Non-conformist registers

Background

Nonconformists did not 'conform' to the Church of England. There was a rise of nonconformity in the 16th Century and the number of nonconformists greatly increased during the 19th century (Baptist, Methodist, Congregationalist, Independent, Presbyterian). In the mid-19th century many nonconformist registers were sent to the Registrar General and are now held at the National Archives - www.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Most of those registers end in 1837 when civil registration was introduced. The early registers are mainly for baptisms as marriages and burials were often in Anglican churches. Local records offices will have lists of registers deposited for dates after circa 1837.

Nottinghamshire Archives has microfiched copies of all the registers held at the National Archives, which are arranged by church/place. Archives also have lists of all deposited nonconformist registers.

An alphabetical finding list of non-conformist registers is available on the Nottinghamshire Archives website.

Roman Catholic registers

Original Roman Catholic registers are held either at the actual church or at the Catholic Diocese. However, Nottinghamshire Archives has microfiche copies of indexes for St Barnabas (Nottingham) and several city parishes. There are also indexes for some Catholic parishes around the county, though Worksop is in Sheffield diocese.