(Sign'd) GEORGE GORINGE. W{M}. APSLEY. RICHARD JEFFERAY."[316] 8. Last, though not least, among the aids in tracing pedigrees, are _Parish Registers_. The dispersion of the monks, who had previously been the great register-keepers, gave rise to the necessity of these local records. A mandate was issued in 1538, by Thomas Cromwell, the king's vicar-general, for the keeping, in every parish, of registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials. Many of the existing registers begin with that year, but more generally they commence in 1558, the first year of Elizabeth.[317] Parish registers, when carefully kept, are amongst the most useful of public records. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and in the earlier part of the eighteenth, they are in many instances a sort of chronicles not only of the rites of baptism, marriage, and burial, but also of interesting parochial events; such as fires, unusual mortalities, storms, alterations in the churches, and short remarks on the baptisms or burials of distinguished persons. The following extracts from various registers may not be unamusing to the reader: "_Mr._ Henry Hastings, son & heir of Mr. Francis Hastings, was born on St. Nicholas' even, April 24, between the hours of 10 & 11 of the clock at night. Sign. Sagit. secund. die plenilunii Marte in Taurum intrato die precedente, & was christened May 17." _Eaton, co. Rutland._ "1597. M{m}. forgotten until now, that Edmond Denmark & Alice Smyth were married the 24th. of May, 1584." _Thorington, Essex._ "1618. License to Lady Barbara Hastings to eat flesh in Lent, on account of her great age." _St. Mary, Leicester._ "1643. Richard Snatchall, a stout yong man, a curious blacksmith, died of y{e} small-pox." _Chiddingly, co. Sussex._ "1656. A time of mortality upon the Dicker. Richard Luccas, w{th}out any buriall was buried!" _Ibid._ It would be difficult to say how this was managed. Some of the entries are occasionally very loose. "1658. Buried. Wickens, a lame boy. 1659. A maide of N. M. A maide of R. B." _Ibid._ "An infant crisaned!"--Burials. "A mayde from the mill." "Black John." "A prentice of M{r}. Kirford." "A Tinker of Berye in Suffolk." Vide _Grimaldi's Orig. Geneal._ "Richard Cole and _his wife_ were marryed the xixth. of May 1612. Symon Fuller was marryed the 3rd. of October, 1612." _Alfriston, co. Sussex._ "The son of a mason, buried x Feb. 1593." "Mother Fowler buried 18th. Nov. 1603." "Goody Hilton bur. April 7. 1699." _Ibid._ During the protectorate of Cromwell marriages were solemnized by justices of the peace. The following entry of such a marriage, cited by Mr. Grimaldi, is a curious specimen of magisterial literature: "_Marriadges._ _Begone_ the 30. September, 1653.