Originally within the United Kingdom the title of Diocesan Record Office would frequently have referred to a church-owned diocesan registry or chancery. This would have been where the episcopal registers, administrative papers and title deeds were preserved under the general superintendence of the diocesan chancellor.

In modern usage it generally refers to an approved repository, frequently operated by a local authority, which has been specially designated by a Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

 bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 for the collection and preservation of historic archives, both from the diocese

Diocese

A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

 and also from local ecclesiastical parishes.

Historical background

The Parochial Registers and Records Measure 1929 permitted bishops to designate such places as approved repositories for parish records. A new Parochial Registers and Records Measure 1978 made it obligatory to designate at least one diocesan record office in each diocese of the Church of England.

Usually the diocesan record office will now be within a city record office or an ordinary county record office

County record office

In the United Kingdom the term county record office usually refers to a local authority repository, also called a County Archives. Such repositories employ specialist staff to administer and conserve the historic and the semi-current records of the parent body...

. However there are some exceptions: the Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....

 Library and the Borthwick Institute for Archives

Borthwick Institute for Archives

The Borthwick Institute for Archives is the specialist archive service of the University of York, York, England. It is one of the biggest archive repositories outside London. The Borthwick was founded in 1953 as The Borthwick Institute for Historical Research. It was originally based at St...

 at the University of York

University of York

The University of York , is an academic institution located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the campus university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, covering a wide range of subjects...

 are similarly designated.

The Parochial Records and Records Measure relates solely to the Church of England. Other churches within the Anglican communion

Anglican Communion

The Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...

, in Scotland, Wales and elsewhere, normally operate in accordance with their own specialist legislation – as do many other Christian denominations. The status of various Welsh county record offices as diocesan record offices was the result of an agreement with the Representative Body of the Church in Wales

Church in Wales

The Church in Wales is the Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses.As with the primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Archbishop of Wales serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The current archbishop is Barry Morgan, the Bishop of Llandaff.In contrast to the...

, made in 1976, which gave Welsh parishes the option of claiming facsimile copies of their deposited registers.

External links

• http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukcm/1978/2 Parochial Registers and Records Measure 1978: full text on legislation.gov.uk website.
• http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/information-management/legislation/parochial-registers.htm National Archives website (archival legislation): summary of Parochial Registers and Records Measures.