'Old English Dissent', that is denominations whose origins lie in the religious turbulence of the seventeenth century: the Baptists, the Independents (later Congregationalists), the Presbyterians (the remainder of which mainly became Unitarian) and the Society of Friends - all of whom 'dissented' from the Church of England.
This booklet does not just cover English Presbyterians and Unitarians but also makes mention of the Independents and some of the many varieties of Baptists. This is because denominational boundaries were not always as firmly fixed in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries as they later became. Independent and Presbyterian were quite fluid descriptions when applied to many chapels in this period, and so the author.
This is a fully revised, expanded and updated edition containing an outline history, sources of information - registers, Dr William's library, John Ryland's University Library of Manchester, Harris Manchester College, United Reformed Church History Society et al - the location of records on Presbyterians, General Baptists, Unitarian Congregations of Great Britain and the Presbyterian Church of Ireland and more.
Contents:
1. Foreword
2. Preface to Second Edition
3. An Outline History
- Origins
- Presbyterian and Independents
- Presbyterian Decline
- Presbyterianism Become Unitarianism
- The General Baptists
- The Denominational Setting
- The Recent Story
4. Sources of Information
- Registers
- Other Records
- Dr Williams's Library Register of Births
- The Family Connection
- Repositories of Material
- Dr Williams's Library
- John Rylands University Library of Manchester
- Harris Manchester College, Oxford
- United Reformed Church History Society
- Journals and Newspapers
- Bibliography
5. English Presbyterian/General Baptist/Unitarian Congregations in Great Britain: Location of Records
- Introduction
- Abbreviations
- Congregations in England and Isle of Man
- Congregations in Scotland
- Congregations in Wales
- Other Bodies
6. Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland
