1662 THE QUAKER ACT
Required Quakers to take the oaths of supremacy and allegiance
1662 ACT OF UNIFORMITY
Ministers had to be episcopally ordained and accept the Book of Common Prayer
1664 CONVENTICLE ACT
No meetings for religious worship of more than five people were allowed, unless they were in accordance with the Book of Common Prayer, family groups excepted
1665 FIVE MILE ACT
Ejected clergy were not allowed within five miles of a corporate town
1672 - 1673 DECLARATION OF INDULGENCE
Suspended penal laws against non-conformists. Conventicles were allowed and non-conformist teachers could apply for a licence to teach
1673 TEST ACT
Those holding public office had to receive the sacrament, take the oaths of supremacy and allegiance, and make a declaration against transubstantiation
1689 TOLERATION ACT
Conventicles became recognised congregations.
Non-conformists were required to take the oath of allegiance to William and Mary, pay tithes, perform parish duties, accept the 39 articles, except those referring to the rites of the Church of England, the Books of Homilies, the orders of priesthood, and infant baptism, and also to make a profession of Christian belief
1778 & 1791 CATHOLIC RELIEF ACTS
Removed many of the penalties against Roman Catholics, such as the paying of double land tax. Catholic chapels were allowed if licensed
1829 CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION ACT
1850 RESTORATION OF CATHOLIC HIERACHY
1837 CIVIL REGISTRATION
Marriages were now legal if they took place in an Anglican church or a register office. Non-conformist chapels could be licensed for marriages after they had been open for a year, but the registrar had to attend the wedding. Marriage Notice Books in each Registration District recorded notices of intention to marry in non-conformist chapels and churches.
1864 REGISTRATION OF BURIALS ACT
Burial registers had to be kept for all burial grounds
1898 MARRIAGE ACT
Chapels could appoint an authorised person, answerable to the Registrar General, to keep a set of duplicate marriage registers and act as a registrar of marriages
1840 NON-PAROCHIAL REGISTERS ACT
In 1836 a commission was appointed to circularise non-conformist chapels and survey existing registers. 3,650 volumes were authenticated and it was suggested that they be deposited with the Registrar General and made legal evidence. The Act gave the commissioners an extra year to collect the registers and make a catalogue of them, and the Registrar General was empowered to issue certified extracts from them. A second commission was set up in 1857, which collected in any registers overlooked in 1841, and a further catalogue was produced in 1858. Although most pre-1837 registers were surrendered, some chapels refused to do so and these registers can now be deposited at a ;local record office, in one of the non-conformist libraries, or in some cases, still be held in the chapel.
Those non-conformist registers which were surrendered are now held at the Public Record Office at Kew. Microfilm copies are at the Family Records Centre in London, and in Devon, there is a copy film in the Devon and Cornwall Record Society’s Library at the Westcountry Studies Library, Castle Street, Exeter. Copy films can also be found at other family history research centres outside Devon and overseas. Most ( but not all) of the registers are indexed on the International Genealogical Index, but even for those entries indexed, it is important to also look at the film of the original registers since they often contain more information than is given on the IGI.
Back to top