In This Issue: January 6, 2004

Who Went to Church in Suffolk
in 1851?
by Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA Scot

From time to time I dip into the databases of the Ancestry U.K. Collection looking for new and interesting items. Late last year the county of Suffolk portion of the 1851 ecclesiastical census of England and Wales was added in the form of images of volume XXXIX in the publications of the Suffolk Record Society (T.C.B. Timmins, editor, 1997).

When the 1851 census was taken, it included returns for existing places of worship arranged by registration district and parish. The authorities wanted to know how many people went to church and where they went (i.e. by denomination). In addition, they were interested in attendance over several months and the financial support for the churches and chapels. It was not obligatory for ministers to complete the forms, but the majority did; least likely to comply were Roman Catholic priests. Of the approximately 13.5 million people who might have been at church in England on Sunday March 30th, only slightly more than half attended (7.25 million). It is possible that some of these were counted twice because some individuals and families went to service twice in one day, perhaps even to the parish church for one service and the chapel for another. Those absent from church were predominantly of the working class.

Details of the Survey
The forms were not all identical, there being variations according to Church of England, Quaker, or other dissenting churches. The information sought was:
— Name or title of place of worship
— Location
— Religious denomination
— When the building was erected or consecrated
— Whether the building was free-standing and used only as a place of worship
— How many could be seated expressed as free sittings and "other"
— Number attending service morning, afternoon and evening (and number in Sunday school)
— Average attendance over the previous six or twelve months
— Additional details about funding, endowment, and any other notes the minister wanted to add.

The Database
The database is made up of images of the Suffolk Record Society publication. The personal names are those of ministers, other church officials, and some prominent people. Unless your ancestors fall into these groups, it is best to search this item according to the place name.

To access this database, choose the Search tab on the Ancestry home page, select the British Isles map and then England. At the top of the list of databases, the second item is the title "Suffolk Returns from the Census of Religious Worship of 1851." Select this and then use the keyword field of the search box to enter the name of a Sussex parish, or, to browse, click on the link "View Images of the Original Document."

I entered the name of a small village, Polstead, and got several hits—in the introduction, the main entry, and index items. For anyone interested in the religious history of the time in general, the opening essay is full of useful information. Polstead was a poor parish with several landowners, a situation that apparently led to lower church attendance, a greater likelihood of dissenting congregations starting up, and in some cases, a higher crime rate.

The main entry noted the population was 943; average attendance was 160 in the morning and 300 in the afternoon (80 Sunday school pupils included in these numbers). The parish also had a Primitive Methodist chapel and a Baptist chapel; attendance at these in total matched approximately that of the parish church.

Value of the Religious Census
The information in the religious census has two great values—as a tally of nearly all churches and for the contribution to local social history. A thorough search of church records can only be accomplished if all the area churches are identified and any “picture” of a parish at the time your ancestors were alive is incomplete without some sense of the place of religion in the community. Compare and combine facts from the ecclesiastical census with descriptions in the Topographical Dictionary of England (Samuel Lewis, 1831) and the Imperial Gazetteer (1872), both of which can be found in the Ancestry collections.

Explore places clustered together in all three based on the parish locator tool at GENUKI which lists churches within three miles (or a selected distance) of a designated place. If your ancestors came from Suffolk, then you have the advantage of the convenience of the Ancestry database and the opening essay on local religious history.

Conclusion
If your ancestors were nonconformists in the first half of the 1800s then this resource should be of particular interest because it provides the date each place of worship was established. The data for the entire ecclesiastical census can be found at the National Archives in HO 129; further information is in a leaflet, Ecclesiastical Census 1851, found within the Catalogues area at: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk.

I cannot say how many counties have published returns but you can investigate for yourself by asking the county record office or principal library in the area. Also, you can check the publications of a county society via GENUKI. Select the county and then the topic “Societies” where you are likely to find a link to the regional record society.

Ancestry Database Links
Suffolk Returns from the Census of Religious Worship of 1851

England Topographical Dictionary

Gazetteer of England and Wales

Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA (Scot) is an author, teacher, and lecturer specializing in English and Scottish family history. She is the author of Your English Ancestry (2nd ed, 1998) and Your Scottish Ancestry (1997) and she is a regular contributor to several journals including Genealogical Computing. Since 1996, she has been a study tour leader, course coordinator, and instructor for the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research at Samford University. She teaches online for the family history program of Vermont College and has lectured at conferences in Canada, the United States, and Australia. She is the past president of the Association of Professional Genealogists.

ACCESS A PRINTER–FRIENDLY VERSION OF THIS ARTICLE, e–mail it to a friend, or submit your feedback on it.

Top

Ancestry Quick Tip Jamboree

It's time for this week's Ancestry Quick Tip Jamboree! Thanks to everyone who has sent in a Quick Tip. Please keep them coming so that we can keep this tradition going. You can send your tips to: ADNeditor@ancestry.com

Quick Tips may be reprinted, with credit to the submitter, in other Ancestry publications, so if you do not want your tip included in a publication other than the Ancestry Daily News and Ancestry Weekly Digest, please state so clearly in your message.

Have a great day!
Juliana

Color-Coded Gedcom

Many of my living relatives who have helped me put together a family tree either do not have computers or wouldn't know a GEDCOM if they fell over one. In order to help them understand family relationships, I've typed up and printed out a simple descendancy chart, using a different color for each generation. Since our family is complicated with overlapping generations, this helps them see at a glance who are first cousins, second cousins, etc.

Dorothy Colwell

Neighbors' Origins Can Hold Clues

If you don't have any idea where your ancestors came from, look at their neighbors’ roots. If you can find where the neighbors came from, you may also find your ancestors’ origins. My great-grandfather was from Arnum, Germany, and the cemetery in Arnum showed a lot of families that immigrated to the same town my great-grandfather did.

Philip Jon Krueger

Door Tip

I read your suggestions that suggested using a door for a desktop. Several persons suggested buying a new door to rest on top of filing cabinets. I have done that, but I took an old door with the doorlock hole at the top. This way, I have a neat round hole for all of my computer and printer leads, etc.

Vic Boisseree

ACCESS A PRINTER–FRIENDLY VERSION OF THIS QUICK TIP, e-mail it to a friend, or submit your feedback on it.

Top