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History of Old Parish Registers

Until the middle of the 16th century the lives and deaths of ordinary folk went largely unrecorded and forgotten. Unlike kings and great leaders it was not deemed necessary to record the lives of peasants, farmers and tradesmen. This all changed in the 1500's when churches began to instruct its ministers and clerks to record these events. The baptisms, marriages and burials of ordinary people within their parish were now a matter of record and Christine Hay became the first name on the earliest surviving Old Parish Register from Errol in Perthshire when she was baptised on 27th December 1553.

History of Old Parish Registers

Earliest surviving birth entry, Old Parish Register for Errol, Perthshire, 27th December 1553(click to enlarge)

Earliest surviving birth entry, Old Parish Register for Errol, Perthshire, 27th December 1553
(click to enlarge)