The North Curry Parish Registers of Baptisms, Marriages and Burials commence in 1539, the year after their introduction by Cromwell.

All the original Registers are held in the Somerset Record Office (now called The Somerset Heritage Centre).  The Somerset Record Office Index for the North Curry Parish Registers gives the following Catalogue numbers: 

The first North Curry Register covers the period 1539–1720 and begins with the words:

The beginning of this register was in the year 1539 being the same year the first English edition of the Bible was authorized, and five years after the Reformation under Henry VIII.   John England. 

The entries for 1539 start with 28 baptisms, followed by 4 weddings and then 10 burials for the year 1539.  The entries give first name and then surname of each individual, with the date the ceremony was performed, but with no other details such as parents or occupation.  

From 1570 the father’s name is given, and the word son or daughter is written in each baptism entry, and the women and children buried are entered with the name of their husband or father.  From 1634 the names of both the father and mother are sometimes given in the entry of baptism, and from 1664 they are always given.  From 1652 the title marriages is used instead of weddings.  Throughout the registers the place where a family or individual lived, if outside the Parish of North Curry, is recorded and occasionally the abode of an important North Curry family or individual is given.

In 1754 it was required that marriage particulars were entered into a book of pre–printed lined sheets.  Instructions were given as to how these sheets were to be completed.  Banns of Marriage were also to be entered into a similar book. 

There are separate Registers for baptisms and burials for the years 1784-1812.  The baptism entries are hand-written as in the earlier Registers and the burials are hand–written onto pre-printed sheets. 

All the later Parish Registers of North Curry are in the style of printed forms with the incumbents required to fill in the prescribed details. 

The North Curry Parish Registers have been transcribed by Angela Dix.  The entries generally appear exactly as they were written and spelt, but the transcription uses columns in the database to add uniformity for extracting purposes.  The entries have generally been transcribed in the order they appear on the pages. 

The entries from 1646 to 1664 are badly written, irregular, muddled, and indistinct and with many out of order.  From 1721 to 1753 much of the writing is also very bad and indistinct.  There are no entries for the years 1556, 1557, 1558, 1559, 1655, 1731, 1732 and 1733.  As the entries have been transcribed in the order they appear on the pages many are not in year order. 

Generally entries are recorded in the Registers in date order.  Until 31st December 1752 each year commenced on Lady Day (March 25).  From 1753 each year commenced from 1st January. 

Words shown in brackets are the transcriber’s comments.  PB indicates a Private Baptism. 

Despite the best efforts of all involved no transcription can be guaranteed to be perfect. Early handwriting is difficult to read and this is exacerbated by the damage and discolouration of many original documents. These difficulties together with simple human error in typing can all lead to incorrect transcriptions. All researchers are strongly advised to use these databases as a guide and to check those entries they are personally interested in for themselves on the microfiche records available at the Somerset Heritage Centre using this database as a guide to their location.