Parish Registers of Cheapside, London 1538-1721: Documentation

Description

This data collection contains five comma separated variable files that are the tables of a relational database representing (parish) register baptism, marriages and burial events for a sample of five parishes in Cheapside, London. The data were input directly into this relational structure in a Microsoft Access 2000 database using user interface Forms. 

This data collection was compiled by Gill Newton at the Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure and Philip Baker at the Centre for Metropolitan History between October 2003 and September 2006 as part of the AHRB-funded project People in Place. The database structure was devised by Gill Newton and Mark Merry of the Centre for Metropolitan History. The documentation was written by Gill Newton.

The five parishes are:

All Hallows Honey Lane		
St Mary le Bow		
St Pancras Soper Lane	
St Mary Colechurch
St Martin Ironmonger Lane

The database also contains events from the Mercers’ Chapel, situated within the sample area.

The first three parishes were input from published Harleian Society transcriptions of the parish registers by Gill Newton and subsequently checked against microfilm copies of the original parish registers and amended where necessary by Philip Baker. The remaining two parishes and Mercers’s Chapel were input from microfilm copies of the original registers by Philip Baker. 

The dates covered by this transcription are 1538-1721, although it should be noted that there are some gaps in parochial registration in some of the parishes during this period. After 1670 each of the parishes is united to another parish or parishes and commence one set of registers. The parishes to which they unite  parishes are in two cases outside the intended sample area. Futher information on the documentary sources used is given under the [Parish] field of Event.csv below.

An alternative version of this resource together with the related resource ‘Reconstituted families of Cheapside, London, 1538-1721’ exists as a Microsoft Access 2000 database. This also contains a version of the user interface Forms used for data input that may be used for viewing transcriptions of each parish register baptism, marriage and burial event. This database was created by Gill Newton. The .csv files of this data collection were generated from this database

Structure and Related Datasets

Event.csv	1,527,597 bytes	18532 lines + field names on first line	text values in ""	
Person.csv	1,439,500 bytes	22324 lines + field names on first line	text values in ""	
Related_people.csv	1,249,040 bytes	19095 lines + field names on first line	text values in ""	
Condition.csv	107,169 bytes	3722 lines + field names on first line	text values in ""	
RPCondition.csv	21,222 bytes	800 lines + field names on first line	text values in ""	

There are five tables representing parish register Events as a whole, their component subject Persons and those Persons’ Conditions or status,  Related_people and those Related_people’s Conditions or status. The tables are joined as indicated in the table and field descriptions given below. These tables are also related to the data collection ‘Reconstituted families of Cheapside, London’, which contains family reconstitutions of these events for the five sample parishes and Mercer’s Chapel itemised above. There are joins between the key field of tables in this database and foreign key fields of that database as indicated in that data collection.

Event.csv

Each record represents a baptism, marriage or burial Event recorded in one of the sources, which are usually parish registers. An Event must have one or more Persons, who is/are the subject(s) of that Event.

Event_id (Integer)

Unique identifier for each baptism, marriage or burial Event.

Link_Event_ID (Integer)

Non-unique identifier that is the same for duplicate Events from different sources, allowing them  to be grouped.

Event_date (Date)

The date of an Event as given in the sources, where dates are usually in the Julian calendar with each year beginning on 25 March. Where partially given in the source, derived from its position relative to other dated Events in the register, or where the day is unclear, set to the first day of the month, or where the month is unclear, set to the first month in the year. Unclear dates are annotated in the [Memo] field. 

Parish (String)

Indicates the parish/documentary source  of the Event, which is usually a parish register. The options are:

AH	Listed in the combined parish registers of  St Mary le Bow, All Hallows Honey Lane and St Pancras Soper Lane after those parishes were united in 1670 and marked as belonging to All Hallows Honey Lane	
All Hallows Honey Lane	Listed in the parish registers of All Hallows Honey Lane	
Combined Register (unstated)	Listed in the combined parish registers of St Mary le Bow, All Hallows Honey Lane and St Pancras Soper Lane after those parishes were united in 1670, without further indication of parish	
Mercers’ Chapel	Listed in the registers of Mercers’ Chapel
	
SMB	Listed in the combined parish registers of St Mary le Bow, All Hallows Honey Lane and St Pancras Soper Lane after those parishes were united in 1670 and marked as belonging to St Mary le Bow	
SPS
	Listed in the combined parish registers of St Mary le Bow, All Hallows Honey Lane and St Pancras Soper Lane after those parishes were united in 1670 and marked as belonging to St Pancras Soper Lane	
St Martin Ironmonger Lane	Listed in the parish registers of St Martin Ironmonger Lane	
St Mary Colechurch
	Listed in the parish registers of St Mary Colechurch	
St Mary le Bowe	Listed in the parish registers of St Mary le Bow	
St Mildred Poultry (united with SMC)	Listed in the combined parish registers of St Mildred Poultry and St Mary Colechurch after the parishes were united in 1670 	
St Olave Old Jury unite with SMIL	Listed in the combined parish registers of St Olave Old Jury and St Martin Ironmonger Lane after the parishes were united in 1670	

Event (String)

The type of Event recorded in a register. Can be baptism, marriage or burial

Unrelated_memo (String)

Any marginalia or other comments in a register,  appearing below or closest to the Event transcribed in the other fields of a record, but which do not concern the Event.  All such notes are transcribed and are as given in the original orthography.

Marriage_authorisation (String)

Used only for marriage Events (see [Event] field). Indicates whether a marriage was authorised by the calling of banns, or by licence, where this information is given in a register. Can be banns, licence or banns and licence.

Licence_issuer (String)

Used only for marriage Events (see [Event] field).Where a marriage was authorised by licence (see [Marriage_authorisation] field), indicates from which Bishop or other source this licence was obtained, where this information is given in a register. 
The options are:

Canterbury	
Faculties	
London	
Vicar General	
Mr Sherman's office	
Doctor Stanvpe	

The first three are standardised descriptors used during data inputting; the other three are as encountered in the source material, given in the original orthography (each is used once only).

Memo (String)
 
Used to record any comments or pertinent further information concerning an Event that is given in a register, transcribed in the original orthography and surrounded by quotation marks (“”). Also used for comments and queries by the data inputter that concern the whole Event or more than one of its subjects,  particularly any problems concerning the dating of an Event (see also [Event_date] above), whether the Event was transcribed out of the order listed in the register (see also [Reg_Order_Num] below), whether the Event is crossed out in the register, and any ambiguities inherent in or inferences that may be made from the wording of the source.

Marriage_location (String)

Used only for marriage Events (see [Event] field). The location in which a marriage is stated to have taken place, where such information is given in a register. In the original orthography.

Reg_Order_Num (Integer)

A numeric sequence that allows Events to be sorted into the same order as in the original source registers, correcting any out of sequence data entry flagged in the [Memo] field.

Person.csv

Each record represents a Person who is a subject of a baptism, burial or marriage Event as recorded in one of the sources, which are usually parish registers. Each record must have a corresponding Event record (see Event.csv). A Person may have one or more Conditions (see Condition.csv).

PID (Integer)

Unique identifier for each Person record.

Event_id (Integer)

Foreign key indicating the Event record to which  a Person belongs (see Event.csv).

Birth_date (Date)

Used only for baptism Events (see Event table [Event] field). The date of birth where such information is given in the source. Dates are usually in the Julian calendar with each year beginning on 25 March. Where partially given in the source, where the day is unclear, set to the first day of the month, or where the month is unclear, set to the first month in the year. 

Birth_place (String)

Used only for baptism Events (see Event table [Event] field).  A Person’s place of birth where such information is given in the source register. Most often given where the child is a foundling.

Baptism_place (String)

Used only for baptism Events (see Event table [Event] field).  A Person’s place of baptism where such information is given in the source register. Often a private dwelling.

Forename (String)

Forename of a Person in the original orthography as given in the source.

Surname (String)

Forename of a Person in the original orthography as given in the source.

stated_sex (String)

A standardised form of any words used in the original source from which the gender of a Person may be inferred. Some of the descriptors used were automatically copied from the title field during data input. The options and their inferences are:

descriptor	sex	
Alderman	male	
Baron	male	
bachelor	male	
boy	male	
brother	male	
Captain	male	
Colonel	male	
Dame	female	
daughter	female	
Dr	male	
Duke	male	
father	male	
female	female	
gentleman	man	
girl	female	
Goodwife	female	
grandson	male	
her	female	
his	male	
husband	male	
Justice	male	
Lady	female	
Lord	male	
maid	female	
Major	male	
male	male	
man	male	
Master	male	
Mistress	female	
Mother	female	
mr	male	
Mr Alderman	male	
Mr Doctor	male	
mrs	female	
nephew	male	
niece	female	
Right Honourable	male	
Sir	male	
sister	female	
son	male	
unstated	unstated	
wench	female	
widow	female	
wife	female	
woman	female	
Worshipful	male	

Death_date (String)

Used only for burial Events (see Event table [Event] field). The date of death where such information is given in the source. Dates are usually in the Julian calendar with each year beginning on 25 March. Where partially given in the source, where the day is unclear, set to the first day of the month, or where the month is unclear, set to the first month in the year. 

Residence (String)

Place of residence of a Person, where such information is given in the source. Recorded in the original orthography as given.

Occupation (String)

Occupation or economic status of a Person, where such information is given in the source. Recorded in the original orthography as given in the source.

Age (String)

Age of a Person, where such information is given in the source. May be a precise age in years, days or months, or a general descriptor such as “aged”. Recorded in the original orthography as given in the source.

Cause_of_death (String)

The cause of death of a Person, where such information is given in the source. Recorded in the original orthography as given in the source. 

comment (String)

Any other information given in the original source which applies to a particular Person rather than to the whole Event (compare the Event table [Memo] field). In “” where quoting from the original source. HR refers to the Harleian Society published transcription of a register. Also used for comments and queries by the data inputter, to clarify what has been entered in the other fields of a Person record.  

Burial_location (String)

Used only for burial Events (see Event table [Event] field). The location in which the body of a Person has been interred where such information is given, recorded in the original orthography. Usually a place within the parish church or churchyard.

Burial_cost (String)

The amount charged or paid for a Person’s burial, where such information is given. Recorded in the original orthography as given in the source. Usually an amount in Roman or Arabic numerals, but may also be a textual indication of the amount paid.

Title (String)

Any titles, honorifics etc usually preceding a Person’s forename and surname where such information is given in the source. Standardised to one of the descriptors listed below during data inputting. Where the Title also indicates sex, automatically copied to the [stated_sex] field during data inputting. Where a Title indicates occupation or economic status the original orthography is also recorded in the [Occupation] field. 

Alderman	
Baron	
Captain	
Colonel	
Dame	
Dr	
Duke	
Father	
Goodwife	
Justice	
Lady	
Lord	
Major	
Master	
Mistress	
Mother	
Mr	
Mr Alderman	
Mr Doctor	
Mrs	
Right Honourable	
Sir	
Widow	
Worshipful	

Related_people.csv

Each record represents an individual who is related to a Person who is the subject of an Event. This includes but is not limited to mothers and fathers, husbands and wives of the subject Person. Each related_people record must belong to a Person (see Person.csv). A Related_people individual may have one or more RP_Condition records (see RP_Condition.csv).

RPID (Integer)

Unique identifier for each Related_people record.

Relationship (String)

The relationship of a Person (see Person.csv) to a Related_people individual (not the relationship from the Related_people individual’s perspective). Standardised during data inputting. The options are:

apprentice of	
brother of	
child of	
cousin of	
daughter of	
dwelling with	
father of	
given away by	
godfather	
godmother	
granddaughter of	
grandmother of	
grandson of	
gravemate	
husband of	
in-law-brother of	
in-law-daughter of	
in-law-father of	
in-law-mother of	
in-law-sister of	
in-law-son of	
journeyman of	
kinsman of	
kinswoman of	
lodger of	
maid of	
mother of	
nephew of	
niece of	
partner of	
scholar of	
servant of	
sister of	
sojourner of	
son of	
surety	
unstated	
widow of	
wife of	
witness	

Related_to (Integer)

Foreign key identifying the Person record [PID] field (see Person.csv) to which a Related_people individual belongs.

Event_id (Integer)

Foreign key identifying the Event record (see Event.csv) to which a Related_people individual belongs.

Forename (String)

Forename of a Related_people individual in the original orthography as given in the source.

Surname (String)

Forename of a Related_people individual in the original orthography as given in the source.

stated_sex (String)

A standardised form of any words used in the original source from which the gender of a Related_people individual may be inferred. Some of the descriptors used were automatically copied from the title field during data input. The options and their inferences are as given for the Person table [stated_sex] field (see Person.csv).

Residence (String)

Place of residence of a Related_people individual, where such information is given in the source. Recorded in the original orthography as given.

Occupation (String)

Occupation or economic status of a Related_people individual, where such information is given in the source. Recorded in the original orthography as given.

Age (String)

Age of a Related_people individual, where such information is given in the source. May be a precise age in years, days or months, or a general descriptor such as “aged”. Recorded in the original orthography as given in the source.

comment (String)

Any other information given in the original source which applies to a particular Related_people individual rather than to the whole Event (compare the Event table [Memo] field). In “” where quoting from the original source. HR refers to the Harleian Society published transcription of a register. Also used for comments and queries by the data inputter, to clarify what has been entered in the other fields of a Related_people individual record.  

Title (String)

Any titles, honorifics etc usually preceding a Related_people individual’s forename and surname where such information is given in the source. Standardised during data inputting to a descriptor for which possible values are as listed for the Person table [Title] field. Where the Title also indicates sex, automatically copied to the [stated_sex] field during data inputting. Where a Title indicates occupation or economic status the original orthography is also recorded in the [Occupation] field. 

Condition.csv

Each record represents a Condition, or standardised piece of status information, belonging to a Person. A Person may have one or more Condition. Each Condition must have a corresponding Person (see Person.csv).

FlagID (Integer)

Unique identifier for each Condition record.

PersonID (Integer)

Foreign key identifying the [PID] field of the Person to which a Condition belongs (see Person.csv)

Flags (String)

A standardised version of some piece of especially pertinent status information about a Person which is given in the source, usually also recorded in the original orthography elsewhere in the Person record (in the [Age], [Occupation], [Residence] or [comments] field. The options are:

alderman	
alias	
ancient/old/aged	
apprentice	
bachelor	
baron	
baron of the Exchequer	
baronet	
black	
child	
chrisom	
christened	
churchwarden	
citizen of London	
clerk	
common councilman	
deceased	
died presently	
doctor	
Earl	
esquire	
foreigner	
foundling	
free of the	
generosus	
gentle(wo)man	
heir	
householder	
illegitimate	
inmate	
journeyman	
junior/the younger	
knight	
lady	
lodger	
lord	
maid	
maid servant	
maiden	
minister	
of Inn of Court	
of the Arches	
of the Chamber	
of the Exchequer	
of the Liberty of Rolls	
parish child	
parish child/child of the people	
parson	
pastor	
pensioner	
poor	
preacher	
priest	
proctor of Doctor's Commons	
rector	
scholar	
senior/ the elder	
sergeant	
servant/belonging to/man of/nurse	
service in royal household	
sexton	
sheriff	
single	
sojourner	
spinster	
stillborn	
stranger	
travailer	
twins/multiple birth	
unchristened	
weak/sick/in danger	
widow(er)	

RP_Condition

Each record represents a Condition, or standardised piece of status information, belonging to a Related_people individual. A Related_people individual may have one or more Condition. Each Condition must have a corresponding Related_people individual (see Related_people.csv).

FlagID (Integer)

Unique identifier for each Condition record.

PersonID (Integer)

Foreign key identifying the [RPID] field of the Related_people individual to which a Condition belongs (see Related_people.csv)

Flags (String)

A standardised version of some piece of especially pertinent status information about a Related_people individual which is given in the source, usually also recorded in the original orthography elsewhere in the Related_people individual record (in the [Age], [Occupation], [Residence] or [comments] fields). The options are as given for the Condition table [Flags] field (see Condition.csv).