The reliability of parochial registration and the representativeness of family reconstitution

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Abstract
In this study, cross-matching between the 1851 Census and the reconstituted families from the two Leicestershire villages of Shepshed and Bottesford is used to determine the changing adequacy of parochial registration during the period of the Industrial Revolution. It was found that the “reconstitutable minority” were quite conscientious in recording their children’s births. Moreover, by supplementing the family reconstitution study with information derived from the 1851 Census it was possible to make up most of the deficiencies that were caused by the declining comprehensiveness of parochial registration. In the second section of the paper the nuptiality and fertility experiences of the “reconstitutable minority” are compared with those of another group whose vital statistics were derived from the 1851 Census. It is shown that the use of strict conventions restricting sample size did not produce unrepresentative results. The third section of the paper considers the reliability and representativeness of reconstituted mortality rates by comparing them to mortality rates derived from civil registration.