Non-Anglican Registers
1689 to present
Non-conformists such as Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists and Unitarians did not follow the established Church of England. They had freedom to worship after 1689 but many still continued to be baptised, married and buried in their local Church of England parish. Between 1754 and 1837 legislation made it unlawful to marry anywhere but in a Church of England parish church, with exceptions made only for Quakers and Jews.
Surviving registers for non-conformist baptisms, marriages and deaths before 1837 are held at the National Archives. The Record Office has microfilm copies of these registers for Cheshire, and holds some original non-conformist registers from after 1837. However, the survival of records is patchy, the whereabouts of many remain unknown, and those records that have survived contain varying amounts of information.
The registers of over 30 Roman Catholic churches have been deposited at the Record Office, dating mostly from the mid 19th century. Even modern entries in these registers use Latin and Latin versions of first names. You can check our holdings for Catholic churches using Reference ERC in our online catalogue advanced search.
Records of Quaker births, marriages and burials are also held at the Record Office in the Society of Friends collections (Reference EFC for an online catalogue search).
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