England Nonconformists Salvation Army Records (National Institute)

The original content for this article was contributed by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies in June 2012. It is an excerpt from their course English: Non-Anglican Church Records  by Dr. Penelope Christensen. The Institute offers over 200 comprehensive genealogy courses for a fee ($).

Salvation Army Records

Registers

There are excellent records of members and of their social and goodwill work, but little in the way of birth, marriage and deaths registers. This is not a terrible calamity for genealogists since civil registration had commenced nearly 30 years before the Salvation Army did. The ceremonies for which records are kept are:

• Swearing in of Soldiers is a public installation in which the person declares that he will live his life according to their Articles of War. The register is called the Soldier’s Roll and indicates:

• Name and number.
• Address and where from.
• Marital status.
• Name of officer enrolling soldier.
• Date of enrollment.
• If name is removed, then the name of the officer so doing, the reason and date (this information is confidential and not released).

• Commissioning of Officers is a ceremony in which cadets affirm that they will serve God and in which they are given their commissions as officers.

• Dedication of Children is carried out instead of baptism and without the use of water. In it the parents express their thanks for their child and promise to raise him properly in the Gospel. The Dedication Register, for which Wiggins shows an example, contains columns for:

• Full name.
• Date and place of birth.
• Date and hall (place) when dedicated.
• Rank and position of officer by whom dedicated.
• Names of parents.
• Name of witness.

• Thanksgiving is a simpler form of dedication ceremony for children.

• Weddings are conducted with a ceremony almost identical to that of the Anglican church, but both parties may wear church uniform. A Marriage Register contains somewhat different information than the legal marriage certificate:

• Names and dates of birth of parties.
• Full addresses of place of birth of parties.
• Years of service in the Salvation Army.
• Hall where ceremony took place.
• Signatures of the parties, the officer conducting the ceremony, and the witnesses.

• Funerals services are similar to Anglican ones and Salvationists refer to death as Promotion to Glory, and the Promotion to Glory Register indicates:

• Name of deceased.
• Date of birth.
• Place of residence.
• How long a Salvationist.
• Offices held.
• Date of death.
• Where interred and number of the grave.
• Name of officer conducting the ceremony.
• Date of funeral.

• Transfer Notes are exchanged when a Salvationist transfers to another corps, and these are recorded in the Transfer Books.

Records of Salvation Army Clergy

The William Booth Memorial Training College will supply information from their extensive files on male and female cadets; Wiggins indicates that they do not charge for this, but donations would show appreciation. The Salvation Army started operating abroad in 1879 and thus English Salvationists may have spent time outside England.

Other Salvation Army Records

A veritable arsenal of publications of all kinds was produced by the Salvation Army, and Wiggins has a select bibliography of these as well as retrospective histories, biographies etc. An annual Salvation Army Year Book has been issued since 1906, and the 1913 edition is on FHL fiche 6070602(2). There are many other records of the church in the FamilySearch Catalog as well. The weekly War Cry began in 1879 and contains all kinds of reports, obituaries and other material for the family historian. There are plenty of histories of individual corps such as that by the York Salvation Army Corps no. 201 which has numerous pictures of events, bands and other active members. In 1907 the church officially required each corps to commence a Corps History Book which can be found today at the local Corps whose address can be found. Some of the material is confidential, and much is not of interest to the family historian, but there will be much that will be.

Wiggins gives an extensive list of material available through the Salvation Army International Heritage Centre and the above website has several excellent sections for family historians researching Salvationist ancestors. Clark (The Salvation Army Girls’ Statement Books. Genealogists Magazine Vol 27 #3, page 129-132.) has described the Girls’ Statement Books, primarily unmarried mothers cared for by the Salvation Army.

Tracing Missing Persons

One of the Salvation Army’s well-known services is that of tracing missing people or, as they prefer to view it,restoring family relationships, and this should be mentioned here. Wiggins gives a brief history of the service which started out as Mrs Bramwell Booth’s Enquiry Bureau for finding those missing from home. The Family Tracing Service can be contacted through any local corps of the Salvation Army. It only attempts to find missing living close relatives, it does not do family history research! Clients must be 18 or over, and nowadays searches are not made for those under 18, people who are just friends, or those separated by adoption or illegitimacy.

Strictest confidentiality is maintained, with addresses never given out until permission is obtained. About 12,000 enquiries are made each year, with approximately 5,500 being taken as cases of which about 75% are successfully resolved. There is a modest fee with a lower rate for seniors, but extra donations are always welcomed of-course.

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