COLLECTIONS GUIDE 2 NONCONFORMIST REGISTERS Contacting Us What does ‘nonconformist’ mean? Please contact us to book a place A nonconformist is a member of a religious organisation that does not ‘conform’ to the Church of England. People who disagreed with the before visiting our searchrooms. beliefs and practices of the Church of England were also sometimes called ‘dissenters’. The terms incorporates both Protestants (Baptists, WYAS Bradford Methodists, Presbyterians, Independents, Congregationalists, Quakers Margaret McMillan Tower etc.) and Roman Catholics. By 1851, a quarter of the English Prince’s Way population were nonconformists. Bradford BD1 1NN How will I know if my ancestors were nonconformists? Telephone +44 (0)113 535 0152 e.
[email protected] It is not always easy to know whether a family was Nonconformist. The 1754 Marriage Act ordered that only marriages which took place in the WYAS Calderdale Church of England were legal. The two exceptions were the marriages Central Library & Archives of Jews and Quakers. Most people, including nonconformists, were Square Road therefore married in their parish church. However, nonconformists often Halifax kept their own records of births or baptisms, and burials. HX1 1QG Telephone +44 (0)113 535 0151 Some people were only members of a nonconformist congregation for e.
[email protected] a short time, in which case only a few entries would be ‘missing’ from the Anglican parish registers. Others switched allegiance between WYAS Kirklees different nonconformist denominations. In both cases this can make it Central Library more difficult to recognise them as nonconformists. Princess Alexandra Walk Huddersfield Where can I find nonconformist registers? HD1 2SU Telephone +44 (0)113 535 0150 West Yorkshire Archive Service holds registers from more than a e.