England Nonconformists Additional Methodist Records (National Institute)

Other Methodist Records
Membership records were kept, but are mostly just lists of names with little or no further information. Some early Class Lists survive. Sunday School Class Tickets, illustrated by Blount (Methodists. Family Tree Magazine Vol 4 #3 (2 pages), may be found amongst effects of Methodists’ although some insisted on being buried with their bundles of tickets. They were given quarterly to worthy members to allow them to attend Class Meetings. Those members whose behaviour did not meet Methodist standards were expelled. There were over 700 day schools under Methodist auspices, plus some teachers’ training institutes, and records of some of these can still be found. Each of the major Methodist denominations has its own Theological Training College and records now tend to be at Methodist Archives.

All branches of Methodism produced much written material. Histories abound and one I found useful was Le Messurier’s History of the Mint Methodist Chapel in Exeter. My 2nd great grandparents from Jacobstowe, Devon baptized their firstborn there in 1829, even though they appeared to be regular Anglicans both before and after—the other eight were all baptized in Jacobstowe parish church. This was typical in the 19th century when families tried out different denominations. Another example is a manuscript on Bradworthy, Devon by Walter and Toms. This includes baptisms of Bradworthy people in three Methodist circuits as well as information about the emigrants from there who sailed in three ships in the mid-19th century.

Circuit and chapel magazines hold much of family interest and should be sought out. Several diaries of preachers and others exist and also throw light on ordinary people. Church memorial boards and tombstones should not be overlooked either. County Record Offices hold many circuit and local chapel materials such as Minutes, Schedules, Accounts and Preaching Plans showing which men were allocated to which chapel each day. These Circuit Plans are the subject of study by the Society of Cirplanologists who have a collection of some 10,000 of them. As an example of a chapel’s records, the records of the Wesleyan Methodist Salt Lane Chapel, Salisbury, Wiltshire are at the Wiltshire Record Office and on. They include all kinds of interesting items typical for such groups, such as:


 * Deeds for the chapel.
 * Copy wills regarding church real estate.
 * Agreements for tenancy of the minister’s house and the schoolroom.
 * Solicitors’ bills.
 * Certificate for the meeting house to be used as a place of worship.
 * Two fire assurance policies.
 * Financial papers for administration of the chapel.
 * Correspondence with the Charity Commissioners regarding the sale of the minister’s house and schoolroom to the Salvation Army.
 * Appointment of schoolmaster (see chart below).
 * Reports and accounts.
 * A Sunday School attendance register with numbers in each named teacher’s class.

Chart: Appointment of Schoolmaster for Wesleyan Day School, Salisbury 1845 —

A valuable source for the late 1890s is the list of many thousands of contributors to the Twentieth Century Fund used for church expansion. Those who collected or contributed a guinea were issued a colourful certificate. The Historic Roll of Subscribers is held at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster where it can be viewed by making arrangements beforehand. Here one can find signatures, addresses and house names, entries in memorium and a host of other useful information and photocopies can be arranged. It is further discussed by Jackson (The Wesleyan Methodist Historical Roll. Genealogists Magazine Vol 27 #4, page 180-182).

Records of Methodist Clergy
Edgington has provided a history of the Wesley family and Methodism in commemoration of the 300th anniversary of John Wesley’s birth. Many Methodist preachers kept detailed diaries and these can reveal much about the personalities of those with whom they came into contact. Some preachers were female. Various nominations and registrations can be found, such as that shown below.

Chart: Registration of Ministers of Dissenting Chapels, Leicestershire —

Methodist Publications
Leary’s My Ancestors Were Methodists is a good basic reference. Many Methodist magazines and newspapers have existed; especially notable is the Methodist Recorder which has listed births, marriages and deaths since its formation in 1861. Obituaries can be found under the headings of biography (two or three pages each, giving an account of the birth, conversion, pious life and last affliction), memoirs (shorter) and recent deaths (brief) in other magazines and newspapers, which include:


 * The Arminian Magazine 1778-1797.
 * The Methodist New Connexion Magazine 1797-1907.
 * The Methodist Magazine 1798-1832.
 * The Primitive Methodist Magazine 1819-1932.
 * The Wesleyan Methodist Magazine 1822-1932.
 * The Wesleyan Protestant Methodist Magazine 
 * The Watchman 1835-1884.
 * The Wesleyan Association Magazine 1838-1857.
 * The United Methodist Free Churches Magazine 1858-1891.
 * The Methodist Recorder 1861- 
 * The Primitive Methodist newspaper 1868-1932.
 * The Free Methodist Manual 1877-1899.
 * The Methodist Times newspaper 1885-1937.
 * The Primitive Methodist World newspaper 1890-1908.
 * The Methodist Monthly 1892-1907.
 * Proceedings of the Wesley Historical Society 1897 onwards.
 * The Primitive Methodist Leader 1905-1932.
 * The United Methodist Magazine 1908-1932.
 * Transactions of the Society of Cirplanologists 1961 onwards.

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Information in this Wiki page is excerpted from the online course English: Non-Anglican Church Records offered by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. To learn more about this course or other courses available from the Institute, see our website. We can be contacted at [mailto:wiki@genealogicalstudies.com wiki@genealogicalstudies.com]

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