WHO MIGHT BE MISSING FROM CHURCH OF ENGLAND BURIAL REGISTERS?
UNINTENTIONALLY MISSING In 1538, a law was passed in England, which required the clergy to keep a record of baptisms, marriages, and burials, which would be recorded every Sunday after services. A further notice was sent out to churches in 1558, but compliance was still not uniform. In 1597 it was required that any existing records should be copied into a book (the parish register). There was some opposition from parish clergy. Some copied what records the parish had amassed into the new register, some copied some of the records and some did nothing starting their parish register from 1598. Not all parish registers survive from this period and because records were rarely written up on the day they occurred, not all events were remembered and written into the registers, particularly in smaller parishes lacking a resident minister. In 1598, parishes were ordered to make annual returns of their baptisms, marriages, and burials to their local bishop. These are known as Bishops Transcripts
