In a message dated 08/02/2004 03:43:23 GMT Standard Time, janetchopkins@hotmail.com writes: > I have been researching a family of Presbyterian Scots who were living in > Newcastle onTyne. I was wondering if Presbyterian births marriages and > deaths would appear on civil registration, or was it only the Church of > England BMD's that do? Can't find my folks' births or marriages, although > the census films state that they were born in Newcastle onTyne > Civil Registration is precisely what it says it is - registration of ALL births, marriages and deaths, with no reference to any religious affiliation at all. It therefore covers EVERYONE. The Church of England does not register births or deaths. It does register baptism services and funeral services as well as burials within its own property - ie in churchyards. It registers marriages if they take place in its own churches, but not those in non-Church-of-England churches nor to se in Civilan Registry Offices (nor, nowadays, in other locations). If you can't find your "folks'" births or marriages then you cannot be looking in the right place for them! If they were Presbyterians then they were probably of Scottish extraction. Perhaps they went to Scotland for the religious ceremonies or indeed to give birth (civilian birth registrations are in the place where the birth takes place). I cannot give a more precise answer to your query, as you do not mention any date, and the precise situation depends a great deal on which period you are talking about. I assume that, as a researcher, you know the basic fact that civil registration began in England and Wales on 1 July 1837 and in Scotland on 1 January 1855. Best wishes, Geoff Nicholson 57 Manor Park, Concord, WASHINGTON, Tyne & Wear NE37 2BU (0191 417 9546) Professional Genealogist - Northumberland and Co Durham.