About this file:

There is now a Master Index file created so that one may quickly check
for occurence of names.

These files will be of benefit to those who had family which were part
of the Methodist Clergy.


The purpose of the "Method" files are to show who served as Clergy in the
Methodist Church and where they served. Given that one has a "Clergy" in 
the family background it may be possible to track where they served and for
how long. This in turn gives us "possible" further sources and areas to 
search as the "Clergy" were deemed quite high profile people within the 
community. 
Ones relatives may have done something significant within a Parish
and this may have been recorded in the Parish notes or within the local
media of the time.
Where the Parish Church has since closed, the notes/records would have
been moved to another location. I believe the actual Clergy notes would
have been moved to the Methodist Archives in London. This of course only
applies to English records as subsequent appointments in other countries
would have had their own headquarters and administration. Thus if one was
to have a relative who served the Methodist Church in U.S.A. or Australia
then one would check the location of their own country first to ascertain
whether local archival records were kept there.

Where a member of the Clergy was "qualified" (as in Degree's) then further
research may be possible to ascertain as to where they obtained their
degree. This in itself may lead to University records showing academic
achievement as well as if the person did some thing outstanding it would
be noted somewhere within the University records come papers.
There could be records of their movements through out their career and 
as such one may find within the parishes something noteworthy which
involved an ancestor. Perhaps an old local paper may have a record or 
some thing?

I also assume that other countries may have produced their own "year
books" which also provides an additional source for research. One should
not forget that not only "clergy" appear in the "year books" but it also
makes reference to those who were "lay persons" or held some form of 
office within the church. This is more evident with "death" notices and
the obituaries contained in the year book.


You will note that "*" appears after some names, this is to show those who
were serving overseas. Such reference applies to Method3 file for the
actual location.

Some names have 1st, 2d etc after them, I believe this to be a way of
being able to differentiate between those with the same name. This is
more prevalent in the Method2 file.

In another case you will have "James Collier" in two locations. I think
that these were two separate characters as the locations are too far apart
and not a typo error (on my part or the book).
I have left in the qualifications where stated (such as D.D. = Doctorate of
Divinity) in the belief that this may lead to further possible sources
of research. Given that the person attended a University there may well be
"papers" held in their archives relating to performance of a student or a
thesis etc. 

Finally remember this list is the summary of all files, no attempt has
been made to identify as to which file is the source. All the files are
bundled together as one and now supercede previous issues.

Should you find a possible connection you may contact me on the below
address and please send a SAE (if local in Oz) or one IRC coupon from
overseas. The reply might be typed out entry or it may be necessary to
photocopy the entry from the book.

Cheers Bob Bester 
                 107 Murrell Road, 
                 ParaHills,  
                 South Australia, 
                 5096.