subject: Nonconformists Ancestors In My Family Research [print this page] We are more likely than not, in family tree research, to find ourselves looking at death and burial records for ancestors. A problem can arise for us when our forebears were not members of the Church of England but were nonconformists and so will not be in the established church's records.
From what I can see, in my recent research, not many Nonconformist chapel burial records seem to survive in Devon, England, where much of my family tree searches take place.
The law, in England and Wales, allowed people from whatever denomination to be laid to rest in the parish churchyard when they died. But what wasn't permitted, under this law, was for a Church of England burial service to be held next to the grave of a nonconformist. Probably not much of a problem if all of the family of the deceased were not members of the Church of England; but I can see that it would be upsetting, for those who had not joined their relative in leaving the C of E and would have preferred the departed to have had the benefit of a service conducted by the vicar of the parish church.
I was intrigued to find out that people who held offices within the "establishment", for example local councillors as well as certain council officials, were not permitted to wear their robes of office or the mayoral chains etc. whilst attending the funeral of a nonconformist councillor. If they defied this rule then they may have been fined 100 and could have also been barred from public office for the rest of their lives!
Many nonconformists, however, did not wish to be interred inside Church of England held land. Quakers, especially, established their unique burial grounds. In these, the family historian will discover, plots defined by plain and uncomplicated stones that usually presented simply the initials belonging to the departed.
Some chapels set up their own burial grounds. You will find on investigation that this included Independents, Methodists and also the Baptists. What is more, in a number of country places, burial grounds were opened to cater for all those who were classed as nonconformists and would not specifically be confined to only one or perhaps some other particular religious faith. In around 1880 a change, in the laws of England & Wales, meant that a family of a person, being buried within a Church of England parish graveyard, now had the chance to opt for a minister from their own religious beliefs to be able to preside over the burial service. This began the downfall in separate nonconformist burial grounds, often less popular because of the fact that in some cases they were miles from the particular village or district from where the family resided. In 1853, following on from terrible overcrowding of graveyards and burial grounds due in some measure to the number of cholera fatalities and so forth, the British Parliament passed another law ordering the closure of a large number of churchyards as well as burial grounds to fresh internments. The result of this was that many towns, as well as bigger parishes, set up their own new cemeteries in order to cater for the continued burial of the dead.
To find earlier burial grounds nowadays isn't always that simple. In an ideal world you will be able to find someone who possesses the local knowledge and is willing to assist you in your research. I've had experience of this while I was researching my family in Cheltenham, England. The local history society, as well as an amateur historian from one of the bigger churches, were able to help lead me in the right direction to find my ancestor. The basic scarcity of registers, nevertheless, will most likely make it tough if you want to research for names.
There is a report that comes up in several sources of a peculiar example of nonconformist burial. I recall it here as a great example of practicality. Within the Arnos Vale cemetery, in Bristol, England, there was an Anglican gentleman, whose wife was a nonconformist. They wished to be laid to rest together after their deaths, but the challenge for the husband and wife was this. The nonconformist graves had to be located in a separate part of the cemetery from Church of England ones. The solution, that the gentleman found, was the applying of a little bit of lateral thinking by the gentleman when he examined the map of this particular cemetery. He went ahead and obtained a big family grave that straddled the boundary line of both sections of the cemetery! The resulting large plot contains man and spouse, with each one interred on their own side of the border line and yet each acknowledging their own particular faith.
Finally, if you are researching into nonconformist burials in your family tree, I urge you to take into account whether or not the deceased could have been very poor. If so then they may well have been afforded a "paupers" grave. In a case such as this then the identify of the dead person would not have been shown and usually only a numbered peg was entered to identify the grave.
I wish you luck in your family tree research
by: Nick Thorne
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