I have just learnt of the 1851 Religious Census. I see there are some on the Internet. Does Shropshire have one and, if so, where can it be seen?
Jean Jones
Thank you for your comprehensive knowledge as usual.
I had heard of the 1851 religious census as well, but did not know that it was available online.
One thing I have wondered is there any good British sources for listing the names of people with their religion? I am in the process of creating statistics for various demographics by name, surname, settlement, region and country. I have large, representative samples of names of people along with their religion and other data for: the US, Ireland, Lebanon, Pakistan and possibly a few others.
The only source I can think of for the UK would be the early non-conformist records that are on FMP, Ancestry and The Genealogist. However, any statistics derived from these are likely to be somewhat skewed and binding in data from Anglican sources would be tricky.
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Hello Jean
For the benefit of other readers I will first explain this.
The 1851 Religious Census or more correctly the Ecclesiastical Census was undertaken in 1851 by the Home Office of all places of worship in the country. It contains the address of every church or meeting house of all denominations, gives the location, date of erection or foundation, and size of congregation.
It is in The National Archives (TNA) (Ref: HO129) and is arranged by county or by Poor Law Unions. Often, however, the information is incomplete because of the ignorance or reluctance of the informant.
(The above is taken from The Family Historian's Enquire Within.)
Go to The National Archives (TNA) web site and search for Ecclesiastical Census which should include a reference to Free online records: digital microfilm. Clicking that link should take you to a page containing a long list of free online records.
Look for HO 129 about two thirds of the way down the page and then click on the link to Home Office: Ecclesiastical Census Returns. Down the right hand side of the page you will see a list of areas and counties with Shropshire almost at the bottom of the first page. Clicking that link will take you to the Shropshire page.
Here you will find a list of areas within Shropshire where you should select the one you want and click the Details link to continue. Note that the free download expires after 30 days and can be quite slow to download even on a fast connection.
Mike