A parish register, alternatively known as a parochial register, is a handwritten volume, normally kept in the parish church of an ecclesiastical parish in which certain details of religious ceremonies marking major events such as baptisms (together with the dates and often names of the parents), marriages (with the names of both partners), and burials (within the parish) are recorded. Along with these events, church goods, the parish's business, and notes on various happenings in the parish may also be recorded. These records exist in England because they were required by law and for the purpose of preventing bigamy and consanguineous marriage.
The information recorded in registers was also considered significant for secular governments’ own recordkeeping, resulting in the churches supplying the state with copies of all parish register entries. A good register permits the family structure of the community to be reconstituted as far back as the sixteenth century. Thus, these records can be distilled for the definitive study of the history of several nations’ populations. They also provide insight into the lives and interrelationships of parishioners. Historically, a parish's churchwarden was responsible for certifying the parish register and submitting it alongside the churchwarden's accounts for annual examination by the bishop.
