| Description | Membership of the Religious Society of Friends was recorded from the early days of the Society via the entry of a child's name in a birth register, consent to marriage, receipt of poor relief or burial in a Quaker burial ground. These were recorded in Monthly Meeting birth, marriage or burial registers, (see SF/2/9) and in Monthly Meeting minute books (see Men's Monthly Meeting entries SF/2/1/1/1/1). Yearly Meeting abolished birthright membership from 31 December 1959.
From the 1650s, Friends who moved from one Monthly Meeting to another were required to carry a certificate (see also SF/1/5 for information about certificates of liberation for ministering Friends). From 1737 onwards when Yearly Meeting introduced more formal rules of membership, it became more common to record the issuing of outward certificates, known as 'certificates of removal' in Monthly Meeting minute books and retain any incoming certifcates, known as 'certificates of acceptance', as well as in some cases minuting receipt of these. The more formal rules attempted to outline criteria for permitting an individual to gain settlement in a Monthly Meeting, which would then become responsible for paying his/her poor relief if the situation arose. When a Friend moved or 'removed' from one Monthly Meeting to another, he/she was required to take a certificate to the Monthly Meeting into which he/she wanted to be accepted. The Monthly Meeting would examine the conduct of the removing Friend and the certificate would be signed by three Friends and the clerk of the Monthly Meeting. On acceptance of the removing Friend into the receiving Monthly Meeting, an acknowledgement was issued to the former Monthly Meeting and representatives would then visit the Monthly Meeting to investigate the conduct of the removing Friend. It was not permitted to issue certificates to anyone who had received poor relief within the previous three months, anyone who had been disowned, or anyone who was insolvent. In later years, the certificates were sent directly between the Monthly Meetings.
From the 19th century onwards, removals were not necessarily recorded in the Monthly Meeting minutes but the certificates received from other Monthly Meetings and issued by Warwickshire North Monthly Meeting, known as 'certificates received and sent, or 'certificates of removal and acceptance' were listed in volumes (see SF/2/1/1/8/2).The certificates themselves for the period 1677 - 1820 were bound separately and can be found at SF/2/1/1/29/7-11. It should be noted that certificates were sometimes sent several months or even years after the removal of a Friend, particularly if he/she was under consideration for disownment (see below) or in receipt of poor relief. There are separate sequences of certificates of removal and certificates of acceptance from 1927-1976 when these were stored in volumes. From 1976 onwards the certificates became known as certificates of transfer of membership and certificates of acceptance of transfer of membership. They also changed format and were filed together (see SF/2/1/1/8/5).
From the mid-1700s, formal admission procedures (which are still in place today) were introduced for those who were not born into membership of the Religious Society of Friends, but who wished to convert to Quakerism. These involve making an application for membership to the clerk of the area/Monthly Meeting so that it can be considered at the area/Monthly Meeting. The Area/Monthly Meeting appoints two Friends to visit the applicant to assess his/her suitability for membership and they report back to the Area/Monthly Meeting with their recommendations. Members who are accepted into the Society are known as members by convincement, as opposed to those who were born into it, known as members by birthright. In addition to those in membership, there are non-members who attend meetings for worship but never join the Society and these are known as 'attenders'.
The Monthly Meeting minutes record the receipt of applications for membership, the names of those who were nominated to visit the applicant, their findings and the meeting's decision (see SF/2/1/1/1/1). From the end of the 19th century, separate 'Reports on Applications for Membership' were introduced, describing the applicant in some detail. These were bound together and filed separately for the years 1899-1904 and from 1962 onwards. From the years between 1904 and 1962, these reports are inter-filed in the Monthly Meeting 'Reports relating to minutes' (see SF/2/1/1/1/4).
Friends who did not comply with the strict guidelines on conduct could be disowned by the Society. Offences which led to disownment included regularly failing to attend meetings for worship, marrying outside the Religious Society of Friends or attending a marriage ceremony led by a priest, having an illegitimate child or conceiving a child before marriage, bankruptcy, dishonesty in business, paying tithes, and involvement in war, however indirect (e.g. owning armed ships, being involved in the manufacture of guns or other weapons).
Generally, the Preparative Meeting reported any cases of misconduct to the Monthly Meeting. The Monthly Meeting would select representatives to consider the case, consulting with the women's meeting if appropriate, and interviewing the offender, urging him/her to seek repentance. A report would be presented to the Monthly Meeting, and if the Monthly Meeting decided to disown the offender, a minute of disownment which would include a full account of the reasons for the disownment would be written into the Monthly Meeting minutes (see SF/2/1/1/1, SF/2/1/5, SF/2/1/6, SF/2/2/1/1, SF/2/2/2/1). Those who were disowned from meetings for business were still permitted to attend meetings for worship. If they continued to attend the meeting for worship, they were often reinstated by the disowning meeting after an appropriate length of time. If, in that time, the individual had removed to another meeting, after making enquiries, a certificate of removal would be sent. Warwickshire North Monthly Meeting also established a Membership Committee, see SF/2/1/1/4/1.
Membership statistics were collected by the Monthly Meeting and sent to the Quarterly Meeting to be collated and forwarded to Yearly Meeting (see SF/2/1/1/8/1 and SF/1/8 for details). |