Discovering England Parish Chest Records

Parish Chest Records were created by the parish vestry and their records cover a wide range of information that cannot be found anywhere else. Some of the most valuable records list whole families, or the name of an illegitimate child’s father. You can also find little bits of information about your family that can shed light on their lives and help you solve difficult research problems. Come learn about the roles of the vestry members, the records they created, and where to find these records. In the past, Parish Chest Records could be time consuming to search, but thanks to FamilySearch’s Full-Text Search these records are becoming easier to search as more collections are added.