"Quakerism arose in the east midlands in the late 1640s, gathering momentum in the north in the early 1650s, and spreading over the south of England from 1654 onwards."
Quaker records were very well kept, recording more information than in the Church of England registers. In 1836, when the government called for all non-conformist records to be turned in, the Quakers compiled. However, digests were made before they were sent in.
"The digests made by the Society 1840-2, at the time of surrender, were not transcripts. The registers relating to meetings within each of the then quarterly meetings in England and Wales had their contents systematically arranged so that, under each letter of the alphabet, entries in each series (i.e. births, marriages, burials) appear in approximately chronological order from the 17th century to 1837. Witnesses to marriages were not transcribed in the digest. The digests were made in duplicate, one copy being retained centrally (now the Friends House Library) and the other returned to the quarterly meeting." Information requested in the digests are as follows.
Births: Book, Page, Name, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Name of Parents, Parents Abode, Description (usually occupation), Monthly Meeting, NM for NotMembers
Marriage: Book, Page, Name, Residence, Description (usually occupation), Names of Parents, To Whom Married, Where Married, Date of Marriage, Monthly Meeting
Burials: Book, Page, Name, Date of Death, Age, Residence, Description (spouse of, child of, marital status, occupation), Monthly Meeting, Date of Burial, Place of Burial, NM for Not Member
Essentially, the digests give almost all of the information found on the actual record. However, it is always wise to check the original to verify what's in the digests.
The digests, from the beginning to the end of 1837, are in the library. They were cataloged in the middle of this year (1994.) They do not appear in the fiche or CD version of the catalog at present. They are on the VAX online catalog. When they appear in the patron catalog, they will be found in the locality section under [County] - Church Records.
For more information, refer to:
Donald Steel, Sources for Nonconformist Genealogy and Family History (NIPR vol.2, 942 V26ste vol. 2, pages 601-95
Edward H. Milligan and Malcolm J. Thomas, My Ancestors were Quakers: How can I find out more about them? (942 D27m)