It is very difficult to judge how useful these CD's will be to the Dorset Genealogist without some idea of the Dorset Parishes and dates covered. A task which has now been made considerably easier by Jim Polson who has extracted this information from the index and made it available here. On the right you will find a list of Dorset parishes included in the new LDS CDROM (Vital Records Index, British Isles). In almost every case the source of the extraction was the Bishop's Transcripts, not the Parish Register. Also included are the Registers of Dr. William's Library, which may well include people from Dorset. The VRI manual says this:

This was an attempt to register the children of nonconformist families in England and Wales mainly, but references to children being born in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and even foreign countries will be found recorded as well. Nonconformist is a term given to any person who dissented from the Established Church of England. This would include all sects, such as the Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, or any other sect who did not subscribe to the tenants of the Established Church. These registers were, in a sense, a central registry for such births. The registers reveal that, indeed, children were registered from all parts of the country. Since this system was not mandatory, it represents only a small portion of births of children whose parents were nonconformist. When a child's name got recorded in these registers, it was assigned a reference number. This reference number is listed under "Note" in the detail pane. Obtain the film number, then, use the reference number to find the entry in the original record.

Users should note that these records precede the county boundary changes of the 1890's and refer to the parishes as they were at the time. Hence the inclusion of Chardstock, (now in Devon), and the omission of the Somerset Parishes now in Dorset. The Hampshire parishes which were transferred to Dorset in the 1980's are of course also excluded.