Since Louis Henry pioneered the technique of family reconstitution over twenty years ago and E. A. Wrigley adapted it to fit English parish registers, our knowledge of the functioning of the family as a reproductive unit has advanced considerably. Much less progress has been made in linking information on the reconstituted families with other parochial sources, which will give us a fuller impression of past family life than could be derived from one source taken in isolation.

The reconstitution of families in the Aldenham parish registers dating from 1560 can, like every other reconstitution, be illuminated by the integration of other material such as records of estate transactions, the sale and purchase of property, subsidies, taxes of various kinds and the listing of inhabitants of the parish in whole or in part according to the requirements of legislation devised for a variety of purposes. For the most part these records refer either to a specific event of relatively transitory significance to the reconstitution (such as an election) or endure for relatively short periods (e.g. Hearth and Poll Taxes, or Militia Rolls).

One enactment, however, of universal application survived the passage of over two centuries and remains the basis of local finance to the present time.