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== Roman Catholics  ==
== Roman Catholics  ==
=== Catholic Missions and Parishes  ===
The Catholic church was organized from about 1700 in local missions, not parishes, with the priest being known as the ''missionary apostolic''. Until after 1791 there were no public chapels and just a few legal private ones in embassies, officially to serve the diplomatic community. Gandy ( ''Catholic Missions and Registers, 1994'') has published six indispensable handlists of Catholic missions and surviving registers 1700-1880 for England, Wales and Scotland. The ''Catholic Directory'' also lists them and gives the dates of foundation.
The English Catholic system of Dioceses and Archdioceses was set up in 1850 and, with the modifications that have occurred with time in 1960 stood as in the chart below. Catholics chose their own chapel to attend since there were no official Catholic parish boundaries until the parish system was set up after WWI. Gandy’s Atlas (''Catholic Parishes in England, Wales and Scotland. An Atlas''. Self-published, 2001-3) contains maps showing all parishes having regular Sunday mass in 1960.
Although it was illegal for most residents of England to be Catholic between 1581 and 1778 there were some Londoners who were exempt from these laws. The 17<sup>th</sup> century Queens of England were all Catholic and their right to freedom of worship was written into their marriage contracts. There was therefore always a Royal Catholic chapel, firstly in St. James’ Palace, and later in Somerset House. <br>The other group were the diplomats associated with the London embassies from European Catholic countries. The embassies each had their private chapels which were allowed open services with music and ceremonies to serve their large staffs since they were technically on foreign soil. They attracted many other Catholics, as evidenced by the registers which mostly record English and Irish people both from the city and in from the country, not foreign nationals.
'''Chart: English Catholic Dioceses and Archdioceses (denoted by *)<br>[Abstracted from Gandy 2001-3]'''
{| width="450" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1"
|-
! scope="col" | NAME
! scope="col" | COUNTIES
|-
| align="center" colspan="2" | '''PROVINCE OF BIRMINGHAM'''
|-
| Birmingham *
| Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire
|-
| Clifton
| Gloucestershire, Somerset,. Wiltshire
|-
| Plymouth
| Cornwall, Devon, Dorset
|-
| Shrewsbury
| Cheshire, Shropshire
|-
| align="center" colspan="2" | '''PROVINCE OF CARDIFF'''
|-
| Cardiff *
| Glamorgan, Herefordshire, Monmouthshire
|-
| Menevia
| All Wales except Glamorgan and Monmouthshire
|-
| align="center" colspan="2" | '''PROVINCE OF LIVERPOOL'''
|-
| Hexham and Newcastle
| Durham, Northumberland
|-
| Lancaster
| Cumberland, N. Lancashire, Westmorland
|-
| Leeds
| Yorkshire (West Riding)
|-
| Liverpool *
| Isle of Man, SW Lancashire
|-
| Middlesbrough
| Yorkshire (East and North Ridings)
|-
| Salford
| SE Lancashire
|-
| align="center" colspan="2" | '''PROVINCE OF WESTMINSTER'''
|-
| Brentwood
| Essex
|-
| Northampton
| Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Northamptonshire, Norfolk, Suffolk
|-
| Nottingham
| Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland
|-
| Portsmouth
| Berkshire, Channel Islands, Hampshire
|-
| Southwark
| Kent, Surrey, Sussex
|-
| Westminster *
| Hertfordshire, London N of Thames Middlesex<ref>Christensen, Penelope. "England Catholic Church Archdioceses and Dioceses (National Institute)," ''The National Institute for Genealogical Studies'' (2012), https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/England_Catholic_Church_Archdioceses_and_Dioceses_%28National_Institute%29.</ref>
|}
=== Catholic Records  ===
From the time of the Reformation most congregations considered it too risky to keep records. There are very few registers, really priests’ notebooks, extant before 1750 and not too many before 1791. The earliest extant provincial (outside London) register is a priest’s notebook for Baddesley Clinton, a tiny place in Warwickshire, which commences in 1657, but most places only have registers from the 1770s, and particularly after 1791, when public services became legal. Some early ones on microfilm are:
*Registers from the city of Worcester—baptisms 1685-1837, 3 marriages (1801, 1827, 1828), deaths 1774-1806, are on {{FHL|254847|item|disp=FHL film 1999506}}.
*Registers of Father Bruno Cantrill in London 1726-1755 on {{FHL|301084|item|disp=FHL film 0547198}}.
*The notebook and supplementary documents of Rev. Monox Hervey covering marriages and baptisms from 1729-1756 on {{FHL|391978|item|disp=FHL film 0599709}}.
*Registers of Fr. Joseph Alexiuc Smallwood in London 1730-1750 on {{FHL|301084|item|disp=FHL film 0547198}}.
*Registers of Fr. Arthur Pacificus Baker near Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London 1747-1773 on {{FHL|301084|item|disp=FHL film 0547198}}.
*Registers of the domestic chapel at Arundel Castle, (Duke of Norfolk and household), afterwards the public chapel at Arundel 1749-1835 with list of burials in the Fitzalan chapel at Arundel on {{FHL|392118|item|disp=FHL film 0599713}}.
A large amount of material has been filmed, for example a keyword search on the FamilySearch Catalog for YORKSHIRE CATHOLIC produces 100 titles alone. Many of those records that have been filmed have been added to the IGI and a check of the Parish and Vital Records List will ascertain which ones.
Only a few registers have been deposited, and for all others contact the nearest priest or diocesan archives whose addresses can be obtained from the [http://www.catholic-ew.org.uk Catholic Directory] or by emailing the diocese.
==== Catholic Registers  ====
The surviving registers of the London Royal and embassy chapels include:
*''St. James Palace Catholic Chapel'', later ''Somerset House Chapel'' 1671 onwards on {{FHL|302342|item|disp=FHL film 0599717}}.
*''Portuguese Chapel'' 1696-1849 with most on {{FHL|302342|item|disp=FHL film 0599717}}.
*''Sardinian Chapel'', later ''Lincoln’s Inn Fields'', and later ''Kingsway Chapel'', 1729 onwards.
*''Spanish Chapel'', later ''St. James’ Spanish Place'', 1730 onwards, indexes of which occur on {{FHL|629117|item|disp=FHL fiche 6903845 (1)}} (christenings 1730-1772) and {{FHL|629117|item|disp=FHL fiche 6903845 (1)}} (marriages 1730-1822).
*''Venetian Chapel'', which closed when France conquered Venice, 1744-1796.
*''Bavarian Chapel'', later ''Warwick Street'' (near Regent Street) 1747 onwards.
*''Austrian Chapel'' which tended to be more restricted to foreign nationals, 1765-1820.
*''Neapolitan Chapel'' 1772-1855.
*''French Chapel'' 1795-1910.
In 1837 and 1858, when Non-Anglican registers were called in, few Catholic clergy chose to deposit theirs—76 mainly northern ones out of 587 churches—and they remain either with them, in their Diocesan archives, in the central Catholic Archives, or in county archives. Gandy (''Catholic Missions and Registers, 1994'') has analyzed all the extant registers as well as the many transcripts published by Phillimore’s and the Catholic Record Society, and this is the definitive list of what is available and where, however the FamilySearch Catalog is a useful adjunct as much has been filmed.
==== Catholic Births and Baptisms  ====
Baptisms are usually done sooner than in other churches, either on the day of birth or up to a week afterwards. The registers typically give dates of birth and baptism, names of parents and godparents (a.k.a. sponsors), and usually the mother’s maiden name. Unlike Anglican registers, address and occupation for the father are not usually noted, and the entry will often be in Latin in the 18th and 19th century at least. From 1908 Catholics also had to have their place of marriage inserted with their original baptism entry, so this can affect registers in the second half of the 19th century. For adult convert baptisms there may be a note in the register to this effect, and there may be a separate note-book of converts as well. A point to bear in mind with the huge influx of Irish immigrants, most of whom were desperately poor and illiterate, is that they were unused to having a system of civil birth registration. It did not start until 1864 in Ireland and as so many came during the famine period in the late 1840s it is not surprising that the births of their children are unfindable—but they would have had them baptized.
==== Catholic Confirmations  ====
Early records of confirmations are rare, although there are the examples of:
*20,000 in northern England, often whole families, confirmed by Bishop Leyburn in 1687.
*Another tour by Bishop Challoner occurred in 1742-5 in southern England.
*Midland District 1768-1815.
*London and Home Counties 1826-1843.


Catholic priests usually did not keep registers before 1778 and many registers were written in Latin. Baptism registers usually include the names of the child’s sponsors or godparents.  
Catholic priests usually did not keep registers before 1778 and many registers were written in Latin. Baptism registers usually include the names of the child’s sponsors or godparents.  


Some registers have been published by the Catholic Record Society. The {{FHL|415522|title-id|disp=Family History Library}} has most of these published registers, and depending on the area, may&nbsp;have microfilms&nbsp;of some&nbsp;Catholic parish registers. Currently, unlike in Scotland, and most other church registers of the United Kingdom,&nbsp;the vast genealogical&nbsp;treasures of the&nbsp;Roman Catholic parish&nbsp;registers&nbsp;have mostly never been centrally located--at least&nbsp;on a national basis, for preservation and security, nor microfilming/imaging purposes.  
Some registers have been published by the Catholic Record Society. The {{FHL|415522|title-id|disp=Family History Library}} has most of these published registers, and depending on the area, may&nbsp;have microfilms&nbsp;of some&nbsp;Catholic parish registers. Currently, unlike in Scotland, and most other church registers of the United Kingdom,&nbsp;the vast genealogical&nbsp;treasures of the&nbsp;Roman Catholic parish&nbsp;registers&nbsp;have mostly never been centrally located--at least&nbsp;on a national basis, for preservation and security, nor microfilming/imaging purposes.<ref>Christensen, Penelope. "England Catholic Church Records, Registers, Births, Baptisms, Confirmations (National Institute)," ''The National Institute for Genealogical Studies'' (2012), https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/England_Catholic_Church_Records,_Registers,_Births,_Baptisms,_Confirmations_%28National_Institute%29.</ref>
 
Lists of candidates for confirmation become more frequent and then annual in the 19<sup>th</sup> century, and only at this time can one estimate the ages of the confirmands, usually 7-9 in the 19<sup>th</sup> century. Only their name, surname and religious name, (which has no genealogical significance), are recorded in a confirmation record, but it does at least establish that the child survived this long and was in this place on this date. When the dioceses were established in 1850 bishops started to keep their own records of confirmations, thus a duplicate of the parish record should appear here. There are other non-parochial ones as well, such as those that took place in schools and prisons, and for adult converts.
 
==== Catholic Marriages  ====
 
During the period of Hardwicke’s Marriage Act 1754-1837 upper and middle class Catholics usually had two ceremonies—one Catholic to satisfy the conscience and one Anglican to satisfy the law for inheritance and legitimacy of children. This meant twice the expense, and poor couples, who didn’t need the latter, made do with just a Catholic marriage. Yates found that ten marriages were celebrated between 1790 and 1805 in the Roman Catholic Chapel of St. Nicholas, Mint Lane, Exeter, Devon. At least eight of these were legally married on the same day or later in the Church of England in Exeter, or the nearby towns of Sidmouth and Exmouth.
 
It is worth searching out the Catholic as well as the Anglican records since the former is likely to give more information pre-1837, and may do so after this date. Items given in Catholic pre-1837 registers, for which the Anglican edition is the Hardwicke format, could include name of former husband of a widow, notation if one is not Catholic, residences of both parties and of their parents, and any dispensation on account of consanguinity or affinity.
 
Even after 1837 many Catholic marriages are not to be found in either the Anglican church or the register office, since vast numbers of poor Irish emigrants could not afford the registration fee. The Catholic marriage registers are usually in Latin and there were no printed ones until 1856 except at some embassy chapels. Many of the poor Catholics could not write their names, or only in Irish characters, however there may be a surprising amount of extra information in these records. Apart from the standard date, names of parties, witnesses and minister, most give the names of the fathers and sometimes the mother’s Christian names also. Local addresses and/or the Irish county of origin may also be stated.
 
The IHGS (Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies) holds a Catholic Marriage Index containing 30,000 entries for 30 places in London north of the Thames plus Essex for the period 1837-1870 which they will consult for a fee.
 
Commencing in July 1837 duplicate marriages occur in the GRO indexes, as in the PARGETER/LOVEGROVE example noted below. The certificates show two separate marriages for the same couple on the same day, 28 August 1858. The names of the parties and their fathers were the same on both certificates, but a number of differences were apparent:
 
<br> '''Chart 26: Duplicate Marriage by Anglican and Catholic Rites'''
 
{| width="600" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1"
|-
! scope="col" | St. George’s Catholic Church
! scope="col" | St. Mary’s Parish Church
|-
| in the District of St. George the Martyr, Southwark, Surrey
| valign="top" | Lambeth in the District of Lambeth, Surrey
|-
| valign="top" | Rites and Ceremonies of the Roman Catholics.
| Rites and Ceremonies of Established Church by Licence
|-
| George William PARGETER bachelor s/o George William PARGETER (deceased)
| George William PARGETER bachelor s/o George William PARGETER (dec’d)
|-
| Matilda LOVEGROVE spinster d/o Henry Churchill LOVEGROVE
| Matilda LOVEGROVE spinster d/o Henry Churchill LOVEGROVE
|-
| Groom was 26 and the bride 23 years old.
| Both ‘of full age’
|-
| Groom and his father were bedding manufacturers
| Groom and his father were both bedding factors
|-
| Groom lived in James Street, New Cut
| Groom lived in Lower Marsh
|-
| Bride lived in Cornwall Road, Lambeth
| Bride lived in Cornwall Road
|-
| Bride’s father was a publican
| Bride’s father a licensed victualler
|-
| Priest and Registrar signed.
| Curate signed
|-
| Two of the Pargeter family witnessed thus we can infer that the husband was a Catholic.
| Two of the Lovegrove family witnessed thus we can infer that the bride was an Anglican.
|}
 
<br>
 
Where a Catholic married a non-Catholic the latter partner was sometimes required to sign a paper allowing the children to be raised in the Catholic faith, and these papers are occasionally found slipped into the registers. From the 1920s couples had to state their place of baptism on a Catholic marriage application form.
 
==== Catholic Deaths and Burials  ====
 
There were a few Catholic churchyards, but the majority of Catholics were buried in Anglican ones, with some receiving large numbers of Catholics, examples in London being St. Pancras, St. Sepulchre Newgate/Holborn, St. Giles-in-the-Fields, St. Andrew Holborn, and St. James Clerkenwell. In most cases there is nothing to distinguish them in the registers, but in others the word&nbsp;''papist'' may have been added, or the name of the officiating minister may be recognizably Catholic, or there might be a notation ''Catholic priest ''under his name, for example in the Formby, Lancashire registers. Likewise, some Anglican clergy just did not record the Catholics who were buried, or were not aware of who they were if they had been buried secretly at night with an illegal Catholic ceremony. Perhaps some of these were papists who had been excommunicated by the Established Church and were thus not supposed to be buried in consecrated ground. When the new borough cemeteries were built after 1853 then Catholics preferred these if within reach, or the Catholic sections of urban cemeteries. Cremation has not been popular amongst practising Catholics. In London the main Catholic cemeteries were:
 
*''Mortlake'' in the southwest opened 1852 ( before the new Burial Act).
 
*''Kensal Green'' in the northwest opened in 1858, burials transcribed 1858-1876 on {{FHL|606911|item|disp=FHL fiche 6343226-7 (11)}}* and monumental inscriptions on {{FHL|606931|item|disp=FHL fiche 6343228 (1)}}*.
 
*''Leytonstone'' in the east opened 1861, being transcribed by the Catholic Record Society.
 
*''All Souls, Chelsea'' transcribed 1845-1858 on {{FHL|606362|item|disp=FHL fiche 6343215 (2)}}* or {{FHL|606362|item|disp=FHL fiche 6344548 (2}})*.
 
*''South London Crematorium'' (part) opened in 1936.
 
<br>
 
There are special registers for the armed services, for example for the army the Roman Catholic Chaplaincy at Aldershot has baptisms, marriages and burials, (but not war deaths), which have been copied, and the Curragh British Army Camp Catholic parish in Kildare, Ireland has baptisms and marriages 1855-1880 on {{FHL|346684|item|disp=FHL film 0926111}}. Some Catholic priests kept death registers, but with only the name and age of the deceased, and the place of burial. Some priests kept a list of the sick they had visited, especially when the last rites were necessary. Catholic churches have lists of names of the deceased arranged by day and month so that masses may be said for them on the anniversary of their death.<ref>Christensen, Penelope. "England Catholic Church Records, Deaths, Burials (National Institute)," ''The National Institute for Genealogical Studies'' (2012), https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/England_Catholic_Church_Records,_Deaths,_Burials_%28National_Institute%29.</ref>
 
==== Catholic Archives  ====
 
All dioceses have an archives with good collections, and there are other specialist Catholic archives in Catholic schools and religious orders which can be visited by appointment. A number have put their registers into the county record offices, and many have them filmed as well. At the diocesan level there will be a card index as well as the ordination book of all priests who have served in the diocese. There should also be a complete set of the Diocesan Year Book back to the its founding—similar to a Catholic Directory but on a diocesan scale. Large diocesan archives include:
 
Ÿ'''''Westminster'''''—a very large one containing:
 
*Correspondence of the Vicars Apostolic.
*Much 16th century material.
*Registers of Missions and embassy chapels.
*Diaries.
*Account books.
*Private papers.
*List of over 20,000 confirmations in morthern counties in 1687
 
:*''Southwark''<br>
 
:*''Northern Vicariate'' are held by the Bishop of Leeds, Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, and Liverpool Record Office.<br>
 
:*''Midland Vicariate ''are at Birmingham.<br>
 
:*''Western Vicariate ''are held by the Bishop of Clifton.
 
Archives for the ''religious orders'' are variously held with much still in foreign hands:
 
*Jesuits who have an archive in London and one at Stonyhurst School in Lancashire.
*Benedictines archives at Downside Abbey near Bath with a fine Catholic topographical library, and at Ampleforth.
*Franciscans have an archive at Forest Gate, West Ham, London
 
Much of the relevant 16<sup>th</sup>-18<sup>th</sup> century research material is in the PRO and some in the Parliamentary Archives.
 
==== Catholic Charities and Organizations  ====
 
Many charity lists of both donors and recipients exist, and membership and activities of the various parish and national organizations have left many records. The Catholic Church was unique in England in that because of its history the members were divided largely into two disparate groups—the poor Irish, and the rich who were either old established gentry or converts. As an example of what is available on film, the Catholic Philanthropic Society of Warrington, Lancashire has on films 1,701,196-7:
 
*Roll of members 1823-1897.
*List of those receiving aid 1823-1872.
*Memorandum 1821, 1831-1843.
*Meeting minutes 1840-1861.
 
<br> {{Note| However most records of this type date from the period after 1860.}}
 
<br> The Catholic parish often served all the social needs of many parishioners, so there were groups for all kinds of activities, some local like dances and football clubs, and others part of national organizations like scouts and guides. The parish magazines, if they survive, can be mines of information about your ancestors’ activities and some events will have rated the local or regional newspaper. Purely Catholic national organizations whose local records are likely to be with the parish priest include:
 
*''Bona Mors (The Confraternity of a Happy Death'')—This was a monthly get-together and saying of mass for deceased members, and lists of members may survive.<br>
 
*''Catenians''<br>
 
*''Knights of Columbus''—A men’s benevolent association founded - 1882.<br>
 
*''Rosary Confraternities''—These were similar to the Bona Mors.<br>
 
*''Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVP)''—An organization that assisted the poor in various ways, with records including details of baptism, marriage, sickness, income, work history and schools attended for the families that were assisted.
 
==== Catholic Clergy Records  ====
 
Types of clergy include ''regulars'' who were priests or clergy living under vows, following a rule of life and belonging to an order such as Benedictines or Jesuits; and ''secular or seminary priests'' ministered to English congregations but did not belong to a religious order. A ''vicar apostolic'' was a Catholic bishop in a country without an ecclesiastical hierarchy, so equivalent to a diocesan bishop. The Catholic Record Society’s ''Miscellanea VII'' contains a fascinating article on priests in England and Wales in 1692. The chart below gives examples from the section on the Archdeaconry of Hampshire and Somerset.<ref>Christensen, Penelope. "England Catholic Church Records, Archives, Charities, Organizations, Clergy (National Institute)," ''The National Institute for Genealogical Studies'' (2012), https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/England_Catholic_Church_Records,_Archives,_Charities,_Organizations,_Clergy_%28National_Institute%29.</ref>
 
'''Chart: Particulars of Priests in England 1692'''
 
{| width="600" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1"
|-
! align="center" scope="col" | Priests
|-
| '''Mr John Churcher''' of Valadolid on the mission about 45 yrs and hath taken great pains, is now very aged and past labour being troubled with cancer in the breast, he resides at Sir Henry Tichborne's in Hampshire
|-
| '''Mr Augustine Tayler''', A Roman [educated at the English College in Rome], hath been in the mission I believe above 20 years, hath taken great pains both in the School at Silkstead and in the mission, now is much exhausted by sickness. He resides mostly in Winchester.
|-
| '''Mr Bonaventure Codrington''' of Doway [Douai], hath been in the mission about 14 years or upwards most of which time he hath spent in Hampshire. He is a very faithful labourer, exceeding zealous and diligent, he mostly resides at Mr Barlow at Compton near Winchester.
|-
! align="center" scope="col" | Regulars
|-
| '''Mr Augustin Hill''' of the order of St. Francis of Assissium, resides constantly at Sir Henry Tichbornes.
|-
| '''Mr Theodore Lewis alias Francis Shelley''', Jesuit, resides constantly with Mr Charles Wells at Brambridge near Winchester.
|-
| '''Mr Grey, actually Gilbert Talbot''' who became 13th Earl of Shrewsbury, Jesuit, resides with Mr Philip Caryll at North near Petersfield, Hampshire.
|}
 
In England the equivalent to the Church of England’s ''Crockford’s Clerical Directory'' is ''The Catholic Directory'' published annually by The ''Universe'' newspaper; prior to 1845 it was called ''The Laity’s Directory''. This gives:
 
*Catholic dioceses and parishes and the organization in each diocese.
*Name of each diocesan archivist, if there is one, or the Bishop’s secretary to whom you write if there isn’t.
*The names of all officials and parish priests with their addresses and phone numbers.
*Religious houses, schools, and national and local Catholic societies.
*Indexes of priests, places and subjects and much else of interest.
*The diocesan archivist or Bishop’s secretary can consult the ordination book and card catalogue of priests for the diocese.
 
==== Catholic Family and Estate Papers  ====
 
During the penal period those who survived as Catholics were largely gentry and their Catholic servants and estate workers. The gentry were literate and educated and there are a great many family papers in existence which detail the lower classes in the household as well as the more affluent. These may be deposited in record offices or may still be with the family. The Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, now part of the National Archives, keeps a list of known ones, where they are and how they may be accessed, and this is searchable online. There are also a large number of local histories of Catholic families. Good places to start the search are: The five volumes of Gillow’s ''Bibliographic Dictionary of the English Catholics'' on {{FHL|265310|item|disp=FHL films 0896646-8}}, for which there is also an index and finding list by Bevan (Index and Finding List to Joseph Gillow’s Bibliographical Dictionary of the English Catholics. J.W. Arrowsmith Ltd for John Bevan, Bristol, England. {{FHL|265310|item|disp=FHL book 942 D3giL index)}}.
 
*Foley’s ''Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus'' in 8 volumes on {{FHL|262947|item|disp=FHL films 0599477-83}}.
*Kirk’s ''Lives of the Eighteenth Century English Catholics''.
 
==== Catholic Institutions and Religious Orders  ====
 
Catholic priests and men and women in religious orders are very well documented and occur in most Catholic families, even though you are unlikely to be descended from one. Some folks are, as celibacy was not a requirement until the 16th century, and a few monks, nuns etc. entered an order after having had a family life, (and perhaps a few were naughty!) However, it is worth examining the records since any ancestor is likely to have had one or more siblings in a Catholic order, and their parentage and history will offer clues to your ancestor’s. The ''Catholic Directory'' is a good place to start, and then contact the appropriate diocesan archives which probably has a biography and perhaps a lot more. The Catholic Archive Society has been active in assisting amateur archivists at various Catholic institutions and orders to sort their material. 19<sup>th</sup> century material is becoming available as each diocese now has a record office which accepts deposits of this older material. Some bishops have designated the County Archives as their Diocesan Record Office in a similar manner to Anglican churches, and the FHL is microfilming as time and resources permit.
 
From 1568 Catholics had set up English institutions on the continent. Boys were sent for their general education to the colleges at Dieulouard, Douai, St. Gregory and St. Omer, and older ones were trained for the priesthood in seminaries in Lisbon, Madrid, Paris, Rome, and Valladolid. Convents for education of girls, some of whom would become nuns, were established starting in 1598 at such places as Bruges, Cambrai, Dunkirk, Ghent, Gravelines, Liége Louvain, Pontoise and Paris. By 1660 there were 40 English Catholic educational institutions in Europe. As they were located in safe, Catholic countries records could be kept and much of what is known about English Catholic families of the penal period derives from this source. The young people abroad were encouraged to write about their families and their experiences for the sake of Catholicism and the researcher can read these accounts today as they have been preserved. Most Catholic families will have some relatives in these annals. The continental institutions returned to England at the end of the 18<sup>th</sup> century and some of the easily accessible records published by the Catholic Record Society are shown in in the chart below.
 
The main male religious orders in Britain have been the Benedictines, Dominicans, Franciscans and Jesuits but there are many smaller groups as well. Their active participation in running institutions of various kinds is well documented.
 
There were about 7,000 nuns in England in 1900 and a central database of all those before 1914 is being compiled by the Catholic Family History Society and the Catholic Archives Society for eventual publication. The CFHS maintains an index of 14,000 English nuns from about 60 orders, out of an estimated 20,000 who have been in religious orders prior to 1914. Many of the congregations and houses of nuns have excellent records, and the database will provide a means of finding out which Order your relative joined. Nuns were usually very involved in running schools, hospitals, old people’s homes and orphanages or in foreign missions. Don’t be surprised to find plenty of French, Belgian, German and Irish as well as Anglican and Nonconformist converts working alongside them!
 
'''Chart: Some Records of English Religious Orders<br>in Europe and England'''
 
{| width="600" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1"
|-
| Records of the English cannonesses of the Holy Sepulchre at '''Liége''' now at '''New Hall, Essex''' 1652-1793 on {{FHL|392034|item|disp=FHL film 0599710}}.
|-
| Registers of the English Benedictine nuns of '''Pontoise''', now at '''Teignmouth''', Devon 1680-1713 on {{FHL|392034|item|disp=FHL film 0599710}}.
|-
| English Benedictine nuns in '''Flanders''' 1598-1687, annals of their five communities on {{FHL|338796|item|disp=FHL film 0599467}}.
|-
| English Benedictine nuns of our Blessed Lady of Good Hope in '''Paris''', now at St. Benedict’s Priory, '''Colwich, Staffordshire''', notes and obituaries 1652-1861 on {{FHL|300908|item|disp=FHL film 0599708}}.
|-
| The '''Douay''' College diaries, 3rd, 4th and 5th, 1598-1654: with the Rheims report 1579-80, and the 7th diary 1715-1778, preceded by a summary of events 1691-1715 on {{FHL|300985|item|disp=FHL films 0599708-9}} and {{FHL|300985|item|disp=FHL film 0599714}}.
|-
| Obituary notices of the English Benedictine nuns of '''Ghent''' in Flanders, and at '''Preston, Lancashire''' 1527-1811 on {{FHL|301084|item|disp=FHL film 0547198}}
|-
| Annals of the English College at '''Seville''' with accounts of other foundations at '''Vallodolid''', St. Lucar, Lisbon and '''St. Omers''' on {{FHL|391978|item|disp=FHL film 0599709}}.
|-
| Registers of the English Poor Clare nuns at '''Gravelines''' with notes of foundations at '''Aire, Dunkirk''' and '''Rouen''' 1608-1837 on {{FHL|391978|item|disp=FHL film 0599709}}.
|-
| English Benedictine nuns of '''Brussels''' and '''Winchester''' 1598-1856 on {{FHL|391978|item|disp=FHL film 0599709}}.
|-
| Register book of St. Gregory’s College at '''Paris''' 1667-1786 on {{FHL|301084|item|disp=FHL film 0547198}}.
|}
 
In ''Miscellanea VII'' on {{FHL|391841|item|disp=FHL film 0599708}} is an example of notes and obituaries of Catholic nuns, including a picture of the convent and facsimiles of signatures of some of the senior sisters. A sample obituary is shown below.
 
'''Chart: Excerpts from the Obituary of an English Benedictine Nun of the Convent of Our Blessed Lady of Good Hope in Paris'''
 
{| width="600" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1"
|-
| '''1663. Some Briefe Remarkes of ye very Religious Sister, Str Rachel Lanning juniour; departed this Life, the 19th of January in the yeare 1663.'''<br>The very Religious Sister Rachel Lanning of Saint John Baptest, was Borne in London in England of vertus Catholike and English parents; her Father was Mr Thomas Lanning, and her Mother Mrs Catharine Bruges, And this their Daughter being of a good and solid judgment; gave herselfe much to devotion and retierment; and by the divine conduct she came to be acquainted with ye Rd Father Huge Starkey one of our holy order, who gave her the Abrigment of venble Father Augustin Baker his Instructions in print, called ''Sancta Sophia''; and some directions for mentall prayer. ........... she was received to her holy profession the 9th October 1660 I was the second professed for the Quire. She was of an interne Contemplative Spirite, and made such great progress in ye way of perfection yt that one may truly say she accomplish’d much, in a short time; for two years after her profession she being of a tender constitution, and the Aire of Paris too sharpe for her, she fell into a consumption; with an ulcer in her liver; so that six munths before her death, she was constraned to keepe her bedd continually. ........ she happily departed this life ye 19th January 1663 about ye 23 of her age, and 2d of her holy profession; ........ she lieth in ye Royall-Abbay of Valdigrace here in Paris. ...... Requiescat in pace. Amen
|}
 
Priests are well documented, at least while they were abroad, but during the penal period they are a lot harder to trace as they frequently used false names to avoid detection. However, the names used were often selected carefully to reassure believers that they were true priests rather than one of the many informers trying to gain a reward by uncovering a Catholic priest. Typically the mother’s maiden name, or some other family name was used, and this is very helpful to the genealogist, especially as this was the period when Catholic marriages tend not to have been written down. There are several standard texts on priests, including:
 
*Anstruther’s ''Seminary Priests 1558-1800''.
*Bellenger’s English and Welsh Priests 1558-1800.
*Birt’s ''Obit Book of the English Benedictines''.
*Fitzgerald-Lombards’s ''English and Welsh Priests 1801-1914''.
*Holt’s ''English Jesuits 1650-1829''.
 
Gandy (''Catholic Family History: A Bibliography of General Sources''. Self-published, 1996) lists many more. A fascinating history of the late 16th century missioner’s safe-house at Grosmont Priory in Yorkshire can be found in Boddy (''Catholic Missioners at Grosmont Priory''. North Yorkshire County Record Office. {{FHL|179215|item|disp=FHL book 942.74/G8 K2b)}}. It gives great detail about the local Catholics as well as the missioners themselves.<ref>Christensen, Penelope. "England Catholic Church Records, Priests, Family and Estate Papers, Religious Orders (National Institute)," ''The National Institute for Genealogical Studies'' (2012), https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/England_Catholic_Church_Records,_Priests,_Family_and_Estate_Papers,_Religious_Orders_%28National_Institute%29.</ref>
 
Sometimes there are parish Catholic censuses, often variously annotated later. Small parishes often kept lists of Easter communicants, which was the minimal requirement of attendance. At the parish level, ''church notice books'' are the equivalent of a parish diary, and there will be ''parish magazines, annual reports'' and magazines from local Catholic organizations. There will usually be a ''parish history'' which will include several generations of families, and the ''church account books'' are fruitful sources of local Catholic builders and suppliers. Records of local Catholic homes for the elderly may also be found, either with the home if it still exists, or with the archivist for the religious order that ran it.
 
==== Catholic Schools and Orphanages  ====
 
Once the national hierarchy had been re-established in 1850 Catholic schools and orphanages were set up and their records are often available. In a similar way to the Anglican system some schools were private and fee-paying while others were funded by charity for the poor. Where records survive they will be interesting to the family historian. When looking for records of orphanages and schools try the institution itself, if it still exists, the local archives and the appropriate Catholic archives. Don’t be put off by an institution employee’s indication that ‘there are no records’; they may have been safely deposited in an archives many years before that person joined the staff. For records of children who have been in care there is also a central agency called the ''Catholic Child Welfare Council'' that can forward your letter to the appropriate organization.
 
School Admission books will usually give the previous school attended, a typical register appears in the chart below. This is the entry for my grandfather; his family were not Catholic but his mother thought the Catholic school was ‘nicer’. From it I learned that he had attended the infants department, (ages 5-7), of the local Servite School, and had transferred to St. Joseph’s a month after his 8th birthday.
 
'''Chart: Admission Register, St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Primary School, Cadogan St, Chelsea, Middlesex February 1897'''
 
{| width="600" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1"
|-
| Admission Number
| 596
|-
| Date of Admission
| 15.2.97
|-
| NAME, Christian and Surname
| THOM, Dashwood
|-
| Date of Birth
| 15.1.89
|-
| Name and Address of Parent or Guardian
| -----, 6 Cheyne Row
|-
| School Last Attended
| Servite
|}
 
Catholics were naturally concerned over the religious education of poor Catholic children who were placed in the workhouse, which was very Anglican. They managed to get Creed Registers kept in the workhouses giving the religious affiliation of all children and some of these survive. The principle was established that Catholic children should be transferred to Catholic institutions, however this didn’t always happen owing to obstruction or apathy by the authorities. A Catholic Poor Law Board was set up to process the paperwork as most poor parents were illiterate. Where these records survive they can be a mine of genealogical information.
 
Catholic Industrial (reform) Schools list the name of each child and the court sentencing them, as well as the names, address, occupation and situation of the parents. There was a Catholic Emigration Society which sent children to Canada, as well as the Westminster Diocesan Education Fund which supported orphans and handicapped children, who are named together with their teachers and pupil teachers. There were a few Catholic teacher training colleges, the most important being Notre Dame, Liverpool for women and Brook Green, Hammersmith, London for men.
 
==== Status Animarum  ====
 
From the 1850s each priest had to send a regular account of his congregation, called the ''Status Animarum,'' to his Bishop. Many survive, and earlier ones contain much personal detail, although later ones tend to contain just numbers of baptisms, Easter communicants and so forth. Some of these accounts can be quite detailed, especially for families with such problems as attendance, or mixed marriages, and a number have been published with the old mission registers by the CRS.
 
==== Catholic Wills  ====
 
Prior to 1858 Catholic wills were probated in normal (Anglican) ecclesiastical courts and are usually indistinguishable from others, as it was illegal to bequeath money for ''superstitious uses'' (meaning Catholic causes). The government kept tabs on Catholic inheritance and bequests after the Jacobite Rising of 1715 by requiring that all their wills be enrolled in the Close Rolls. Catholics got around this by having a separate ''spiritual will'' used for supporting chapels, priests or daughters in convents, or to have prayers said. These wills were not officially registered, of-course, but may survive in the receiving institutions. They contain cryptic wording such as ''for purposes he knows of or to X who knows my mind'', and the recipients are often found to be a senior Catholic official, or ''Mr Dowey'', which refers to the college of Douai, France.
 
Wills of notable Catholics, which may well mention household members, may have been microfilmed, thus that for Christopher Stonehouse (c1564-1631) of Dunsley, in the parish of Whitby, Yorkshire is on film 0,599,467. The CFHS maintains an index to beneficiaries of Lancashire wills, with 23,000 names at present.<ref>Christensen, Penelope. "England Catholic Church Records, Schools, Orphanages, Status Animarum, Wills (National Institute)," ''The National Institute for Genealogical Studies'' (2012), https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/England_Catholic_Church_Records,_Schools,_Orphanages,_Status_Animarum,_Wills_%28National_Institute%29.</ref>
 
=== Catholics in Early Non-Catholic Records  ===
 
Since Catholicism was to varying degrees illegal from 1559 to 1829 the state and state church (Anglican) monitored and tried to suppress it, resulting in a host of records at national and local levels. Gandy (''Basic facts about English Nonconformity for Family Historians''. Federation of Family History Societies, 1998) considers that Williams (''Sources for Recusant History (1559-1791) in English Official Archives''. Recusant History Vol 16 #4, 1983) is the best source for recusant history and Gandy’s two 1996 bibliographies (''Catholic Family History: A Bibliography of General Sources''. Self-published and ''Catholic Family History: A Bibliography of Local Sources''. Self-published) indicate the vastness of the literature with comprehensive lists for every time period and area.
 
==== National Records  ====
 
Amongst the national records which can be used to trace Catholic families are ''Recusant Rolls'' from 1591-1691. These are lists of fines and forfeits for non-attendance at the local parish church, and contain large numbers of Catholics as well as other dissenters. They mainly refer to the more prominent offenders, and some are on film, for instance roll 1 (1592-3) is on {{FHL|301047|item|disp=FHL film 0599711}}; roll 2 (1593-4) on {{FHL|301047|item|disp=FHL film 0599722}}, and rolls 3-4 (1594-6) on {{FHL|301047|item|disp=FHL film 0990031}}. In the early taxation records called the ''Lay Subsidy Rolls'' Catholics were taxed at double the regular rate and can therefore be readily identified.
 
The ''Memoranda Rolls'' in series E 368 contain recusant case histories. ''State Papers'' (SP series) of the 17th century have much family history detail and Shorney (''Protestant Nonconformity and Roman Catholicism. A Guide to Sources in the Public Record Office''. PRO Publications, 1996) should be consulted for more information on the many types and their PRO numbers. He also mentions the ''Privy Council'' (PC series), ''State Papers,'' Exchequer (E series) and ''Forfeited Estates Commission'' (FEC series) records of the 18th century which can reveal much about individual cases, particularly of the upper classes. The PRO leaflet D66 gives more sources on Catholic Recusants.
 
It should be noted that there was a great difference between ''reputed/suspected/known recusants'' and those actually ''convicted'' in a court such as Quarter sessions. The term ''superstitious'' is also used for Catholics, as in the ''Commission for Superstitious Lands'', an anti-Catholic enquiry in the 1690s. The Catholic Record Society has published a number of such national records, for example English Catholics who attended mass at the Spanish Embassy on Palm Sunday 1613/14 are the subject of a paper in Miscellanea VII on {{FHL|391841|item|disp=FHL film 0599708}}; examples are below.
 
'''Chart: Proceedings against Catholics for Attending Mass at the Spanish Embassy on Palm Sunday 1613/14'''
 
{| width="600" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1"
|-
| 22 Mar 1613 Thomas Davyes of Cheek (Chick) Lane in the Parish of St. Sepulchres, London, scrivenour, being examined confesseth himself to be a Popish Recusant and that he hath so been for many yeares past and purposeth so to continue. That coming along Barbican upon Sunday last was a sevennight he was seene to have a bough of hallowed Palm in his hands which he saith was given him by one Robert Wise of Horwell in Berkshire and being demanded whether he were not uppon Sunday last at the Spanish Ambassadours house to hear Mass, saith he will not accuse himself.
|-
| 28 Mar 1614 Robert Wise of ye Parish of St. James Clerkenwell, weaver examined before the Lord Bishop of London, confesseth himself to be a popish Recusant and that he was at the Spanish Ambassadors upon Sunday last was a fortnight being their Palm Sunday and there heard Masse and had a bough of Hallowed Box delivered unto him by ye priest as likewise there was unto divers others which bough he brought away with him but gave no part thereof to Thomas Davyes or any other without ye house and that there were present at that Masse in the Chappell at the least 200 persons the one half thereof being no Spaniards.
|}
 
<br> Convicted recusants, primarily Catholics, who went through a formal procedure to conform to the Church of England are detailed in the ''Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer’s Memoranda Rolls'' which are at the PRO in series E 368. Their lands and property were returned and fines usually excused as the state was more interested in the conformity than the money. However, in some cases the conversion was temporary and the same names appear again for similar offences. ''Catholic Ancestor'' has published lists of those conforming between 1590 and 1625. Lists of Catholics called ''Returns of Papists'' were made in 1680, 1705, 1706, 1767 (the most thorough) and 1780 and what survives are in the House of Lords Record Office in Westminster. Some give only statistics, but those for the dioceses of Chester, Durham and Hereford give names, ages, relationship within household, addresses, and how long in residence Many are published, for example the important 1767 return in Vol 1 Diocese of Chester with a separate index, and Vol 2 Other Dioceses which are in the {{FHL|91507item|disp=FHL book under 942 K25}} but are not filmed yet. These parliamentary summaries contain only initials, and the full names are in the originals in the Quarter Sessions records which happily are available on film.
 
==== County and Local Records  ====
 
The original lists from which the many national surveys etc., such as the Returns of Papists, Oaths of Allegiance, Lists of Recusants, Sacrament Certificates Land Tax, and Registration of Catholic Estates were compiled are with county Quarter Sessions or sometimes Petty or Borough Sessions and most of these are available on film. Some Anglican parishes list their papists regularly in their annual Churchwardens’ Presentments particularly in the 16th-17th centuries.
 
==== Returns of Papists  ====
 
Examples of different formats showing an increasing amount of detail can be found below.
 
<br> '''Chart:Return of Papists 1680 Kent Quarter Sessions'''
 
{| width="600" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1"
|-
| '''The Hundred of Blackheath Papists and Reputed Papists'''
Judeth Vandsvelder of Greenwich<br>Petronella Vanluo of Greenwich<br>Daniell Stibs of Woolwich<br>Edward Forshew (?) of Lew(i)sham<br>Mary Willson of Greenwich<br>Richard Hutton of Greenwich<br>Eliz: ye wife of Jno Gascoyne of Eltham<br>Eliz: ye wife of Christo: Greene of Eltham<br>Margarett ye wife of Francis More of Eltham<br>Richard Greene of Eltham<br>Jno Wyern gent of Lusham (sic Lewisham)<br>An. Wyern his wife<br>William Vandobeler a Dutch Painter, Greenwich
 
All those persons above mentioned have taken the oath of allegiance and supremacy the 16 day of Aprill 1680.
 
The persons undermentioned are gon away<br>Christopher Greene of Eltham gon to Lee (sic-Leigh), Essex.<br>Jane Parrott of the same gon to Newington Butts in ye County of Surr(e)y.<br>Christian Watters of Eltham gon away.<br>William Vandevelder junr is gon to live a bout St. James.<br>Charles Thayer of Deptford is gone to live in London as ye Constable heard.<br>Sir Thomas Grimes is gon from Lew(i)sham a bove a whole month ago as the Constable heard into Yorkshire.
 
Taken the 16th Aprill 1680 by us.<br>Thos Biddulph<br>Willm Hooke
 
|}
 
<br> '''Chart: Brentford, Middlesex return of Papists 1711 in Quarter Sessions —''' {{FHL|131641|item|disp=FHL film 2068200}}
 
{| width="600" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1"
|-
| '''Middlesex Sessions:'''<br>The Returne of the Hundred of Elthorne in Brentford Division, relating to Papists and reputed Papists
Pursuant to her Majesty’s late proclamation we have caused diligent search and inquiry to be made concerning Papists and reputed Papists, and upon the returne of the severall Constables we had notice given us, her Majesty’s Justices of the Peace for this County, living in and near the said Division, of the Persons hereunder mentioned (viz):
 
'''Mary Thompson''', widow living in New Brentford, one that Professes physick. She has refused to subscribe, make and repeat the Declaration of the 30th of King Charles the second, as by law required. She has promised to goe seven miles from the Citys and Libertys of London and Westminster, within two days from the date hereof.<br>Given under our hands and seales this fourteenth Day of Aprill in the tenth year of the Reigne of our Soverain Lady Anne of Great Britain etc Queen, Annop Dom. 1711.<br>[Signed] Chris: Clitherow<br>Thomas Cullum
 
|}
 
<br> '''Chart: Kensington, Middlesex return of Papists 1711 in Petty Sessions —''' {{FHL|131641|item|disp=FHL film 2068200}}
 
{| width="600" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1"
|-
| '''Middlesex Sessions: '''<br>An Account of the Names, Sirnames and places of abode of such Papists and reputed Papists against whom wee have granted warrants under our hands and Seales for apprehending and brining them before us at our Petty Sessions this day held at Kensington in the Parish of Fulham in the County aforesaid In order to their being severally proceeded against according to her Maj<sup>ties</sup> late Proclamation for Amoveing Papists etc from within Ten miles of the Cities of London and Westminster etc.<br>'''Mrs Cecilia Cornwallis''' reputed Mistress of a Popish Boarding School at Hamorsmith could [not be] taken as by the Constable’s oath appeareth to us.<br>'''Martha Marshall''' servant to the said Cecilia Cornwallis appeared before us last Tuesday and refused to make and subscribe to the Declaration mentioned in an Act of the 30<sup>th</sup> King Charles the Second.<br>'''Elizabeth Henslow''' an other servant at the same Boarding School<br>'''Elizabeth Clarke''' an other servant at the same Boarding School<br>'''Anne Mullinex''' another servant there<br>'''Mary Clift''' another servant there<br>'''Elizabeth Bond''' another servant there<br>[Last five} All absconded and could not ... as the Constable of Hamersmith ... now made oath before us.<br>'''Joseph Woodcock''' servant to Samuel Hudson a Weaver in Hamsmith or to a Lodger there could not be taken as the Constable hath made oath before us.<br>'''Mr. Thomas Roberts''' lodger at Mrs Elizabeth Racketts house in Hamersmith and could not be taken as the said Constable hath made oath before us.<br>'''Elizabeth Taylor''' servant to the same Mrs Rackett - abscond also and could not be taken.<br>'''Thomas Causby''' servant to the same Mrs Rackett could not be taken as by the said Constable’s [oath] now taken before us.<br>'''Mary Brown''' servant to Mrs Mary Bolney of the parish of Chelsey in the said County appeared now and refused to make and subscribe the Declaration mentioned in the Act 30<sup>th</sup> Car. Second.<br>'''George Williams''' butler to her Grace the Dutchess Dowager of Beaufort at Chelsey appeared and refused to make and subscribe to the Declaration aforesaid.<br>'''Jane Messenger''' an inmate in the Parish of Acton in the County aforesaid appeared but refused to make and subscribe the Declaration before mentioned.<br>This account or List is Returned this sixteenth day of Aprill 1711 by us.
(Signed and sealed) Nich. Goodwin<br> Jermyn Wicks<br> J.A. Cawley<br> Thomas Cullum<br> Peter Lavigne<br> Henry Fox<ref>Christensen, Penelope. "England Catholics in Early Non-Catholic Records (National Institute)," ''The National Institute for Genealogical Studies'' (2012), https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/England_Catholics_in_Early_Non-Catholic_Records_%28National_Institute%29.</ref>
 
|}
 
'''Chart: Return of Papists in Winchester Diocese 1767'''<br>{{FHL|426351|item|disp=FHL film 1544503}}<br> A variety of amounts of detail were provided as shown here.
 
{| width="600" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1"
|-
| '''Eling, Hampshire'''
|-
| No Papist or reputed Papist within the Parish. [signed] Samuel Speed, vicar, Sep 12 1767
|-
| '''Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey'''<br>''Papist professed'' - Mary Makraw, wife of John, labourerr, age 70 years, resided in Kingston 20 years.<br>''Papists reputed''- Thomas Waterhouse, surgeon and man midwife, age 55 yrs, resided in Kingston 30 yrs.<br>Wife of - Butler, painter, age 50 yrs, resided in Kingston 20 yrs.
|-
| Edward Sangwin, labourer age 34 yrs, resided in Kingston 10 yrs.
|-
| '''St. George, Southwark, Surrey'''<br> Examples among 42 people listed<br>Patrick McRayner, male age 50, dealer in lemons, resided 7 yrs<br>Alice McRayner, female age 40, resided here 7 yrs<br>Patrick McRayner, male 7 yrs, resided here 7 yrs<br>Nicholas McRayner, male 6 yrs, resided here 6 yrs<br>Elin McRayner, female 13 yrs, resided here 7 yrs<br>Elizabeth McRayner, female 10 yrs, resided here 7 yrs<br>Hannah Wilson, female age 52, dealer in greens, resided 10 yrs<br>Luigi Donini, male age 17, drawer, resided here 1 year<br>Elizabeth Hays, female age 60, gentlewoman, resided here 1 year<br>Catherine Quare, female age 40, broker, resided here 40 years<br>James Hughes, male age 40, distiller, resided here 20 years<br>Elizabeth Hughes, female age 30, [no occupation] resided 30 years
|-
| ‘22 males, 20 females, total 42. The above is as near as can be got at a true list of all the Papists or Reputed Papists in the said Parish. [signed] Leonard Howard D.D. Rector, 21 Sep 17676.
|-
| '''Farlington, Hampshire'''<br>John Blunden, male age 35, labourer working on the turnpike road, renting part of a cottage on Purbrook Heath, parishioner of Wymering. Resident here 6 years.
|-
| Elizabeth Moulton, female age 23, born Catherington, spinster, maid servant at Mr. Bridger’s on Purbrook Heath, resident 1 ½ yrs
|-
| '''Portsea, Hampshire'''<br>One man age 50, victualler, born Portsea.
|-
| One man age 40, tailor, resident 20 years.
|}
 
==== Oaths of Allegiance  ====
 
These were required at the beginning of each new reign. Catholics had refused to take the Oath of Supremacy for over two centuries, but in 1778 the Catholic Relief Act provided a special oath of loyalty to the crown for them, but lower and middle classes generally felt no need to do this.
 
==== Lists of Recusants  ====
 
It is worth noting that any list of Non-Anglicans can include Catholics and in certain parts of the country, for example Lancashire, these are likely to constitute a sizable number, if not the majority.
 
==== Sacrament certificates  ====
 
Gandy (''Pocket Guides to Family History: Tracing Nonconformist Ancestors''. PRO Publications, 2001) sums these up nicely ‘Catholics should not be in them, so appearance is evidence of either apostasy or hypocrisy’!
 
==== Land tax  ====
 
This tax was inaugurated in 1692 and Catholics were charged double until 1829 so can be identified. The returns are with the Quarter Sessions and have largely been filmed.
 
==== Papists Estates  ====
 
During the long period when Catholics were not allowed to own land, many had trusted Protestant friends in whom they vested their land, and some lawyers specialized in this business. However, when he died the nearest Protestant was able to claim the land, which would give rise to court records with much genealogical detail. An example of ''an inquisition post mortem'' from a manor court, which recognizes the heir to the deceased’s estate, is that of Thomas Wiseman of Wimbish, Essex, 1586, on film 0,599,708.
 
After the 1715 Jacobite Rebellion over 3,000 Catholics from Lancashire alone were involved with the ''Forfeited Estates Commission''. Since most were not affluent and would have fallen on poor relief they were not prosecuted.
 
Until 1778 Catholics could not officially be executors or administrators of wills, nor guardians of children, but sympathetic Protestant friends would often assist in disguising such acts, for example by wording a will so that named executors dispose of estates ''as they see fit or according to my mind which they know''.
 
During the penal period Catholics could not be educated at the universities since this would involve denying their beliefs. Some did go, nonetheless, and many went instead to the Inns of Court on London where the oath was not applied so rigorously.<ref>Christensen, Penelope. "England Catholics in Additional Early Non-Catholic Records (National Institute)," ''The National Institute for Genealogical Studies'' (2012), https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/England_Catholics_in_Additional_Early_Non-Catholic_Records_%28National_Institute%29.</ref>
 
=== Catholic Societies  ===
 
==== Catholic Archives Society (CAS)  ====
 
Formed by a group of about 100 archivists responsible for preservation of Catholic diocesan and religious order records in 1980. These archives and archivists are listed in its directory, its journal is ''Catholic Archives,'' but the society has no records for consultation by genealogists.
 
==== Catholic Family History Society (CFHS)  ====
 
This organization was founded in 1983 and is similar to a county FHS but with special knowledge of Catholic families and Irish families in England, Scotland and Wales. Their journal is the ''Catholic Ancestor'' and it is this group which family historians will find useful for advice, and to join for general information. They have an index of 14,000 English nuns and a Lancashire Wills Beneficiaries Index with 23,000 people so far listed.
 
==== Catholic Record Society (CRS)  ====
 
‘The Catholic Record Society, which was founded in 1904, is the premier Catholic historical society in the United Kingdom and is devoted to the study of Roman Catholicism in the British Isles from the Reformation period to the present day. The Society does not, however, have genealogical interests and cannot help those researching their family trees’ (CRS website). The CRS has produced a long run of genealogically important, indexed publications all the contents of which are listed on the CRS website:
 
*''Monograph Series'' in 5 volumes.
*''Occasional Publications—1767 Return of Papists.''
*''Records Series'' now up to 78 volumes, the early ones called ''Miscellanea,'' which include:
 
:*Transcribed private registers.
:*Lists of Catholic recusants in various counties, for example in the Recusant Rolls and Pipe Rolls.
:*Transcriptions of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Catholic registers up to about 1850.
:*Transcripts of early Lancashire parish registers.
:*Items on the religious orders of Benedictines, Dominicans, Franciscans and Jesuits.
:*Transcripts of PRO records.
:*Diaries and records of the English Catholic schools, colleges and convents on the continent.
::*''Recusant History'', their journal with 26 volumes from 1951 (Volumes 1-3 were published as ''Biographical Studies'').
 
<br> {{Note|A large number of local Catholic historical societies can be found listed in the current ''Catholic Directory,'' which should be in good public libraries.}}
 
<br>
 
=== Catholic Publications  ===
 
==== Catholic Literature  ====
 
The written material on the history of Catholicism in England is huge and is ably summarized in Gandy’s two invaluable volumes (''Catholic Family History: A Bibliography of General Sources''. Self-published, 1996, ''Catholic Family History: A Bibliography of Local Sources''. Self-published, 1996), with a short list of the more important ones (1998). He is certainly the foremost writer on English Catholic family history today and has published a number of guides to extant records (1994-2) and his short guide to research is authoritative (2001-1). The volumes of the Catholic Record Society are a prime source and there is much biographical material available. Rendal’s 1984 lecture on the CRSto the Society of Genealogists is a useful introduction to many kinds of records published by them, including occupational sources.
 
==== Catholic Periodicals  ====
 
''The Laity’s Directory'' (1768-1839) and its successor ''The Catholic Directory'' (1838 onwards) lists names and addresses of all parish priests by diocese, together with details of all the diocesan organizations such as archives, schools, societies and religious orders. There is a national section which covers those organizations organized centrally. Old editions can be very useful in tracing such things as local orphanages, movement of priests, and location of churches.
 
A full set is housed at the Catholic National Library, and the FHL holds the 1880, 1950, 1964, 1973, and 1978 editions, together with its successor, ''The Catholic Directory of England and Wales'' from 1986 in {{FHL|810109|item|disp=FHL book 942 K22c}}. The obituaries from the Laity’s Directory were reprinted in Volume 12 of the CRS Records Series.
 
''Recusant History'' has been published since 1951 by the Catholic Record Society; the first three volumes are entitled ''Bibliographical Studies''. A list of all articles published in ''Catholic Ancestor'' can be obtained from the secretary of the Catholic FHS which publishes it. Other include ''The London Recusant'', and ''Catholic Archives'' from the CAS which describes archival collections useful for Catholic research, mainly ones in England but some also in Ireland.
 
The earlier ''Miscellanea'' publications of the CRS are on several films. As an example of the variety of contents, Vol 17 on {{FHL|392034|item|disp=FHL film 0599710}} contains:
 
*Records of the English cannonesses of the Holy Sepulchre at Liége
*now at New Hall, Essex 1652-1793
*Registers of the English Benedictine nuns of Pontoise,
*now at Teignmouth, Devon 1680-1713
*Official enquiry as to the estate of Robert Charnock of Leyland, Lancashire
*Catholic registers of Harvington Hall,
*Chaddesley-Corbett, Worcestershire 1752-1823
*Catholic registers of Linton upon Ouse, Newton upon Ouse,
*near York 1771-1840
*Catholic registers of Kiddington, Oxfordshire 1788-1840
*Catholic registers of Woolston, Warrington, Lancashire 1771-1834
 
There have been a number of local Catholic family and local history societies which have published journals that can be found in libraries. Some societies are no longer functioning but back numbers of journals are still be found. Titles to look for include:
 
*''Essex Recusant''
*''Gloucester and Avon Catholic History''
*''Kent Recusant''
*''London Recusant''
*''Midlands Catholic History''
*''North West Catholic History''
*''Northern Catholic History''
*''South West Catholic History''
*''Staffordshire Catholic History''
*''Worcester Recusant''
 
Full details of a wide range of other [http://www.catholic-ew.org.uk Catholic journals] and a range of Diocesan magazines can be found in Gandy’s bibliographies on ''General Sources'' (1996-2) and ''Local Sources'' (1996-3). One portal on the net to access current English and Wales Catholic organizations is on their website .
 
<br>
 
==== Catholic Newspapers  ====
 
There have been a number of Catholic newspapers, the three largest ones that still publish are:
 
*The Universe from 1860.
*The Catholic Herald from 1888 with its many local editions.
*The Tablet from 1840.<ref>Christensen, Penelope. "England Catholic Historical Societies, Publications, Newspapers (National Institute)," ''The National Institute for Genealogical Studies'' (2012), https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/England_Catholic_Historical_Societies,_Publications,_Newspapers_%28National_Institute%29.</ref>


For information on records not available at the Family History Library,&nbsp;[http://www.catholic-history.org.uk/index.php contact the society.]  
For information on records not available at the Family History Library,&nbsp;[http://www.catholic-history.org.uk/index.php contact the Catholic Record Society.]


== Huguenots  ==
== Huguenots  ==
Murphynw
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