Broad Street General Baptist Church, Nottingham
The church was established in 1817 when dissent split the congregation of Stoney Street Baptist Church, and the pastor, the Rev. Robert Smith, took his followers to set up a new church. New chapel buildings were erected in Broad Street in 1818, and Sunday School buildings were built to the north of the chapel a few years later.
The chapel merged with Milton Street General Baptist chapel (later Mansfield Road Baptist Church) in 1901 and the buildings on Broad Street were sold. The chapel was converted to a lace warehouse, and then in the late 20th century to the Revolution bar. The Sunday School building also became a bar, Muse, in the late 20th century.
Records
Records of Broad Street General Baptist Church can be found in the Mansfield Road Baptist Church collection held at The University of Nottingham (Mr).
The earliest document is the Register and church record book which was taken by Rev. Smith from Stoney Street and used to record the early years of the Broad Street chapel, 1818-1849 (Mr R 1). There are also copies of minutes of meetings and correspondence relating to the separation, 1817-1818 (Mr M 1), and a full set of original minutes of church meetings, 1818-1901 (Mr M 2-7). The collection also contains church accounts, and registers relating to the Sunday School.
Registers
One original marriage register is held in the Mansfield Road collection at The University of Nottingham:
Pre-1837 registers of births of children associated with Broad Street General Baptist Chapel are held at The National Archives:
- Birth register, 1784-1830 (RG 4/1589)
- Birth register, 1801-1837 (RG 4/2676)
Microfiche copies of these registers can be seen at The National Archives and at Nottinghamshire Archives.
The website www.bmdregisters.co.uk offers paid access to digital images of the registers via a subscription. It is free to search the registers on this website.
Indexes to the registers are also available as part of the International Genealogical Index (IGI) and can be searched for free on www.familysearch.org.
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