2»d S. VI. 155., Dec. 18. '58.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



507 



mislaid the token would not be allowed to partake 

 of the Communion. The tokens in Scotland are 

 generally made of pewter, and oval in form. No 

 charge is made for them ; nor, indeed, is any fee 

 exacted for any other duty — such as baptisms, 

 marriages, or funerals — performed by ministers 

 or elders in the Presbyterian churches of Scot- 

 land. R. G. 

 Glasgow. 



PARISH REGISTERS. 



(2'"» S. vi. 379. 462.) 



As your correspondents Messrs. P. Hctchinsox 

 and PisHET Thompson both ask for information as 

 to the " statutory and other regulations respecting 

 these valuable papers," I have prepared " a brief 

 statement " of the most important of them, which 

 I trust may not take up too much of your valuable 

 space. 



There are a few registers which commence prior 

 to the 30th of Henry VIII. (1538), but these were 

 probably mere private memoranda of the officiating 

 clergyman ; in September of that year, however, 

 Lord Cromwell issued an injunction to the follow- 

 ing effect : — 



" In the name of God, Amen. By the authority and 

 commission of the excellent Prince Henrj', by the Grace 

 of God, King of England and of France, Defender of the 

 Faith, Lord of Ireland, and in Earth Supreme Head imder 

 Christ of the Church of England ; I, Thomas Cromwell, 

 Privy Seal, and Vicegerent to the Ring's said Highness, 

 for all his jurisdiction ecclesiastical within this realm, 

 do for the advancement of the ti-ue honour of Almighty 

 God, increase of virtue, and discharge of the King's 

 Majesty, give and exhibit unto you these injunctions 

 following, to be kept, observed, and fulfilled upon the 

 pains hereafter declared : — 



" First, That you shall truly observe and keep all and 

 singular the King's Highness' Injunctions given unto you 

 heretofore in my name, &c. 



" Item, That you, and every parson, vicar or curate, 

 within this diocese, for every church keep one book or 

 register, wherein he shall write the day and year of every 

 Wedding, Christening, and Burial made within your 

 parish for your time, and so every man succeeding you 

 likewise, and also there insert every person's name that 

 shall be so wedded, christened and buried. And for the 

 safe keeping of the same book, the parish shall be bound 

 to provide of their common charges one sure coffer with 

 two locks and keys, whereof the one to remain with you, 

 and the other with the wardens of every parish wherein 

 the said book shall be laid up, which book ye shall every 

 Sunday take forth, and in the presence of the said wardens, 

 or one of them, write and record in the same all the 

 Weddings, Christenings, and Burials, made the whole week 

 afore, and that done to lay up the book in the said coffer 

 as afore ; and for every time that the same shall be omitted, 

 the party that shall be in the fault thereof shall forfeit to 

 the said'church iij'. iiij"!. to be employed on the repara- 

 tion of the said church." 



In 1.547 all episcopal authority was suspended 

 for a time, while the ecclesiastical visitors then 

 appointed went through the several dioceses to 



enforce divers injunctions, and amongst others 

 one which had been issued in the same year by 

 Edward VI. respecting parish registers, directed 

 to " all and singular his loving subjects, as well of 

 the clergy as of the laity ; " and being to the same 

 effect as that issued by Cromwell, excepting the 

 penalty, which was " to be employed to the poore 

 box of that parishe," instead of to the reparation 

 of the church. 



One of the articles to be inquired of in the 

 visitation to be had within the diocese of Canter- 

 bury in the same year was — 



" Item. Whether they have one book or register safely 

 kept wherein they write the day of every Wedding, 

 Christning, and Burying." 



Another injunction was issued in the first of 

 Elizabeth (1559), almost in similar words, and to 

 the same effect as that of Edward VI., the penalty, 

 however, being directed to go in moieties to the 

 poor box and reparation of the church. 



On the 25th October, 1597, anno 39° Eliz., 

 the following constitution, laying down minute 

 directions for the proper preservation of parish 

 registers, was made by the archbishop, bishops, 

 and clergy of the province of Canterbury, and 

 approved by the Queen, under the great seal of 

 Great Britain : — 



" De Regislris in Ecclesiis salve CustodieE committendis. 



" Et quia Registra in ecclesiis (quorum permagnus usus 

 est) fideliter volumus custodiri : Primum statuendum 

 putamus, ut in singulis visitationibus admoneantur mi- 

 nistri, et ceconomi ecclesiarum de injunctionibus regiis ea 

 in re diligentius observandis. 



" Deinde ut hbri ad hunc usum destinati, quo tutius 

 reservari et ad posteritatis memoriam propagari possint, 

 ex pergameno sumptibus parochianorum in posterum con- 

 ficiantur : lisque non modo ex veteribus libris cartaceis 

 transumpta nomina eorvim, qui regnante serenissima Do- 

 mina nostra Elizabetha, aut baptismatis aqua abluti, aut 

 matrinonio copulati, aut ecclesiasticae sepulturie Beneficio 

 affecti sint, suo ordine sumptibus parochianorum inscri- 

 bantur: Sed eonim etiam, qui in posterum baptizati, vel 

 matrimonio conjuncti aut sepulti fuerint. 



" Ac ne quid vel dolo commissum, vel omissum negli- 

 genter redarguatur. Quae per singulas hebdoniadas in 

 hisce libris inscripta nomina fuerint, ea singulis diebus 

 Dominicis post preces matutinas aut vespertinas finitas, 

 aperte ac distincte per ministrum legantur, die ac mense 

 quibus singula gesta sunt sigillatim adjectis. ?ji''<«i, 



" Postquam autem paginam aliquam integram multo- 

 rum nominum inscriptio compleverit, turn ministri, turn 

 Gardianorum ipsius parochia; subscriptionibus volumus 

 earn communiri. 



" Idemque in transumptis ex veteribus libris cartaceis, 

 paginis singulis fieri, sed diligenti, ac fideli prius habita 

 collatione : neque vero in unius cujusquam custodia librum 

 ilium, sed in Cista publica, eaque trifariam obserata reser- 

 vandum putamus, ita ut neque sineministro Gardiani, nee 

 sine utrisque Gardianis minister quicquam possit innovare. 



" Postremum est, ut exemplar quotannis cujusque anni 

 aucta; nominum inscriptionis ad Episcopi Diocoesani regis- 

 trum per Gardianos infra mensem post Festem Paschatis 

 tranamittatur, et sine feodo ullo recipiatur, atque in Ar- 

 chivis Episcopi fideliter custodiatur. 



" Quicunque vero in prajmissis eorumve aliquo deli- 



