England, Northumberland, Non-conformist Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This collection contains images of birth, baptismal, marriage, death, and burial records of nonconformist individuals in Northumberland for the years 1708-1982.

Nonconformist church records may not have the most widespread coverage, but when they are available, they are the most informative and accurate source available for English family history until the start of civil registration in 1837. Nonconformist birth and baptismal registers are fairly common, and they generally contain more information than those of the Church of England.

For more information on the content, significance, and availability of Nonconformist Records, please see the England Nonconformist Church Records page.

Image Visibility
Whenever possible, FamilySearch makes images available for all users. However, rights to view images on our website are granted by the record custodians.

These images can be viewed online by members of the supporting organization(s), at a Family History Center near you, or the Family History Library. Also, the images are viewable to users who are part of the (enter the contributing organization here) and to users who have contributed to the FamilySearch Indexing effort. Learn how to be a part of FamilySearch indexing here.

For additional information about image restrictions, please see the Restrictions for Viewing Images in FamilySearch Historical Record Collections page.

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * Name of the person
 * Approximate date of the event

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the :
 * 1) Select Name of County
 * 2) Select Name of Town (with Church)
 * 3) Select Event Type and Year Range (with Volume) to view the images.

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Use the information which has been discovered to find more. For instance, use the estimated age given in a marriage or burial record to calculate an approximate year of birth, if that is yet undetermined.
 * Use the information which has been discovered to find the individual in other records. Particularly useful for research in nineteenth-century England are the England Census and the England Civil Registration records.
 * Continue to search the index to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives. Note that family members often appear on an individual's vital records, such as in the role of witnesses to a marriage.

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * When looking for an individual with a common name, look at all the search results before deciding which is the correct person. Use other information, such as place of birth, age, occupation, or names of parents, to help with this decision. If listed, a personal title may be a clue to property ownership or occupation, either of which might be noted in other records.
 * Try variations of given names and surnames. An individual might appear under a different name in a record for a variety of reasons:
 * - An individual might have been listed under a middle name, nickname, or abbreviation of their given name.
 * - Spelling was not standardized for much of the period of this collection, so names were often spelled as recorders heard them. Pay attention to how the name should have been pronounced and try spelling variations that could have that pronunciation.
 * - Some women returned to their maiden names after the death of their husbands.


 * Vary the search terms. For example, search by either the given name or surname to return broader list of possible matches. Try expanding the date range as well; this is especially useful in searching baptismal records, as it was not unusual for a child to be baptized weeks or even months after birth.
 * Search the records of nearby locations. Many nonconformists had to travel a significant distance to attend church meetings, so the county where they worshiped might not be the same as the county where they lived. For this collection, bordering locations include the English counties of Yorkshire and Durham to the south, Cumberland to the west, or the Scottish counties of Berwickshire and Roxburghshire to the north.
 * The person might not have records in a nonconformist denomination. They might have either converted to the Church of England at some point or undertaken Anglican ordinances. See the Northumberland Parish Registers page for more information.

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.

“England, Northumberland, Non-conformist Records, 1708-1982.” Database. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : accessed 2016. Citing multiple archives, England.
 * Collection Citation:

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