This collection contains 447,396 records. It includes images of the original and a browse capability, with the following details for some Lancashire adherents to Protestant churches who didn’t follow the practices of the Church of England:
Name
Event type
Parish name
Event date
Date and place of birth
Sex assigned at birth
Marital status at event
Occupation
Age at event
Names of family members.
Sourced from the Lancashire Archives, the collection has records from 335 churches and chapels. Curiously, none are from Liverpool or Manchester. Ancestry already has non-conformist records for Manchester. Liverpool is likely to come as the source for this collection; the Lancashire Archives has holdings.
The National Archives holds a variety of non-conformist registers in series RG 4, RG 5, RG 6, and RG 8. All are available ($) on The Genealogist website.
This collection shows non-conformism found in fertile ground in Burnley, Preston, and Blackburn. These towns underwent rapid industrialization and urbanization during the 18th and 19th centuries, attracting many working-class labourers to the cotton mills and factories. There was a perception that the Church of England catered more to the interests of the landed gentry and aristocracy whereas dissenting churches and chapels appealed to the social and economic circumstances of the emerging industrial working class.
Catholic churches and Jewish synagogues aren’t considered non-conformist, therefore their records aren’t found in this collection.
How can you find out about the natural landscape of the area your English ancestors came from?
During the Second World War, over 45,000 Canadian servicemen and women made the ultimate sacrifice. They aren’t just numbers. To truly comprehend the enormity of this loss, examine the impact at a local level.
