A Nonconformist register is broadly similar to a parish register, but deriving from a nonconformist church or chapel. Nonconformist churches do not conform to the doctrines of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

. In other words, these

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

churches dissent from the established church. Examples include the

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

, and Unitarian denominations, and the

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

(formally, the Society of Friends). Following the

Marriage Act 1753 The Clandestine Marriages Act 1753 ( 26 Geo. 2. c. 33), also called the Marriage Act 1753, long title "An Act for the Better Preventing of Clandestine Marriage", popularly known as Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act, was the first statutory legisla ...

, all English and Welsh marriages (except those of Quakers and

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

) had to take place in a

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

. However, any baptisms and burials (or equivalent ceremonies) from other denominations might take place within their own churches and chapels, and these were often recorded in their own nonconformist registers. Nevertheless, it is worth remembering that there was no legal obligation for them to record any such events. A significant number of early nonconformist chapels never maintained any such registers, or they maintained them only sporadically. In earlier centuries such omissions might sometimes be partly due to fear of persecution. Occasionally marriages in places of worship elsewhere might also be recorded (sometimes involving more than one ceremony), although such entries originally had no strict legal status.Rebecca Probert, Marriage Law for Genealogists, Takeaway Publications, 2012, p. 95 Registers of baptisms, marriages and burials of many nonconformist churches were collected and validated by the British government in 1837. These may be viewed at the

Public Record Office The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was m ...

in series ''RG 4''. This followed long pressure for such unofficial registers to be given a measure of legal recognition. It had already resulted in an earlier system of limited registration for dissenters being established at

Dr Williams's Library Dr Williams's Library was a small English research library located in Gordon Square, Bloomsbury, London, the contents have now been relocated to Manchester. Historically, it has had a strong Unitarian focus. The library has also been known as ...

in London. Some local chapels promptly abandoned keeping their own registers, at least for a while, after this date (which coincided with the start of

civil registration Civil registration is the system by which a government records the vital events (Birth certificate, births, Marriage certificate, marriages, and Death certificate, deaths) of its citizens and Residency (domicile), residents. The resulting repos ...

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...

). However a second tranche of nonconformist registers was transferred to London after 1857, following a further report by a government commission. After the

Marriage Act 1836 The Marriage Act 1836 ( 6 & 7 Will. 4. c. 85), also known as the Act for Marriages in England 1836 or the Broomstick Marriage Act, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that legalised civil marriage in what is now England and Wal ...

marriages could take place in many other licensed nonconformist chapels, provided that the local Superintendent Registrar was in attendance. Eventually the Marriage Act 1898 enabled some of these chapels to dispense with this requirement, provided that they designated an Appointed Person (usually the minister or priest), who would be responsible for maintaining an official

marriage register A register office, commonly referred to unofficially as a registry office or registrar's office is an office in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and some Commonwealth countries responsible for the civil registration of births, deaths, marri ...

. Many nonconformist registers have now been deposited in approved repositories, such as the local

county record office In the United Kingdom (and particularly in England and Wales) a county record office is usually a local authority repository, also called a county archives. Such repositories employ specialist staff to administer and conserve the historic and th ...

. However different churches operate different policies, and it will often be found that rates of creation and survival for such records are less good than for other types of parish register. A number of such registers have also started to appear online.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nonconformist Register Genealogy

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