Questions that need to be addressed include the following:
When were Bishops Transcripts started and when and why did they stop being produced?
Instructive guide on civil registration with listings for all important changes
Underused Archives for the Black Country that are useful for genealogical studies and that have not yet been digitized
Why did so few 1801, 1811, 1821, 1831 Census' survive?
Reasons why some records were not included in Parish Registers
Why have so few Catholic's baptisms survived pre 1800 & why Catholics had to marry & be buried in a Parish Church
Why have so few non-conformist baptism & burial registers survived pre 1800
What are the key differences between the various sects of Methodism, Wesleyism, Baptists, Quakers, Congregationalists & Independent Chapels that sprang up during the 17th - 19th Century.
Why do many Parish Registers go silent (don't recorded any events) during the Civil War period 1640s
Did people pre 1900 live together as man & wife without being married formally in a church and what were some of the known reasons for doing this. Did society look down on those who didn't marry?
Were there people of other nationalities residing in the Black Country pre 1900 and what were some of the reasons why they came to live and work in the district
What are the known problems of tracing Irish Ancestors & relatives living in the Black Country
What problems exist that hinder genealogical research
When did marriage licences first start and for what reason? Until what date did it continue? Do all marriage licences survive for the Black Country? Are there any marriages that were by licence but which are not mentioned as such in the parish register?
At what point did marriage banns start? Were clergymen obliged to keep two registers - one for the dates the banns were read and another for the recording of the actual marriage.
How did couples who wanted to separate deal with the issue. Was bigamy commonly reported? What happened if a couple simply chose to live with someone else? How could divorce be pursued and was it really an option for the working class?
Before the adoption laws of the 1920s - how did society deal with adoption?
How common was using an alias name or surname? What are some of the reasons why people may have used them?
Was there any Quaker or Jewish communities within the Black Country? Does Jews Lane in Sedgley - and the number of people born with Jewish first names at Sedgley & the surname Jewess at Dudley - indicate that there was a Jewish population there at sometime?
What records survive for the Black Country which may shed light on cases of illegitimacy?
Why did Parish Clerks and other servants of the Church act as witnesses to marriages so often?
Were burials of all suicides recorded in the Parish Register?
Did any of the workhouses/asylums/hospitals have burial grounds?
Are there any lost burial grounds which can be proved to exist but which no records survive?
Are there any lost churches within the Black Country i.e. that were destroyed before 1837 (civil registration)?
Did Vicars/curates put a dot after entering the age of a Groom/Bride to denote that they were uncertain if that was the correct age - can this be proved?
Is the Registrar & GRO informed if a name/surname or detail is changed on a marriage entry after the marriage register is deposited at the Local Registry Office? Example against - Bilston St Luke marriage between William Henry Smallwood & Mary Broom dated 15 Apr 1883 - Groom's surname changed in 1887 to Smallman.
What investigation has taken place on the phenomena of twice as many burials than baptisms that occurred around the UK for the years 1727-1729. Was this really an epidemic period followed by bad harvests followed by another epidemic period as suggested by an article by Geoff Timmins entitled: Dying in Droves: History Mysteries and Parish Records (see page for Tipton - St Martin & Sedgley - All Saints)