 |
 |
 |
 |
This page, written by Judith Smith of Australia, introduces the transcriptions of the Parish Registers of St Mary's, Brixham which she and her mother, Marie Simkus, have provided.
Genealogists outside Britain face many hurdles when researching their families. Few are able to afford to travel and stay in Britain to undertake personal research. The cost of purchasing certificates, Wills and Register extracts from overseas can be prohibitive due to high bank fees, unfavourable exchange rates and other uncertainties. Engaging professional researchers is also an unsustainable expense and fraught with some risks, misunderstandings and communication problems.
Some of us have been fortunate enough to make contact with fellow genealogists (sometimes not even related) and local historians who have helped us along the way with generous sharing of their information. And it has always been most satisfying when we have been able to help others. Also, the International Genealogical Index has certainly been useful but we are aware that it is subject to human error and we are told to check the original entries to confirm the data.
Being able to sight the original Registers personally is the ultimate goal. Only then can we find the clues that bring together the puzzle pieces we have - a tale from a great grandparent, a fragment of a document, a clue in a photograph, an entry in the Family Bible. No matter how good a professional researcher is, she doesn't know of all these fragments and could easily overlook that vital entry.
We were thrilled when we learnt that the Devon Record Office was making microfiche of Parish Registers available to the public. At last we could see them for ourselves and take as much time as we needed to puzzle over entries and go back and confirm earlier entries.
We are most fortunate that the majority of our Devon ancestors remained in Brixham and Churston Ferrers for generations. With the microfiches, we have been able to connect the main families of CALLEY, BARTLETT, CLEMENTS, CLARKE and FURNEAUX to make an almost complete family tree stretching back to the late 1500s.
Before we began transcribing, we had to make a decision about what method to follow. We decided to transcribe the full Register as this would allow us to search for names on a database and link families. Obviously, this would involve a lot of time and effort - the fiches were read first and entries copied out by hand and then transferred to a computer. The computer entries were then proof-read and copies were sent to Brixham Heritage Museum, whose volunteers them against the originals particularly for those entries we had had difficulty reading. Some pages had not been filmed well, were damaged or faded or were obscured because of rebinding of the Registers. The Museum's assistance has been invaluable. However, any errors are ours alone and as with all other research tools, those using them should check the originals themselves if in doubt. Readers should also be aware that entries for some years are missing and that in other years there are obvious errors or omissions.
Once our project was complete, we had to decide what to do with the results. We thought of all the other genealogists like ourselves who can't afford a trip to Britain and all those who had generously shared their information in the past. The transcribing has taken over two years to complete and it seemed a waste to leave it mouldering in a drawer. We don't want to make a profit from it, and we don't want others to use it for their financial benefit either. It seems to us that the only way it can be made freely available to all is via the Internet and for this reason we have given our transcription to the Brixham Heritage Museum to place on their website at their discretion.
The transcriptions appear by kind permission of the vicar and churchwardens of the parish church of St. Mary the Virgin, Brixham, and are presented in separate batches, as originally sent by Judith.
Baptisms 1575-1631 || 1587-1646 || 1651-1698 || 1698-1739 || 1739-1765
Marriages 1556-1631 || 1631-1646 || 1653-1699 || 1699-1742
Banns 1653-1662
Burials 1560-1631 || 1631-1647 || 1654-1698 || 1698-1739
Burials in wool 1692-1730
Judith and Marie have continued their work, so that we are also able to bring you registers from the neighbouring parish of Churston Ferrers.
Churston Baptisms 1605-1675 || 1675-1798
Churston Marriages 1590-1646 || 1656-1753
Churston Banns 1754-1801
Churston Burials 1590-1656 || 1687-1783
|
|
|
|