Lancashire Parish Register Society

The LPRS logo  In 1538, Thomas Cromwell ordered parishes to maintain baptismal, marriage, and burial records, and keep them in a ‘secure coffer’ – with the keys to be held by the priest and churchwardens. Legislation followed in 1598, requiring the transcription of all loose-leaf records into books, with particular emphasis on those recorded since Elizabeth I’s accession (1558), which is why so many surviving registers start in that year. The order also required both churchwardens to witness the entries and send a copy to the diocesan bishop each year. On 26 November 1897, Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Fishwick convened a meeting at Chetham’s Hospital in Manchester with the