You never know what you might find in a parish register

People who were murdered were just as entitled to be buried in the parish churchyard as anyone else. After 1813 (when pre-printed registers were introduced) it's unusual to see annotations like this, but prior to that date many incumbents recorded facts that they thought were of note, such as deaths from plague and accidents. The burials I personally find most interesting are of those killed during an insurgency, because the incidents are often long-forgottten.

Whereas civil registration was introduced for legal reasons, and the content of the registers is dry, an 18th century vicar who was in charge of registers dating back to the 16th century would have been in no doubt of the historical significance of the records he kept.

 

That's the way it worked - in the early 18th century there were no official instructions to clergy, other than to:

"...record in the said book the names the names of all persons christened, together with the names and surnames of their parents, and also the names of all persons married and buried..."

In the absence of detailed instructions the incumbents did what they thought appropriate: for example, some recorded the age at death and other useful identifying features, whilst others didn't.

There were various experiments in different parts of the country - you may have a page from one of the experimental registers in my newsletter earlier this year. See John Wintrip's article in the June Genealogist's Magazine for a detailed analysis.