In case you didn't see the article, this was in the latest issue of RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine 14 June 2006, Vol. 9, No. 24 >NEWS: UK's ONLINE PARISH CLERKS: Focus on Lancashire. > >All the data provided through these sites have been compiled and >transcribed by volunteers, so the actual data available and parishes >covered depends on the availability of volunteers to carry out this >work. An online parish clerk should not be confused with parish clerks, >who work for parish or town councils. > >The OnLine Parish Clerks project for the County of Lancashire site is >extracting the records from the various parishes and provides online >access to that data, free of charge, along with other data of value to >family and local historians conducting research in this locality. The >OPCs have chosen their particular parish because of their interest in >the town or village where their ancestors lived. While some may live in >their chosen parish, many do not, indeed many live in other countries. > >Data and records are presented from the earliest records that can be >found up to approximately the end of the 19th century. At that time >there were almost 400 parishes within the pre-1974 county boundaries of >Lancashire. Data is gathered from a multitude of sources, including >parish registers, census records, cemetery records, churchwardens' >accounts, overseers' accounts, land tax records, wills, business >directories, postal directories, church and village histories. >http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/home.html > >All OnLine Parish Clerks welcome enquiries and will do their best to >help, but please remember their time will always be limited, and that >many will be busy transcribing records for their chosen parish. Where >possible, an OnLine Parish Clerk is appointed to direct the extraction >of records and data for each parish. New volunteers for the County of >Lancashire are always welcome. > http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/volunteers.html > >Online Parish Clerks -- also known as OPCs -- are volunteers who >collect, collate, and transcribe records for specific parishes in the >United Kingdom. A list and links to these OPCs are available on Cyndi's >List and currently include: Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Kent, Lancashire, >Leicestershire, Sussex, Warwickshire, and Wiltshire. > http://www.cyndislist.com/volreg.htm#OPCs > Don't receive RootsWeb Review? Try it. It's free! See http://newsletters.rootsweb.com/ Best wishes, Lynne