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Non-Parochial Registers in England and Wales: Difference between revisions
Non-Parochial Registers in England and Wales (view source)
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In 1852 this registration of places of religious worship was taken over by the Registrar General and details of all the earlier registrations were collected together on printed forms which are now at The National Archives (in RG31). Those without easy access to Kew will find that the descriptions of parishes in most of the older county directories include details of the main chapels. Those founded before 1831 appear in Samuel Lewis’s ''Topographical Dictionary of England'' (1831) and ''Wales'' (1833). | In 1852 this registration of places of religious worship was taken over by the Registrar General and details of all the earlier registrations were collected together on printed forms which are now at The National Archives (in RG31). Those without easy access to Kew will find that the descriptions of parishes in most of the older county directories include details of the main chapels. Those founded before 1831 appear in Samuel Lewis’s ''Topographical Dictionary of England'' (1831) and ''Wales'' (1833). | ||
== Non-surrendered Registers == | == Non-surrendered Registers == | ||
Although the majority of registers were surrendered, nothing was done to safeguard those registers which remained in the chapels or those created after 1857. Some have since been deposited in county record offices but others remain in the chapels themselves. Apart from post-1898 marriage registers, these registers have a doubtful legal status. There is no provision in law for their preservation (an Act of 1864 required chapels to keep burial registers and send copies to the diocesan registry but that seems very rarely to have been done) and there is no right of access to them. As a result there has been little inducement to good record keeping and, with the closure of chapels, it is often difficult to know whether registers were kept or whether they have disappeared. | Although the majority of registers were surrendered, nothing was done to safeguard those registers which remained in the chapels or those created after 1857. Some have since been deposited in county record offices but others remain in the chapels themselves. Apart from post-1898 marriage registers, these registers have a doubtful legal status. There is no provision in law for their preservation (an Act of 1864 required chapels to keep burial registers and send copies to the diocesan registry but that seems very rarely to have been done) and there is no right of access to them. As a result there has been little inducement to good record keeping and, with the closure of chapels, it is often difficult to know whether registers were kept or whether they have disappeared. | ||
The county sections of the ''National Index of Parish Registers'' include listings of the Nonconformist chapels in each county, their dates of foundation and details of surviving registers and copies. The | The county sections of the ''National Index of Parish Registers'' include listings of the Nonconformist chapels in each county, their dates of foundation and details of surviving registers and copies. The volumes mentioned below have lists of the surviving registers for each denomination. It may be best to check both lists. There are copies at The National Archives together with lists of the Nonconformist registers to be found at the London Metropolitan Archives (1991), the Westminster Archives (1986) and at the record offices for Bristol, Cleveland, Devon, Essex, Humberside and Sussex. | ||
== The Quakers == | == The Quakers == | ||