South Africa, Methodist Parish Registers - FamilySearch Historical Records

South Africa

What is in This Collection?
This collection of parish records from the Methodist Church in South Africa covers the years 1822 to 1996, and includes images of baptisms, marriages, and burials from several towns in South Africa. Church records include important vital information, which can also help identify other ancestors. The civil registration records can be researched also after 1895. These records are written in Afrikaans and English. See the section For Help Reading these Records for translation helps.

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.

Reading These Records
These records are in Afrikaans and English. For help reading them see:
 * Afrikaans Word List
 * Netherlands Language and Languages
 * South Africa Language and Languages

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:

Baptism
 * Date and place of baptism
 * Name and gender of child
 * Parents’ names, including maiden name of mother
 * Parents’ residence
 * Child's age or date of birth
 * Name of person who solemnized baptism

Marriage
 * Date and place of marriage
 * Full name and age of groom
 * Groom's marital status, occupation and residence
 * Full name and age of bride
 * Bride's marital status, occupation and residence
 * Marriage by license or banns
 * Names of person(s) giving consent for the marriage
 * Names of witnesses

Burial
 * Name and age of deceased
 * Residence of deceased
 * Date and place of interment
 * Name of person presiding at interment

Coverage Table
The collection contains records from the following locations and years:

How Do I Search the Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:

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?

 * Add any new information to your records
 * If available, check the image for additional information
 * Analyze the entry to see if it provides additional clues to find other records of the person or their family

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

 * The person may be recorded with an abbreviated or variant form of their name
 * Try searching by surname only
 * Remember that spelling was generally not standardized until the early part of the 20th century

Research Helps
The following articles will help you in your research for your family in South Africa.
 * South Africa Record Finder
 * South Africa Finding Town of Origin

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.

África do Sul, Registros da Paróquia Metodista (Registros Históricos do FamilySearch)