Researching Catholic Ancestors

This week, whilst researching some of my husband's family history I had difficulty following one particular line. It turned out that the ancestor in question was a Roman Catholic so I thought I'd post some top tips for those of you who think you may have Catholic ancestors in your tree.

   Between the mid 1500s and 1829, Catholicism in Britain was illegal. As a result, those of this faith were forced to operate ‘underground’ in private houses but did not always consider it safe to be recorded on any documents connected to the Catholic Church. The Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 reformed this law and removed many of the restrictions on worship and procedures. Some Catholic records can often be found alongside the Non Conformist records but first contact the Catholic Record Society http://www.catholicrecordsociety.co.uk/ whose volumes are all indexed individually or familiarise yourself with the resources available at http://www.catholic-history.org.uk/ The National Archives is always a great place to contact for assistance but your County Record Office should also be able to tell you what documents have survived in your region. Perhaps your ancestors were Scottish Catholics – then why not take advantage of the collection of parish baptisms from 1703 – 1955 which are online at http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ soon to follow are Catholic marriages, confirmations, deaths, burials and even lists of coverts – opening up a whole new avenue of research that previously may have been difficult to follow.

For more genealogical questions answered, why not have a read of Family History for Beginners.