Parish Registers, 85

KiRKBT MooRSiDE, YORKSHIRE. * 1687. Georges vilaus Lord
dooke of bookingham, bur. 17 April.'

This rude illspelt entry of his burial supplies the last finishing
touch to Pope's well-known description of the neglected death-
bed of the ' Great Villiers,'

In another case, vouched by Sir Thomas Phillipps,* a gentle-
man named AnchetU Grey found on examining the register of
his baptism that he had been entered as Miss Ann Kettle Orey»

False spelling and the consequent difficulty of identifying
names were not the only evils, which resulted from trusting
to the clerk's notes. The notes were often lost or mislaid
before they were copied, and where the clerk kept a day-book,
it constantly happened that the Parish Kegister was not a full
and accurate transcript. This is so well known to historical
students, that they habitually make search among the church
records for the original memoranda, when they examine the
registers for a literary purpose, I give two instances from
St. Saviour's, Southwark,^ of the omission from the register-
books of interesting information, positively identifying the
deceased, which is given in the original notes. The register
says:

* 1608. Laurence Fletcher, a man, bur. in the church, 12 Sept.'
* 1625. Mr. John Fletcher, a man, bur. in the church, 29 Aug.*

The original entries of these burials, in the unbound sheets
still preserved in the vestry, run thus :

* 1608. Laurence Fletcher, a player, the hinges servant, bur. in
the church 12 Sept., with an afternoon's knell of the great bell.'
*1625. John Fletcher, a jjoe^, bur. in the church, Aug. 29.'

Such variations have in leg*al proceedings proved of most
serious consequence. 'In May v. May,^ the day-book was
produced to prove that the plaintiff was on his baptism regis-
tered as '' base-born," although such addition was omitted in
the Eegister ; and although it was proved by the clerk that the
Eegister was made up every three months from this very day-
book, the Court decided that there could not be two registers
in one parish, and therefore that the false entry which implied
the plaintiffs legitimacy must prevail.' In another case,* it
was decided that the clerk's notes were mere private entries
and not admissible in evidence, and that a baptism dated
Feb. 