Non-conformist

[**lizzydripping**]

This may seem a silly question, but here goes.

How do you know if your family were non-conformists?

I've been to the local records office to trace a particular family and I can not find them in any of the parish records. 

They may not have had the children baptized - but I can't find their marriage either ( ? reg office).

Any help greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Lizzy

[wrjones]

Lizzie individual Parish Registers contain records from the Church of England within each Parish.If of course your relatives do not appear in these,particularly after about 1800,they could indeed have been Non Conformists.

Regards
William Russell Jones
Cefn Mawr
Wrexham.

[AngelaR]

Hi Lizzy

I'm not sure of the exact dates, but for quite a period marriages HAD to be conducted in Church of England churches, whether the parties concerned were non-conformist or not. A number of my family appear for marriages but nothing else and I eventually found references to them in some Baptist records in the local record office. What period are you looking at here? Also which area?

Best wishes

Angela

[**lizzydripping**]

Hi Angela

The marriage  from BMD site states q12/1882.

The family were living in Wootton St Mary without (Glos) Wotton Road in 1891 and St James (Glos) in 1901.

In 1881 Alice was living in Charlton Kings with her parents and cousin.

I know nothing about Non-comformist at all, did get as far as getting the catalogues out yesterday in the records office but didn't have time to call the records up.

Lizzy

[AngelaR]

Hi Lizzy

Aha - a local girl! We Gloucestershire people should stick together.......

If I remember rightly there was quite a strong Methodist presence in Wotton at that time. Also, it was after the period when people had to marry in Anglican churches, so the marriage could well have taken place in whatever church they were associated with.

Am sending you a PM

Angela

[patrish]

I have a  marriage cert  in 1840 that was conducted in the Baptist Meeting House but there was a registrar  present.  (Northampton)

[behindthefrogs]

The use of old testament names is sometimes an indication that a family is non-conformist.  If they are baptists then baptism will not take place until they are at least twelve years old.  Other than fairly random searching the only true indication is to purchase a marriage certificate to find out where they were married.  If youcan find a burial that might help.

David

[patrish]

I contacted a local Baptist church and they said they do no keep records of baptisms, the parents (if a minor) were given a piece of paper that is all.

[Marmaduke 123]

Although they didn't  baptise infants a lot of Baptist churches did keep a record of births to members of their congregations. You need the birth/dedication records for the church in question. The ones that I have seen recorded the names of both parents.

Anne