Civil Registration in England
and Wales
Before 1837, the ‘vital records’ of births, marriages
and deaths were officially recorded only by the Church of England, as a
result of edicts issued by Queen Elizabeth 1 and later Monarchs. People
of other denominations such as Roman Catholic and protestant Non-Conformists
(including Methodist) had to be recorded also by the Church although they
sometimes kept their own unofficial records. Only Quakers and Jews were
exempt.
In 1837 the government introduced Civil Registration and set up Registration Districts largely but not consistently based on County boundaries. Sub-districts were based on the old ‘Poor Law Union’ boundaries and were made up of groups of Church of England parishes. They covered an area of about 25 square miles on average. One set of sub-districts were defined for the period from 1837 to 1851. The boundaries were revised in 1852 and remained until 1946 when a third revision was undertaken (which is still in place today).
This index of Bramhill births from 1837 to 1900 inclusive has been compiled from the records in the Family History Centre, London. The records are compiled and published quarterly and list the child’s name, the District of Registration together with the Volume and Page number of the original certificates. From 1910 the indexes also show the mother’s maiden name.
Copies of the Birth Certificates are needed to establish dates of birth and parentage.
Here is a link to the Birth
Index of 19th Century Bramhills - 1837 to 1900
Why isn’t ‘Great Great Grandfather’
in this Index?
After 1837 some Clergy advised their congregations
not to bother registering. Later there was a fine for late registrations
and the Bramhills are not noted for willingly handing over money to the
government! Better not to bother!
The rules were not tightened until the 1870’s
and it has been estimated that perhaps 15-20% of the population were not
registered before 1875. As late as 1940 people born in the 1860’s and 1870’s
were getting their birth registered in order to be issued with wartime
identity cards.
How do I locate my ancestors
before 1837?
Before 1837 the only reliable evidence for the
existence of our ancestors is whatever was written in the Parish Records
and although Marriage information was fairly standard, the Parish incumbent
(Rector, Vicar, Curate or whoever) could write what they pleased for births
and deaths. Parish Records prior to 1837 were supposed to have been collected
and deposited in County archives but some Clergy refused to hand them over
and some are still with Parish priests. When the LDS Church (Mormons) started
to microfilm the archive material they did not always cover every area
so there are gaps in the IGI as a result.
Where are all these Places in
the Bramhill Index?
In the nineteenth century the Bramhill ‘family’
is mostly found in two areas of northern England either side of the Pennine
hills. There is a grouping in South Yorkshire/North Lincolnshire and a
second concentration in the Liverpool area. For the ‘Bramhill’ index the
sub-districts show marked concentrations of the ‘family’ in several sub-districts
which actually may lie close together, although in different Counties.
The Lincolnshire and Yorkshire
Group
The Isle of Axholme, which is historically part
of Lincolnshire and includes Epworth and the surrounding villages is covered
by the THORNE sub-district in District 9c (Yorkshire). The Isle
is at the very western edge of Lincolnshire and has at various times been
administered by Yorkshire and the new County of Humberside. Also the southern
part is within Nottinghamshire.
Think of the Isle as a frontier province!
GOOLE, SCULCOATES and HULL are sub-districts immediately to the north along the north bank of the River Humber. Bramhills registered in GRIMSBY, GLANDFORD BRIGG, CAISTOR, LOUTH and SPILSBY (going north to south) are in the Lincolnshire coastal area to the east of GAINSBOROUGH which lies between THORNE and this group of coastal sub-districts.
Apart from THORNE, the main clustering of Bramhills in Yorkshire are recorded in DONCASTER, ROTHERHAM, ECCLESALL BIERLOW, SHEFFIELD and WORTLEY. These areas are all close together in the south of present day Yorkshire close to the Nottingham and Derbyshire borders and there are a few Bramhills registered just over the county boundary in EAST RETFORD.
There is another cluster of Yorkshire Bramhills
in LEEDS, HUNSLET and HOLBECK all around the present day
City of Leeds.
Lancashire
Confusingly, WEST DERBY is nowhere near
Derbyshire but is a sub-district next to PRESCOT and LIVERPOOL
on the west coast. This is the other big concentration of Bramhill names
outside the Yorkshire/Lincolnshire concentration. There other Lancashire
Bramhills in CHORLTON, BURNLEY and MANCHESTER.
Others
Finally, the late nineteenth century shows some
Bramhills appearing in the West Midlands in DUDLEY and WOLVERHAMPTON
and even a few strays much further away.
Birth Index of 19th Century Bramhills - 1837 to 1900
End