving Bishop’s Transcripts for those years have been transcribed and digitised, and presented here in a separate file.
The Changing Year
Chris Bee, April 2010
In 1752 the calendar in England was changed from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar, as a result 11 days were famously “lost”. But for the recording of Church Registers another very significant change also took place, the start of the year was moved from March 25th to our more familiar January 1st.
Before 1752 the 1st day of each new year was March 25th, Lady Day (a significant date in the Christian calendar). The year number which we all now use for calculating ages didn’t change until March 25th. So, for example, the day after March 24th 1750 was March 25th 1751, and January 1743 followed December 1743.
This March to March recording can be seen very clearly in the Appleby Registers before 1752. Between 1752 and 1768 there appears slightly confused recording, so dates should be carefully checked. After 1768 the recording is more fully by the modern calendar year.