Monmouthshire Nonconformist Records

Many of the county's nonconformist chapel registers are available:


 * in an archive or library
 * Published as a booklet, microfiche or on-line as transcriptions of the original registers at the IGI. (However, many of the birth and christening records on the IGI have had patronymic surnames incorrectly applied by the transcriber).

A variety of sources; online, offline databases, and books/booklets show where nonconformist records have been deposited with a record office or archive. There are shortcomings of one sort or another related to each of these publication methods.

The book The Parish Churches And Nonconformist Chapels of Wales - Volume One by Bert J. Rawlins is an excellent resource but only covers three counties and has not been updated since it was published in 1987.

Cofrestri Anghydffurfiol (Nonconformist Registers of Wales) is another excellent and indispensible research tool for Welsh nonconformist records. This covers all of Wales but with some data elements covered in the Rawlins book omitted and additional detail presented. Although this book was published in 1994 it too could be supplemented by details of recent record deposits.

The National Library of Wales has the Capeli Cymru database with much more detail than could be provided in either of the books listed above. Unfortunately Capeli Cymru can only be searched at the National Library of Wales. It is possible to submit an email query for a free search in this database but a detailed and exhaustive search in this way is difficult at best.

Monmouthshire Nonconformist Chapels is a spreadsheet listing a combination of details related to chapels in Monmouthshire. It can be updated at any time if new information is discovered. This also provides the ability for many people to add or share information that may not be common knowledge especially for researchers outside Wales.