Donna, Have you see the page giving the current coverage of CCED, <http://www.theclergydatabase.org.uk/upgrade/content.html>, as of May 2010? It's a bit puzzling that you ask when it was begun and what organisation is responsible for its content, since the answers to precisely those questions are given on the web-page that you yourself refer to, <http://www.theclergydatabase.org.uk/index.html>. It's a project devised by academic historians with a shared interest in the history of the professions, launched in 1999 and funded by one of the UK's research councils. Although the aim is to cover the period 1540-1835, there are bound to be gaps, as in any large database compiled from many primary sources. The Church of England is responsible for its content insofar as the original documents constituting these sources are mostly held by the church. Hoping that the information you're looking for will eventually turn up, Peter McCaffery 10521