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You can get early than that if you look for the right records as most records before 1837 (before the government started to take mandatory records) were usually done as per parish. Most parishes have records dating back to at least 1600 and there are many that go back to 1538. Usually means you're wading in Latin but that's no big deal. You pickup the language in the text after awhile. Mind you, it's no guarantee of going back further than the early 1800's, which really depends on your family's circumstances at the time. But in general, even with most commoners, you can get back to the mid 1700's for the most part. If you hit a brick wall though, it can make life difficult. The hardest to trace are orphans and the really poor...they seem to drop off the end of the planet in the early 1800's and it can be hard to go back further.
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