not all non-conformist parish / church records are on Scotlandspeople
The Oxford English Dictionary says, "Nonconformist. Originally (in the early 17th cent.): a person adhering to the doctrine but not the usages of the Church of England (now historical). Later (esp. after the Act of Uniformity of 1662 and the consequent ejection from their livings of those ministers who refused to conform): a member of a Church which is separated from the Church of England". Thus the term originated before the Union of Parliaments in 1707, and in the context of Scotland it is at best meaningless and at worst misleading; it refers specifically to
English clergymen who refused to conform to the Act of Uniformity, which did not apply in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was formed after the Reformation and, apart from a minority who remained in the Episcopal Church of Scotland, rejected the hierarchy of bishops. Being Presbyterian, the Church of Scotland would, if the term nonconformist had any meaning here, be a nonconformist denomination, as would the Free Church, the United Free Church, the Free Presbyterian Church, the United Reformed Church, the United Presbyterian Church, and just about every other Christian denomination. There were other breakaway denominations in the 18th and 19th centuries that split off from the Church of Scotland, for example Glassites, Bereans, Burghers, Anti-Burghers, Secession, Auld Lichts, New Lichts and others, and of course there were and are Baptists, Methodists and Quakers.
Ironically, the
only denomination in Scotland which is
not 'nonconformist' is the Episcopal Church of Scotland, which is in full communion with the Church of England as part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The Episcopal registers are not on Scotland's People, because the Episcopal Church retains its own records, which are held in churches, or in diocesan archives, or in university or local archives.
Most of the surviving registers of the dissenting Presbyterian denominations are held in the National Records of Scotland, and these form the basis of the 'other churches' records on Scotland's People. However there are a few registers which cannot be included in Scotland's People, either because the denomination or congregation that produced them has refused permission, or because the owner has not been found.
To sum up
- the word 'nonconformist' doesn't apply in Scotland
- the vast majority of surviving Presbyterian parish registers are included in Scotland's People
And of course the Roman Catholic registers are available on Scotland's People.
Not available are the records of the Scottish Episcopal Church, Methodist Church and Society of Friends, and a very small number of registers of dissenting Presbyterian churches.
One final point is that the Great Disruption of the Church of Scotland, when the Free Church was formed, took place on 18th May 1843, and almost all the currently surviving Presbyterian denominations post-date the Free Church, so there is no point looking for a Free Church record of any ancestor born before the middle of 1843.
The baptism records of the five sons of Robert Edgar and Margaret Rae
are on Scotland's People.
