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Archiver > DEVON > 2008-03 > 1206708647


From: Sher Leetooze <>
Subject: [DEV] non-conformists and the Anglican church
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 08:50:47 -0400


Hello All:
When I researched the Bible Christian Project I found out that people had
to remain part of the established church if they wanted to 1) keep their
jobs and 2) be able to collect parish relief if they ever needed it.
I don't like to throw stones, but the nitty-gritty of the whole thing was
the fact that the English Church was running scared - there were so many
people leaving the church for the Methodists and other non-conformists in
the late 1700's and early 1800's that they put out the edict that warned
people against leaving the Anglican Church - I don't have a copy of it
handy right now, but it ended: "And Ye Shall Starve" - what an awful thing
to say to poor people!!!! So everyone had their kids christened in the
Anglican church, and often in the non-conformist church of their
choice. It was off to the Anglican Church on the Sabbath, and off to the
Methodist Bible Study group on Wednesday evening. This way they could
protect their families and exercise their freedom of choice. Most often
the Anglican minister knew who did what in the parish, and often they were
more than willing to point out the fact that this person or that person was
a non-conformist - and this in the parish register for eternity! Just the
same as when they put a big black B beside the name of a child born out of
wedlock. They were a miserable lot back then and you never know what notes
may be in the original registers . Unfortunately we will never know what
was in most of them for the microfilm doesn't always pick up the margins
where many of these notes were written. I don't believe Devon has been
microfilmed either! Too bad. It makes for good reading if you can see
the notes. Many Anglican ministers also recorded the date that a
particular family left the parish for North America or Australia - now
that's all lost!

So you think that any of this will teach a lesson to the record keepers of
today? Doubt it!
Sher
Ontario, Canada

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