South Africa, Methodist Parish Registers - FamilySearch Historical Records

Collection Time Period
This collection of parish records from the Methodist Church in South Africa covers the years 1822 to 1996.

How to Use the Records
Before starting research in these records you need to know the name of your ancestor, the location of the event (baptism, marriage or death), and an approximate date of that event. Church records include important vital information, which can also help identify other ancestors. The civil registration records can be researched also after 1895.

Record Description
This collection of the Methodist Church records includes images of baptisms, marriages, and burials from several towns in South Africa. The text of the records is handwritten in English or in Afrikaans.

Record Content
The key genealogical facts found in most baptism records include:




 * Place of baptism
 * Date of baptism
 * Child's name
 * Parents’ names
 * Parents’ residence
 * Child's age or date of birth

The key genealogical facts found in most marriage records include:




 * Place of marriage
 * Date of marriage
 * Name of groom
 * Maiden name of bride
 * Betrothed ages
 * Their marital statuses
 * Their occupations or professions
 * Their residence at time of marriage
 * If married after banns or license
 * Person giving the consent for the marriage
 * Place marriage solemnized
 * Names of witnesses

The key genealogical facts found in most burial records include:




 * Deceased name
 * Place of deceased last residence
 * Age of deceased at time of death
 * Date of interment
 * Burial place

Record History
Methodism arrived in South Africa with British soldiers in 1806, but the mission was launched by Barnabas Shaw, who reached the Cape in 1816, and William Shaw (unrelated), who accompanied the British settlers of 1820. Barnabas Shaw established a mission among the Khoi at Leliefontein in Namaqualand, and colleagues ventured across the Orange River into present-day Namibia and what are now the northern provinces of South Africa. William Shaw established Methodism throughout the British settlement in Albany and rapidly planted a chain of mission stations between the Cape Colony and Natal. In the late nineteenth century, missionary work was extended into the gold-mining area in Gauteng and north through modern Limpopo into Zimbabwe. Six missionary districts of the Wesleyan Methodist church became an affiliated conference in 1883. An independent conference was constituted in 1927 and enlarged in 1931 to include the Transvaal Missionary District of the British Conference and the small Primitive Methodist Mission.

Why the Record Was Created
These parish records were created to record the events of baptisms, marriages, and burials for the members of the Methodist Church in South Africa.

Record Reliability
These parish records are a reliable source for doing genealogical research in South Africa.

Related Websites
National Archives of South Africa

Related Wiki Articles
South Africa

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should also list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the Wiki Article: Help:How to Create Source Citations For FamilySearch Historical Records Collections.

Examples of Source Citations for a Record in This Collection

 * “Delaware Marriage Records,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org: accessed 4 March 2011), entry for William Anderson and Elizabeth Baynard Henry, married 23 November 1913; citing marriage certificate no. 859; FHL microfilm 2,025,063; Delaware Bureau of Archives and Records Management, Dover.


 * “El Salvador Civil Registration,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org: accessed 21 March 2011), entry for Jose Maria Antonio del Carmen, born 9 April 1880; citing La Libertad, San Juan Opico, Nacimientos 1879-1893, image 50; Ministerio Archivo Civil de la Alcaldia Municipal de San Salvador.

Sources of Information for This Collection:
This is a collection of digital copies of original records housed at the Methodist Church of Southern Africa in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.