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NON-CONFORMIST CHURCH RECORDS IN ANGUS AND DUNDEE

Finding an ancestor who was non-conformist, who did not follow the tenets of the Established Church of Scotland, can often be a difficult task. Sometimes non-conformist families registered baptisms and marriages with the Church of Scotland, and entries for these may even indicate to which church they belonged. However, if you are unable to find your ancestors in Church of Scotland records, when evidence points to their having been resident in a particular parish, then use the Statistical Accounts of Scotland to determine the denomination of other churches in the area. Once you know which church or churches existed at the time, you can then search for their records.

Records of non-conformist churches in Scotland can be found in several places:

• National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh (NAS)
• Local authority archives
• In the care of the churches themselves.

Background

By an act of 1560, Roman Catholicism was proscribed in Scotland and the Established Church became Presbyterian. A struggle between Presbyterians and Episcopalians during the 16th and 17th centuries for control of the Scottish Church culminated in the 1690 Act of Settlement, which ensured the establishment of Presbyterianism as the official Church of Scotland.

The following is a list of locally-held non-conformist records or copies of records and where they can be found. There are also a large number of church histories available locally which usually incorporate lists of office bearers and names of incumbents

Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholics suffered persecution throughout the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, exacerbated by Catholic support for the Jacobite cause in 1715 and 1745. All Catholics were branded rebels and outlaws and priests were imprisoned or transported. Few Catholic congregational records survive therefore before the Catholic Relief Act of 1793.

Original Catholic registers of baptisms, marriages and deaths remain in the hands of the Roman Catholic Church. For further information contact Scottish Catholic Archives, Columba House, 16 Drummond Street, Edinburgh EH3 6PL.

Copies of records are available at the National Archive of Scotland. For a list of Roman Catholic Church records in Angus held by NAS see www.dundee.ac.uk/archives/genuki/ANS/Topics/rc.html.

Catholic Apostolic Church

This church was formed in the mid nineteenth century, and expected the 'New Millennium' to come at the beginning of the twentieth century. When it did not, the membership dwindled. Its most lasting heritage in Dundee is its imposing building at Constitution Road, which was later acquired by the now St Mary Magdalen's Episcopal church. Officebearers can be found in the printed street directories at DCL.

Episcopal Church

Methodist Church

Viewing records less than 60 years old requires the written permission of the Superintendent Minister of Circuit.

Jewish Church

Congregationalist Church

A type of Protestant Church organisation in which each congregation manages its own affairs independently. Congregationalism was established in Scotland around 1799.

Baptist Church

A Protestant denomination, the first Baptist Church in Scotland was established near John O'Groats in the mid 18th Century. Baptists believe in adult baptism by total immersion and in the separation of church and state.

With regard to the records of the Dundee Baptist Churches, consultation of documents less than 70 years old requires the permission of the Secretary of the Central Baptist Church, Dundee.

Independent

The Salvation Army

A Christian evangelist movement founded in London in 1865 by William Booth, which adopted the name "Salvation Army" in 1878, and spread rapidly to various parts of the country and abroad. In the Dundee and Angus area from the 1880's, Salvationists were actively engaged in the fight against poverty and immorality.

For information on how to trace family members who may have been Salvationists look at the Salvation Army's heritage site on www.salvationarmy.org/heritage.nsf/AllSubCategories

Other Presbyterian Churches

Divisions appeared in the Established Church of Scotland over the question of the relationship between church and state, resulting in the breaking away of sections of the Church in 1733 to form the Secession Church. The Secessionists, in a wrangle over the Burgess Oath, split again in 1747 into Burghers and Anti-Burghers, and yet again in the late 18th Century to form Old and New Light Burghers and Anti-Burghers. In 1820, the New Light Burghers and the New Light Anti-burghers joined up to form the United Secession Church. In 1761, the Relief Church also left the Established Church due to the oppressive exercise of patronage. Most of the Relief Church congregations eventually joined the United Secession Church to form the United Presbyterian Church in 1847. However, the greatest schism occurred in 1843, with the formation of the Free Church by Thomas Chalmers, again over the question of patronage and spiritual independence. In 1900, most Free Church congregations joined with the United Presbyterians to form the United Free Church, and the majority rejoined the Church of Scotland in 1929. Some 70 congregations remained United Free.

Glasite Church

The Glasite Church is an independent Presbyterian sect formed by the Reverend John Glas (1695-1773), formerly Minister of Tealing. Glas believed that the notion of the national church and civil interference in religious matters were not authorised in Scripture. Following his removal from Established Church ministry in 1730, he moved first to Dundee and then to Perth in 1733. His son-in-law, Robert Sandeman later took the Glasite movement to America, where they became the Sandemanians.

Unitarian Church

The Unitarian Church denies the doctrine of the Trinity, believing that divinity exists only in God. The Rev Henry Williamson was noted for encouraging the organisation of female mill workers into the Mill Workers Union.