England Nonconformists Additional Methodist Records - International Institute

Other Methodist Records[edit | edit source]

Membership records were kept, but are mostly just lists of names with little or no further information. Some early Class Lists survive. Sunday School Class Tickets, illustrated by Blount (Methodists. Family Tree Magazine Vol 4 #3 (2 pages), may be found amongst effects of Methodists’ although some insisted on being buried with their bundles of tickets. They were given quarterly to worthy members to allow them to attend Class Meetings. Those members whose behaviour did not meet Methodist standards were expelled. There were over 700 day schools under Methodist auspices, plus some teachers’ training institutes, and records of some of these can still be found. Each of the major Methodist denominations has its own Theological Training College and records now tend to be at Methodist Archives.

All branches of Methodism produced much written material. Histories abound and one I found useful was Le Messurier’s History of the Mint Methodist Chapel in Exeter. My 2nd great grandparents from Jacobstowe, Devon baptized their firstborn there in 1829, even though they appeared to be regular Anglicans both before and after—the other eight were all baptized in Jacobstowe parish church. This was typical in the 19^th century when families tried out different denominations. Another example is a manuscript on Bradworthy, Devon by Walter and Toms. This includes baptisms of Bradworthy people in three Methodist circuits as well as information about the emigrants from there who sailed in three ships in the mid-19^th century.

Circuit and chapel magazines hold much of family interest and should be sought out. Several diaries of preachers and others exist and also throw light on ordinary people. Church memorial boards and tombstones should not be overlooked either. County Record Offices hold many circuit and local chapel materials such as Minutes, Schedules, Accounts and Preaching Plans showing which men were allocated to which chapel each day. These Circuit Plans are the subject of study by the Society of Cirplanologists who have a collection of some 10,000 of them. As an example of a chapel’s records, the records of the Wesleyan Methodist Salt Lane Chapel, Salisbury, Wiltshire are at the Wiltshire Record Office and on FS Library film 1526366. They include all kinds of interesting items typical for such groups, such as:

Deeds for the chapel.
Copy wills regarding church real estate.
Agreements for tenancy of the minister’s house and the schoolroom.
Solicitors’ bills.
Certificate for the meeting house to be used as a place of worship.
Two fire assurance policies.
Financial papers for administration of the chapel.
Correspondence with the Charity Commissioners regarding the sale of the minister’s house and schoolroom to the Salvation Army.
Appointment of schoolmaster (see chart below).
Reports and accounts.
A Sunday School attendance register with numbers in each named teacher’s class.

Chart: Appointment of Schoolmaster for Wesleyan Day School, Salisbury 1845 — FS Library film 1526366

Memorandum of an Agreement made the tenth day of April 1845, between the Committee of the Wesleyan Day School in Salisbury, of the one part, and James Mumford, schoolmaster of the same place of the second part, whereby the said Committee jointly and severally agree to appoint the said James Mumford to the office of Master or Teacher of the said School, and to allow him in respect of such office a salary of seventy pounds, to be payable quarterly, and in consideration of the said appointment, and salary aforesaid, the said James Mumford agrees to perform under the direction of the said Committee the duties of the said office in an efficient and satisfactory manner, and to give three months notice in writing to the said Committee, is at any time he shall feel desirous of relinquishing the appointment, and the duties connected therewith, the Committee also agreeing on their part to give the said James Mumford the like notice if at any time hereafter a large majority of them shall for good and sufficient reasons feel desirous of being relieved from the engagement hereby entered into.
As witness our Hands the day and year abovesaid.
George Gregory, Treasurer, on behalf of the said Committee
James Mumford, Schoolmaster

A valuable source for the late 1890s is the list of many thousands of contributors to the Twentieth Century Fund used for church expansion. Those who collected or contributed a guinea were issued a colourful certificate. The Historic Roll of Subscribers is held at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster where it can be viewed by making arrangements beforehand. Here one can find signatures, addresses and house names, entries in memorium and a host of other useful information and photocopies can be arranged. It is further discussed by Jackson (The Wesleyan Methodist Historical Roll. Genealogists Magazine Vol 27 #4, page 180-182).

Records of Methodist Clergy[edit | edit source]

Edgington has provided a history of the Wesley family and Methodism in commemoration of the 300th anniversary of John Wesley’s birth. Many Methodist preachers kept detailed diaries and these can reveal much about the personalities of those with whom they came into contact. Some preachers were female. Various nominations and registrations can be found, such as that shown below.

Chart: Registration of Ministers of Dissenting Chapels,
Leicestershire — FS Library film 1469785

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|- | We, The undersigned Being Members of the Methodist Society of Melton do testify that David Wall is an Approved Minister.
Francis Scattergood W^m Everett
Tho^s Sims John Lovell
William Dixon William Eason
|}

Sources[edit | edit source]

Some sources for biographical information on Methodist clergy are:

The annual Minutes and Yearbook of the Methodist Conference contains obituaries for those who have died in the previous year. The FS Library holds ten editions from 1933-2001 in 942 K25cm but they have not been filmed.

Twenty eight editions of Hill’s Arrangement... have appeared from 1819-1963 with biographical information on all current ministers and probationers (trainees). The FS Library has three editions: the 12^th (1874) on FS Library film 1426155; 14^th (1882) on FS Catalog Collection; and 22^nd (1936) not yet filmed in FS Catalog book 942 K24h 1936. Garlick’s Mr. Wesley’s Preachers 1739-1818.

Sketches of Eminent Methodist New Connexion Ministers by Smith on FS Library film 1594825.
The Methodist Connexional Archives has an index to all obituaries published in the Methodist magazines except for the Bible Christians.

Most of the branches of Methodism worked overseas and The Methodist Missionary Society has an archives in London with records from 1798. Here will be found not just official reports of work accomplished, but letters, journals and diaries of individual missionaries.

Methodist Publications[edit | edit source]

Leary’s My Ancestors Were Methodists is a good basic reference. Many Methodist magazines and newspapers have existed; especially notable is the Methodist Recorder which has listed births, marriages and deaths since its formation in 1861. Obituaries can be found under the headings of biography (two or three pages each, giving an account of the birth, conversion, pious life and last affliction), memoirs (shorter) and recent deaths (brief) in other magazines and newspapers, which include:

The Arminian Magazine 1778-1797.
The Methodist New Connexion Magazine 1797-1907.
The Methodist Magazine 1798-1832.
The Primitive Methodist Magazine 1819-1932.
The Wesleyan Methodist Magazine 1822-1932.
The Wesleyan Protestant Methodist Magazine
The Watchman 1835-1884.
The Wesleyan Association Magazine 1838-1857.
The United Methodist Free Churches Magazine 1858-1891.
The Methodist Recorder 1861-
The Primitive Methodist newspaper 1868-1932.
The Free Methodist Manual 1877-1899.
The Methodist Times newspaper 1885-1937.
The Primitive Methodist World newspaper 1890-1908.
The Methodist Monthly 1892-1907.
Proceedings of the Wesley Historical Society 1897 onwards.
The Primitive Methodist Leader 1905-1932.
The United Methodist Magazine 1908-1932.
Transactions of the Society of Cirplanologists 1961 onwards.

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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 ($).