• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • collections@thestorydurham.org
DRO logo

Durham Record Office

Durham County Record Office: the official archive service for County Durham and Darlington

  • About us
    • Projects
    • What we do
    • News
    • Friends of Durham County Record Office (FODCRO)
    • Governance
    • Policies
  • Our records
    • Coal mining and Durham collieries
    • Durham Light Infantry Archives
    • Information guides
    • Maps
    • Picture Gallery
  • Ask us
  • Family history
    • Birth, marriage and death records
    • Census records
    • Parish registers
    • Place names index
    • Nonconformist Church Registers
    • Wills
    • A to Z of other family history sources
  • Learning Zone
    • The Story of Jimmy Durham
    • Crook
    • Durham Market Place
    • Arts Award
  • Exhibitions
    • ‘Almost too horrible for words’ – the liberation of Belsen concentration camp, 1945
    • ‘Marvellous Diggers’ – The 1st Battalion DLI in Korea, 1952-53
    • ‘Adventurers and Pirates’ – Hetton Coal Company, 1820
    • Looking back at Consett Steel Works
  • Shop
    • Apply for quick search
    • Apply for research service
    • Order and pay for copies
    • Fees and charges
    • Publications
  • Search Options
    • Search the catalogue
    • Search Church Registers
    • Search Durham Collieries
    • Search Durham’s Hidden Depths
    • Search place names
    • Search interactive maps
You are here: Home / Family history / A to Z of other family history sources / Bishops’ transcripts

Bishops’ transcripts

Information about Bishops’ transcripts of parish registers for County Durham.

What are Bishops’ transcripts?

From 1597 each parish was required to send to the bishop, within a month after Easter, a copy of all entries made in the parish register during the preceding year. These copies are known as bishops’ transcripts.

Bishops’ transcripts for the diocese of Durham only survive for the period c.1760 to c.1840 but with many gaps.

Where to find Bishops’ transcripts

The Bishops transcripts (1760-1840) for County Durham are held by Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections.

Durham County Council logo Accredited Archive Service logo

The Story
Mount Oswald
South Road
Durham
DH1 3TQ
collections@thestorydurham.org

  • Top of Page |
  • Legal Information | 
  • Accessibility Statement | 
  • Contact Us |

Copyright © 2025 · Developed by Durham County Council