2 - The accuracy of the London parish registers

Summary

Graunt's analysis of the London bills of mortality showed that the population of London would merit further study. However, conclusions based on the bills of mortality will always be open to question because it is not possible to verify the aggregate totals of baptisms and burials which are not subdivided by parish. A serious reconsideration of the parish registers in association with which the bills were compiled is thus called for. In a recent review of urban history during the early modern period, J. Patten (1978: 18) wrote that ‘until far more work is done on the direct evidence of parish registers, it will be hard to consider actual population dynamics and growth in detail and on any scale’. But it is often thought that the reliability of the London parish registers is doubtful. For example, I. Sutherland commented that ‘family reconstitution studies on the London parish registers do not appear to be a practical proposition’. He went on to explain his reasons for this view (1972: 310–11).

It seems unlikely that during the period under review all the burials came to the notice of the parish authorities, and that deficiencies, perhaps of the order of 10 per cent, will have occurred by omissions either from parish registers or the bills of mortality. The deficiencies in christenings before the Civil War will certainly have been greater than those in burials.

It is evident that if the London parish registers are to be used for population studies, their reliability must be assessed.