Report on the Transcription and Publica- 

 tion of Parish Registers, etc. 



The Congress of Arch^ological 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 Fkeshfield, LL.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 Archceo. 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. 



