Address
14 Gordon Square
London
WC1H 0AG
Telephone
020 7387 3727
Websites
Notes
The Library houses a comprehensive collection of materials on Protestant nonconformity in England and Wales and serves as an invaluable resource for those studying religious history or tracing nonconformist ancestry in England and Wales. The Library was established in the name of Dr. Daniel Williams a Presbyterian minister who died in 1716 and buried at the dissenters burial ground at Bunhill Fields in London. His will stipulated that a trust be set up to establish a library dedicated to the study of protestant nonconformity which now houses an extensive collection of books, manuscripts and historical records related to dissenting religious groups.
Family History Resources
The library is particularly valuable for family historians due to its collection of nonconformist birth registers and other records.
General Register of Protestant Dissenters
The register covers some 29, 865 nonconformist births from 1743 to 1837, with some retrospective entries dating back to 1716. The registry began when a committee representing Presbyterians, Independents and Baptists, known as the Dissenting Deputies, arranged with the library to keep an official register of births.
The officials at the registry produced two copies of the birth certificate, one was handed to the parents and the other kept at the library. The entries were then entered into the register kept at the library. A typical entry should include the name of child, date and place of birth, parent’s name, mother’s maiden name, occasionally the names of the mother’s parents and the father’s occupation. The registers were handed to the Registrar General in 1837 and are now housed at The National Archives in series RG 4 and RG 5. They are available on line at BMD Registers and partially at FamilySearch.
Evans List (1715)
The library also holds the ‘Evans List’ of Dissenting Congregations and Ministers compiled in 1715 (updated in 1730). The survey, conducted county by county, provides information on dissenting congregations and ministers in England and Wales. The survey carries extra significance as it follows the Toleration Act of 1689 which granted nonconformists limited freedom of worship. The Josiah Thompson List of 1773 is similar in scope.
Surman Index
The index is a biographical card catalogue of dissenting ministers compiled by Charles Surman (1901-1986) covering the period from the mid-seventeenth century to 1972. The Index includes approximately 32,000 ministers, with details such as dates, education, ministries, employment and sources. A published version of the card Index was released in 2009 which is available online at The Queen Mary Centre for Religion and Literature in English and at Dr Williams Library.
