Vestry minutes

[SarahND]

Does anyone have experience looking in the Vestry minutes in Ireland? Are they like the Kirk Session minutes in Scotland, in that they would discuss illegitimate births and the like? I have looked at the Proni website and seen that the minutes do, indeed, exist for the parish I am interested in, but would like to know what sorts of things I might or might not find in them.

Thanks for any pointers,
Sarah

[Elwyn 1]

Sarah,

Vestry Minutes are a Church of Ireland (ie Episcopalian) record. They are similar to the Kirk Session minutes (ie Presbyterian, and which in Ireland are also called Kirk Session minutes).

In my experience in Ireland, the Church of Ireland vestry minutes don’t dwell on pre-nuptial fornication and other misbehavior as much as the Kirk Session minutes do. They tend instead to focus on church finances, collecting tithe applotment money, cess and other payments to the poor, appointment of new members of the select vestry, repairing the church roof etc. You do get some personal cases, but not as much as in the Kirk Session minutes. The Church of Ireland tends to take a more relaxed attitude to sin than the Presbyterian Church.

Elwyn

[SarahND]

Thanks, Elwyn

My man was Episcopalian, a Scot living in Belfast in the 1820s and 1830s. I am always trying to find more bits of information about him, since there are a few mysteries, and was told that I might find a mention of him in the Vestry minutes. From what you say, though, they didn't discuss the individual members of the parish much, unless they were involved in the running of the church. If I ever get to PRONI I'll have a look nonetheless just in case, but won't get my hopes up.

Best wishes,
Sarah

[Elwyn 1]

Sarah,

I think your analysis is probably about right. If it helps, this is what PRONI’s own guide to Church Records says about Vestry Minutes:

“…vestry minute books, which sometimes contain baptism, marriage and burial entries, particularly in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Frequently vestry minutes contain items such as the names of church wardens, of the confirmed, of cess applotters and payers (cess being a local tax levied by the general vestry for the repair of the roads etc.,), of the poor, the widowed and the orphaned receiving relief, and of overseers of the poor and of the roads. The local historian and the genealogist will both find much useful material buried in the vestry minutes.
Other types of Church of Ireland non-public records of interest are: confirmation registers; account books recording the names of those who gave money to the church or who were paid for their services and even the names of those who received financial and other assistance from the parish; registers of vestrymen which list for each year those who served on the vestry (though they generally date from 1870). Occasionally there is a census for a parish identifying the members of each family, such as that for Christ Church, Belfast, in 1852”.

Elwyn

[SarahND]

Occasionally there is a census for a parish identifying the members of each family, such as that for Christ Church, Belfast, in 1852”.

Ah, if only there were one at the right time and place, this would be priceless! One of the things I'm trying to do is to identify the "housekeeper" who looked after his daughter (in the hopes that she is, or might lead me to, her mother). I assume that if the housekeeper belonged to the same church, she also would be mentioned. All other records I have found only give the head of household. So I'm thinking now that a good look into all the existing church records might well pay off.

Thanks for the suggestions,
Sarah