England Identifying Nonconformist Ancestors - International Institute

Researching English Non-Anglicans (cont.)

Clues to Catholic Ancestry

Tradition of Catholicism.

Dietary tradition of eating fish on Fridays.

Catholics would not subject their children to Anglican baptism, so they may be recorded as born in an Anglican parish register, so that an acceptable legal record of age and parentage could later be found.

Catholic naming patterns such as the inclusion of Mary as the religious name in a typical string of four names for girls. Boys may also have the second name Mary.

Given names such as Xavier, Ignatius and other French or Spanish ones for boys, with Patrick being the most popular religious name added.

Photographs or mementos of first communion or mass.

Newspaper cuttings about marriages or funerals in Catholic churches.

Family stories of aunts who were nuns, or uncles as priests.

Family data recorded in a missal or prayer book.

Many Catholics had relatives abroad so their wills may offer clues to their origins. This would apply more to the affluent with relatives on the continent; those from in Ireland were usually too poor to leave a will.

Clues to Jewish Ancestry

Tradition of Judaism.

Dietary abstention from pork.

Jewish names are largely Old Testament ones.

Knowledge of Hebrew or Yiddish shown in books, ketuba (marriage settlements), newspapers and other writings in the home.

Mementos of bar or bat mitvahs.

Possession of Jewish artefacts of various kinds.

Family history of persecution during wartime, especially the holocaust in WWII.

Protestant Categories

There are probably over 2,000 Protestant denominations which can be classified into three broad categories (Palmer et al.):

Episcopal

These have a structure including bishops and priests who mediate between God and lay members, mediating grace to them through the sacraments, in a similar way to that of the Catholic church. In England the two main Episcopal denominations are:

Church of England
The Anglican or Established church which developed during the reigns of Henry VIII and his children Edward VI and Elizabeth I. The records are discussed in the International Institute of Genealogical Studies courses English: Parish Registers and English: Poor Law and Parish Chest Records.

Methodist Church
This arose from within the Church of England through the efforts of John and Charles Wesley.

Reformed

These were linked to the German and Swiss reformations under Martin Luther, John Calvin and others. They believe that all persons are called to be priests of God, and thus there is no hierarchy of priests and bishops. Everyone has a vocation within the church, and are of equal status to the minister. Their religions are very scripturally based. The Lutherans obviously fall into this category, but have always been a small group in England. The two main English reformed churches are:

Presbyterian
Founded in Scotland in 1557 by John Knox with a Calvinistic heritage. Elders are elected by individual congregations to administer both spiritual and material work. Ministers are similarly elected by each congregation and the latter are grouped into presbyteries and the synod.

Congregational
Each congregation is an independent body of Christians governing themselves.

Independent Movements

These are the more ‘radical’ reformers, many of them seeking a return to 1st-century Christianity with adult baptism by immersion, pacifism, anticlericalism and plain houses of worship. There is usually a strong sense of the presence of the Holy Ghost. Mennonites fall in this category but have never been a large group in England. The two main ones here are:

Unitarian
They reject the idea of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Ghost) and indeed of the divinity of Christ, preaching of one entity called God.

Baptist
They re-instituted baptism only of conscious believers, meaning those old enough to profess belief. They are evangelical and stress a moral life as well as a spiritual one, with great involvement of lay persons in the life and ministry of the church.

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Information in this Wiki page is excerpted from the online course English: Non-Anglican Church Records offered by The International Institute of Genealogical Studies. To learn more about this course or other courses available from the Institute, see our website. We can be contacted at wiki@genealogicalstudies.com
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The original content for this article was contributed by The International Institute of Genealogical Studies in June 2012. It is an excerpt from their course English: Non-Anglican Church Records by Dr. Penelope Christensen. The Institute offers over 200 comprehensive genealogy courses for a fee ($).