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England Nonconformist Church Records (view source)
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== Introduction == | == Introduction == | ||
A nonconformist denomination in England is any denomination not conforming to the Church of England | A nonconformist denomination in England is any denomination not conforming to the Church of England. Sometimes nonconformist was restricted to Protestant religions other than the Church of England; occasionally the term was intended to include Roman Catholics and Quakers, and rarely the term included other non-Christian faiths. The registers of other Christian denominations sometimes contain more information than those of the Church of England, often including a person’s birth date, baptism date, father’s name and residence, and mother’s name (including maiden name). | ||
Lord Hardwicke’s Act, passed in 1754, required that couples had to be married in the Church of England for their marriage to be legal, regardless of what religion one belonged to. An exception was made for Jews and Quakers. The law lasted until 1837 when civil registration began. | Lord Hardwicke’s Act, passed in 1754, required that couples had to be married in the Church of England for their marriage to be legal, regardless of what religion one belonged to. An exception was made for Jews and Quakers. The law lasted until 1837 when civil registration began. | ||
Nonconformist registers contain some burial entries, though nonconformists were usually buried in parish churchyards until the chapel obtained its own burial grounds or until civil cemeteries opened. | Nonconformist records are essential for those families who did not have a baptism, marriage, or burial take place in a Church of England or Church of Wales ceremony. As a result the Nonconformist records should be consulted when your ancestor does not show up in the Church of England or Wales records. Nonconformist registers contain some burial entries, though nonconformists were usually buried in parish churchyards until the chapel obtained its own burial grounds or until civil cemeteries opened. <br> | ||
It is not uncommon to find an ancestor affiliated with more than one religion during his or her lifetime. Search all religions and all chapels of a particular religion if an ancestor might be a nonconformist because some people changed religions and travelled long distances to attend their meetings. Ministers often travelled large circuits keeping the vital statistics of several places in the register they carried with them. | It is not uncommon to find an ancestor affiliated with more than one religion during his or her lifetime. Search all religions and all chapels of a particular religion if an ancestor might be a nonconformist because some people changed religions and travelled long distances to attend their meetings. Ministers often travelled large circuits keeping the vital statistics of several places in the register they carried with them. | ||
A law passed in 1836 required many nonconformist groups to send their registers into the Public Record Office. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of those that were deposited. Many of these records have been extracted, and the names appear on [http://www.familysearch.org www.familysearch.org] under ' | A law passed in 1836 required many nonconformist groups to send their registers into the Public Record Office. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of those that were deposited. Many of these records have been extracted, and the names appear on [http://www.familysearch.org www.familysearch.org] under 'Records.' | ||
[http://www.bmdregisters.co.uk/index.php The Official Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial BMDs Service] (BMDRegisters) is a database to search for records of birth, baptism, marriage, death and burial taken from non parish sources. Currently, the site indexes The National Archives records for [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATID=12173&CATLN=3&Highlight=&FullDetails=True RG4] and [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATLN=3&CATID=12174&SearchInit=4&CATREF=RG+5 RG5]. The projects continues by indexing [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATID=12175&CATLN=3&Highlight=&FullDetails=False RG 6], [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATID=12176&CATLN=3&Highlight=&FullDetails=True RG 7], [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATLN=3&CATID=12177&SearchInit=4&CATREF=RG+8 RG 8], [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATLN=3&CATID=12201&SearchInit=4&CATREF=RG+32 RG 32], [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATLN=3&CATID=12202&SearchInit=4&CATREF=RG+33 RG 33], [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATLN=3&CATID=12203&SearchInit=4&CATREF=RG+34 RG 34], [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATLN=3&CATID=12204&SearchInit=4&CATREF=RG+35 RG 35], [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATLN=3&CATID=12205&SearchInit=4&CATREF=RG+36 RG 36] and [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATLN=3&CATID=1629&SearchInit=4&CATREF=bt+158 BT 158], [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATLN=3&CATID=1630&SearchInit=4&CATREF=bt+159 BT 159], [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATLN=3&CATID=1631&SearchInit=4&CATREF=bt+160 BT 160]. <br> | |||
The Family History Library has some of the RG 4 and RG 5 records and most of the RG 4 series of what the Family History Library has was extracted and put into the International genealogical Index, which is included in the global records search on FamilySearch.org. | |||
As a result, both FamilySearch and BMDRegisters should be used to locate nonconformist records. As time goes more records will be available and your search may be more fruitful. | |||
The index on BMDRegisters is free to use, but to look at the details or the image of the record www.bmdregisters.co.uk is a pay website, but could very well be the answer. The International Genealogical Index is free to use at www.familysearch.org. <br> | |||
Major nonconformist groups are discussed below. The following two works contain more information about nonconformist sects: | |||
*Steel, Donald J. ''Sources for Nonconformist Genealogy and Family History''. London, England: Phillimore, 1973. (FHL book {{FHL|385911|title-id|disp=942 V26ste, vol. 2}}.) | |||
*''Sources for Roman Catholic and Jewish Genealogy and Family History''. London, England: Phillimore, 1974. (FHL book {{FHL|386622|title-id|disp=942 V26ste, vol. 3}}.)<br> | |||
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== Presbyterians, Baptists, and Independents == | == Presbyterians, Baptists, and Independents == | ||