Was your ancestor a member of a non-conformist church in Norfolk? Browse through registers from various denominations including Methodist, Quaker, and Baptist. The records include seven parishes across Norfolk: Attleborough, Aylsham, Kenninghall, Norwich, Tasburgh, Walsingham, and Wymondham.
Was your ancestor a member of a non-conformist church in Norfolk? Browse through registers from various denominations including Methodist, Quaker, and Baptist. The records include seven parishes across Norfolk: Attleborough, Aylsham, Kenninghall, Norwich, Tasburgh, Walsingham, and Wymondham.
This collection comprises registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials, as well as membership lists and meeting minutes. The detail found in each register will differ depending on the church and when the register was created. For life events, you may find a combination of the following facts:
Baptisms
Name
Birth place
Parents’ names
Residence
Father’s occupation
Godparents’ or sponsors’ names
Marriages
Names of couple
Marriage date
Ages
Marital statuses
Occupations
Residences
Names of fathers
Officiant
Burials
Name
Age at the time of death
Death date
Burial date
Burial place
Residence
Parents’ or spouse’s names
Witness or grave-maker
Use the arrows on either side of the image to browse through the register. You can also use the image counter at the bottom centre of the image to jump through the register to an exact image number.
The original records are held at the Norfolk Record Office.
You can search the records by parish, denomination, or event (i.e. baptism, marriages, burials). Eight denominations from seven parishes are represented in these records. This list provides the denominations, the parishes available, and the events for each parish.
Wesleyan Methodist Church - Attleborough (Baptisms)
Primitive Methodist Church - Aylsham (Baptisms)
Particular Baptist Church – Kenninghall (Births, Burials, and Membership Lists)
Congregational Church (Old Meeting Chapel) – Norwich (Baptisms and Meeting Minutes)
Society of Friends - Norwich (Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials) and Tasburgh (Burials)
Baptist Church - Norwich St Clement (Membership Lists and Baptisms)
Methodist Church - Walsingham (Baptisms)
Independent Church – Wymondham (Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials)
Non-conformist is a broad term covering churches of widely differing beliefs that do not follow the teachings of the established Church of England. In 1559, the Church of England became the established church of England. All other denominations were regarded as non-conformist. The term usually includes members of English Protestant denominations who did not follow the teachings of the Anglican Church.
Before the introduction of civil registration in 1837, most people were baptised, married, and buried in their local Church of England parish, regardless of their beliefs. Some non-conformists did keep their own registers, particularly for baptisms and burials, and it is these that you can find here.
To search for your ancestor by name, try searching the England & Wales non-conformist records available in the Useful links and resources.