Post Reformation Roman Catholics

From the 16th -18th centuries English Catholics were a small, persecuted minority under leadership of gentry families. During this period, most Catholics opted for an Anglican burial service but private baptism and marriage services. Sometimes, retrospective entries were made in the registers when they began to be kept again. At this period Staffordshire, and Wolverhampton in particular, was known for its tolerance towards Roman Catholics. Gentry families such as the Giffards at Chillington and the Whitgreaves at Moseley offered a certain amount of protection (although by no means complete exemption) from the penalties that Catholics were subjected to.

Click on the image to enlarge

Records of persecution

These are held by Lichfield Record Office as well as the returns of 1706, 1767, and 1780. The 1706 return has been published in Staffordshire Catholic History (No. 13, 1973), which is available at Wolverhampton Archives & Local Studies. The Public Record Office information leaflet on
Catholic Recusants lists the sources available within central government records.

Re-emergence of the Roman Catholic Church

Giffard House, North Street in the 1960s.

The influence of the Giffard family enabled a priest's house and chapel to be built in Wolverhampton, it was completed by 1733 and was known as Giffard House. Mass was held in secret until, in 1791, the Relief Act enabled Roman Catholics to register places of public worship. Many churches were built around this date and registers of baptism, marriage and burial may also begin from this date. To cope with the growing numbers of Catholics, a large extension was added to Giffard House with the church formally opening in 1828 as SS Peter and Paul.

In 1829 the Catholic Emancipation Act gave much more freedom to Catholics and, combined with the influx of Roman Catholics from Ireland, it strengthened the composition of the church. It is to this date that most people can trace their Roman Catholic ancestry. New churches were built to cope with the expanding congregations such as SS Mary & John's on Snow Hill.

SS Mary & John's Roman Catholic Church, Snow Hill c.1900.

Registers

The Roman Catholic Church was reluctant to deposit its registers alongside other Nonconformists, upon the start of civil registration, on grounds that they were required for religious purposes and extracts had to be certified by a priest. Original registers for Wolverhampton churches are at the Birmingham Archdiocesan Archives:

Cathedral House,
St Chad's,
Queensway,
Birmingham,
B4 6EU

whilst microfilm copies are available at Wolverhampton Archives & Local Studies.

Catholic baptisms often include details of the godparents and marriage entries give the woman's maiden name. Bear in mind that the great majority of registers are in Latin. The use of the vernacular language in the celebration of mass and administration of the sacraments was introduced in 1965 under the II Vatican Council.