South Africa, Methodist Parish Registers - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
This collection of parish records from the Methodist Church in South Africa covers the years 1822 to 1996.

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

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.

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

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

For a list of records by localities and dates currently published in this collection, select the Browselink from the collection landing page.

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information published in FamilySearch.org Historical Record collections. Sources include the author, custodian, publisher and archive for the original records.

Suggested citation format for a record in this collection.

Record Content
Baptism records may contain the following information:


 * 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 records may contain the following information:


 * 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 records may contain the following information:


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

How to Use the Records
To begin your search for baptism records in this collection, it would be helpful if you knew the following information:


 * Name of parents
 * Approximate year and place of baptism
 * Municipality or Town

To begin your search for marriage records in this collection, it would be helpful if you knew the following information:


 * Name of bride or groom
 * Approximate year and place of marriage
 * Municipality or Town

To begin your search for death records in this collection, it would be helpful if you knew the following information:


 * Name of deceased
 * Approximate year and place of death
 * Municipality or Town

Search the Collection
To search the collection image by image select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page: ⇒Select the appropriate "Country" ⇒Select the appropriate "Province" ⇒Select the appropriate "Municipality or Town" ⇒Select the appropriate "Record Type and Years" which will take you to the images.

Look at the images one by one comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

Using the Information
When you have found the record that you've been looking for, the following will help you in your research:


 * Use the age on marriage records or death records to calculate the year of birth from when your ancestor's marriage or death

General Information About These Records
Church records include important vital information, which can also help identify other ancestors. The civil registration records can be researched also after 1895.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached wiki article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Related Websites

 * National Archives of South Africa

Related Wiki Articles

 * South Africa
 * South Africa Websites

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should 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 Cite FamilySearch Collections.

Citation Example for a Record Found in This Collection
"South Africa, Methodist Parish Registers, 1822-1996" digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org: accessed 30 December 2011), South Africa &gt; Orange Free State &gt; Welkom &gt; Deaths 1969-1970 &gt; Image 1 of 16, John Buti Sithole, 1969;citing Methodist Church of Southern Africa, Church Registers,Grahamstown, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.