The last meeting of the Society on the 8th February was a talk on Parish Registers by John Dalton.

The aim of the Society was to publish all registers of the County of Lancashire. These were first produced in book form but are now available on cd. In 1538 it was decreed that all parishes had to have a full register of BMDs. Because of the quality of paper at that time in 1547 they started to use parchment. Copies of all Parish Records should have been sent to the Bishops. Hence we have the Bishops Transcripts which are useful if Parish Records have been damaged or lost.

With the introduction of the 1754 Hardwick Marriage Act all marriages had to be in the Parish Church. All marriages between 1754-1837 had to be in the Anglican Church Registers.

The Branch has a considerable library of BMD’s for Bury and the surrounding areas as well as a full holding of the microfiche published by the LFH&HS.

The next meeting on the 14th March is the Branch AGM. Volunteers’ for Chairman and Secretary.

Meetings are held in the Blackburne Hall, Church House, The Wylde, behind Bury Parish Church. Visitors are welcome.