England Nonconformists Methodist Records - International Institute

Methodist Archives and Records
Most members were hatched, matched and despatched in the parish church until the 1780s when they were officially classed as Dissenters. Since they developed from within the Anglican church Methodist records are the most like parish registers and have mostly been deposited in the national (PRO) or local archives. The circuit system is still practiced with the Superintendent Ministers of each circuit being listed in the Minutes and Yearbook of the Methodist Conference; they are likely to know the whereabouts of more recent records of local congregations. Most of the early registers are at the PRO and later ones are in the appropriate County Record Office or Methodist circuit archive.

The Methodist Connexional Archives are now at the John Rylands Library and this collection contains:


 * 150,000 books and manuscripts which include minutes and journals of all Methodist Conferences.


 * Records of existing Methodist circuits and congregations.

They have a highly informative website with a page on Use of the Centre by Family Historians, a Biographical Index, an Index of Methodist Ministers and Probationers and much more. The Wesley Historical Society holds manuscripts of some individual congregations, and printed material for all Methodist churches.

Methodist Registers
Prior to the 1790s Methodists typically utilized the Anglican Church, but from this time started to get their own baptism and burial registers. On the title page of the registers for the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Chapel, Wilderness Row, Clerkenwell (RG4/4400 on ) it states that the congregation was founded about 1770 but that The children were previous to the year 1795 baptized in the Church of England. The majority of Methodist baptism and burial registers were deposited with the GRO and a list of them, (now at the PRO), with RG4 class numbers, is provided by Leary. They have been microfilmed and most are on the IGI. The Wesleyan Metropolitan Registry operated from 1818 to 1837.

Methodist Baptisms
Methodist children were frequently baptized in the parish church with Methodist registers only starting in the 1790s, but more usually in the period 1810-1820. Examples showing the wide variety of registers used for recording baptisms are shown below.

Chart: Methodist Baptisms

There are two kinds of post-1837 Methodist baptismal registers, the local chapel one and the Circuit Register covering a wider area. Occasionally small places may still be using the ones begun in 1837, and completed registers may be with the county archives or still at the chapel; a few are at the PRO, and some have been transcribed.

Methodist Marriages
Methodists typically married in the Anglican Church, some families continuing this tradition even after Methodist marriage venues were licensed after 1837. From 1837 until 1898 Methodist marriages are recorded by the civil Registrar, as Methodists did not begin keeping their own marriage registers until 1898, and even then not all chapels conducted marriages.

Methodist Burials
There are far fewer Methodist burial registers than baptism ones, even though they were authorized by the Wesleyan Conference of 1803. Most are at the PRO and have been microfilmed but are, of-course, not on the IGI. John Wesley and several other Methodist worthies are buried in the famous City Road Chapel in Finsbury, Middlesex for which the registers from 1779-1840 are on. There was a large Methodist burial ground at Globe Fields, Stepney, Middlesex from 1820 whose records 1820-1855 are on.

___________________________________________________________________

Information in this Wiki page is excerpted from the online course English: Non-Anglican Church Records offered by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. To learn more about this course or other courses available from the Institute, see our website. We can be contacted at [mailto:wiki@genealogicalstudies.com wiki@genealogicalstudies.com]

We welcome updates and additions to this Wiki page.