Forgot to mention the fact that a number of the births I have located in the parish registers were never registered with the civil authorities, even though they occurred in England after 1837. This includes my great grandfather, Michael Muckian, born in Newcastle in September 1851. Also worth remembering that a lot of people were illiterate back in those days, and spellings of surnames were very variable. On 10/03/06, Michael Muckian wrote: > > I have been able to do quite a lot of research on my Catholic ancestors > in 19th century Newcastle and Co Durham by ordering microfilms of parish > registers through my local LDS Family History Centre. > > Have a look at > http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp > to see what may be available for your interest locations. > > Happy hunting > > Michael Muckian > www.muckian.net > > > >