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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: radstockjeff on Saturday 19 March 16 09:56 GMT (UK)
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Not sure if this is the right forum for this, but here goes.
I have been looking for Baptism details of my father and his siblings.
The dates range between 1905 and 1924.
Grandfather's family were Methodist and Gran's family Salvation Army.
The first four children were baptised in the local parish church before 1914, but I can find no further record of baptism for the other five children, either in the parish register or the local Methodist church, where the family worshipped for many years, and where some of the children were subsequently married.
Would there have been a situation where the Methodist Church did not baptise or register baptisms before a particular date?
I have approached the relevant Methodist Church , only to be told that their Baptismal registers have disappeared! I have been in touch with all the relevant local bodies where the Registers are likely to have been lodged, without success.
Any thoughts on this would be welcome.
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Would there have been a situation where the Methodist Church did not baptise or register baptisms before a particular date?
As far as I know, mainstream Methodist churches have always baptised children and registered them. As you're no doubt aware, Methodism's history includes many splits and reunifications, so it might be worth checking if there were any other chapels/churches in the area at that time. I suspect that if there were any fringe or breakaway groups that refused to baptise children, they might also have felt they weren't Methodists either, but this is only a guess.
I have approached the relevant Methodist Church , only to be told that their Baptismal registers have disappeared! I have been in touch with all the relevant local bodies where the Registers are likely to have been lodged, without success.
That's unfortunate. I've come across a couple of national websites/resources recently - you may know of them already, but they might help others:
Methodist Heritage at http://www.methodistheritage.org.uk/
My Wesleyan Methodist Ancestors at http://www.mywesleyanmethodists.org.uk/
As well as baptism registers, there may in some cases be membership rolls - I found some on the Wesleyan site, but it's a work in progress so may well not cover the area you're looking at yet.
You also mentioned the Salvation Army. As far as I know they don't practise baptism at all, but they may keep lists of members. There's more info at http://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/international-heritage-centre
Arthur
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Thanks for that info Arthur.
I will follow up in due course.
radstockjeff