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HARRISON AND SONS,

PRINTERS IN ORDINARY TO HER MAJESTY,

ST. MARTINS LANF.

ON THE

TRANSCRIPTION

AND

PUBLICATION

OF

PARISH REGISTERS, &C.

REPRINT,

1896.

PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE CONGRESS
ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETIES IN UNION WITH THE
SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES.

OF

Report on the Transcription and Publica

tion of Parish Registers, etc.

The Congress of Archæological Societies in union with the Society of Antiquaries desires to call the attention of the public and especially of those interested in antiquarian research, to the extreme importance of duly preserving and rendering accessible the Registers and other Parish Records of the United Kingdom.

These contain matter of the greatest value not only to the genealogist, but also to the student of local history, and through these to the general historian; it is to be regretted that sufficient care has not been taken in the past of these documents, which have too often been thoughtlessly destroyed.

Many Registers have already been copied and published, and every year adds to the list, and the Congress is in hope that these suggestions may lead to a still greater number being undertaken.

As the older writings are in a different character from that used at the present time, they are not easily deciphered, and require careful examination, even from experts. It is extremely desirable therefore that they should be transcribed, not only to guard against possible loss or injury, but in order to render them more easily and generally accessible to the student.

The Committee appointed by the Congress of 1889 for the purpose of considering the best means of assisting the transcription and publication of Parish Registers and Records was constituted as follows: EDWIN FRESHFIELD, LI.D., V.P.S.A., Chairman.

The Rev. Canon BENHAM, B.D.,

F.S.A.

R. S. FABER, M.A.

(Hon. Sec. Huguenot Society.) W. J. HARDY, F.S.A.

J. J. HOWARD, LL.D., F.S.A.
(Maltravers Herald.)

G. W. MARSHALL, LL.D., F.S.A. (Rouge Croix.)

G. H. OVEREND, F.S.A.

(Public Record Office.) Rev. W. SPARROW SIMPSON, D.D.. F.S.A. (St. Paul's Cathedral.) MILL STEPHENSON, B.A., F.S.A. (Hon. Sec. Surrey Archæo. Soc.)

RALPH NEVILL, F.S.A. (Hon. Sec.)

The Congress trust that the following paper of Suggestions drawn up by the Committee may prove useful to those anxious to assist in the preservation, transcription and, where possible, publication of the documents referred to.

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