I had always known only one meaning for “nonconformist.” He/she was someone who “went against the grain” and didn’t do what was expected or conventional. But when I started doing ancestry searches, I found that the term “nonconformists” kept cropping up. I had visions of our hippie ancestors. But it turns out that this was just one more black hole in my education. The English had a different meaning for nonconformist, and as a non-historian, I didn’t have a clue about this.
A “nonconformist” was a Protestant who didn’t follow, or belong to, the Church of England. He was a dissenter from the established Anglican Church. The usage dates to The Act of Unity of 1662, by which Protestants who did not conform to the Church of England tenets and practices, were considered to be “nonconformists.” The Book of Common Prayer had to be used, among other requirements. Eventually the term included Baptists, Puritans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Quakers, Congregationalists, etc. Such individuals could be discriminated against in a variety of ways, including in schools, as well as civil and military offices.
In 1689 The Act of Toleration exempted those who had taken an oath of allegiance to England. They were no longer subject to the penalties they had been subject to under the Act of Unity. At this point they began to be called “dissenters” rather than “nonconformists.”
When one searches for family, one sometimes needs to look through the files of the nonconformists and dissenters, as well as more general files. Our ancestors made a variety of choices when faced with these legal obstacles. Some of the Aldersons who migrated to America were protestant ministers.
More about religion tomorrow…
Cleary Family History 