Nonconformists
- 1531-4 Two Acts of Parliament declared Henry VIII and his successors head of the Church in England.
- 1555 - Mary I restored Catholic doctrine to England. Persecution and burning of Protestants marked her reign.
- 1559 - Elizabeth I reversed the acts of Mary and ordered Protestant uniformity of all religious services.
- 1593 - An Act (England and Wales) provided for the imprisonment of those attending a Roman Catholic service.
- 1662 - The Act of Uniformity required all English and Welsh clergy to consent to the entire contents of the Book of Common Prayer. Over 2,000 clergymen refused to do so and lost their livings.
- 1689 - The Act of Toleration permitted freedom of worship to Protestant dissenters from the Church of England, but excluded Roman Catholics. This Act required the registration of dissenters' meeting houses with quarter sessions (see the appropriate county record office), the bishops or archdeacons (see diocesan records.)
- 1791 - Roman Catholic Relief Act permitted RC worship with unlocked doors. It required the registration of Roman Catholic chapels in England and Wales. See Quarter Sessions records (as above), and returns of Roman Catholic chapels registered from 1791 to 1852 in National Archives RG31.
- 1793 - Scottish Catholic Relief Act.
- 1812 - An Act required that meeting houses should be certified with all three registering authorities.
- 1829 - Catholic Emancipation Act permitting Catholics to vote and sit in Parliament applied in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
- 1836 - Return of Dissenting Meeting Houses and Roman Catholic Chapels in England and Wales [Parliamentary Paper] gives meeting houses and chapels registered up to that year.
- 1851 - The religious census included RC and Protestant nonconformist churches and chapels.
- 1852 - An Act transferred registration to the Registrar General and required the former licensing authorities to supply returns of all Protestant nonconformist places of worship from 1689 to 1852. These are in National Archives RG31.
- For Protestant nonconformist churches and chapels see Chapels.
- For Roman Catholic cathedrals see Cathedrals.
- For Roman Catholic churches see Churches.
- For Roman Catholic domestic chapels see Chapels.
Mullett, M., Sources for the History of English Nonconformity (1991).