The session was the ruling body in each congregation and was composed of the minister, designated the moderator at meetings of session, and elders in a particular congregation. One of the elders served as ‘clerk of session’ and was responsible for recording the minutes of the meetings. Session records cover a range of matters, many of which relate to the internal discipline of members of the congregation for a variety of transgressions. Occasionally they may contain baptisms and marriages that are not recorded elsewhere.

A real boon to any researcher seeking information on the families that belonged to a particular congregation will be a congregational census. These can take different forms. At their simplest they may be a list of members of the congregation. More detailed census returns will provide the townland and will include the names of all members of the family. For example, the records of Rademon Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church,CountyDown, include a census of families arranged by townland, 1836-7, with notes added at a later date indicating those who died or got married, those who left the congregation and those who had emigrated. For Carrigallen Presbyterian Church in County Leitrim there is a visitation book with details of each family by townland and dates of baptisms of children, 1837-92.

A remarkable volume is Rev. Robert Magill’s family record book for the congregation of 1st Antrim (Millrow). This includes detailed information on the families that belonged to the congregation in the early nineteenth century and includes baptisms, marriages and deaths. On a number of occasions Magill even went so far as to sketch out family trees, with figure drawings of the various family members. This volume is available for inspection at the Presbyterian Historical Society Library.

These are similar to congregational census, but they only list the names of communicant members of a particular congregation. Sometimes there may be a separate list of the names of new communicants. Occasionally lists of communicants are annotated with additional information, such as when a communicant married, emigrated or died.

Members of one congregation who wished to transfer their congregation to another would be issued with a certificate testifying to their good standing in the church. Frequently a transfer certificate would be issued to those who were emigrating. For example, the transfer certificate given to David Carson by the Rev. Hugh Hamill of 1st Donagheady in 1784 certified that Carson was ‘born and bred of honest Protestant dissenting parents and brought up in that faith, and has lived a sober, regular life which we hope will recommend him to our brethren in America, whom he may chance to associate with’. Carson took no chances and also sought and received a similar testimonial from a local Reformed Presbyterian Church. For a number of congregations there are lists of people who left the congregation to emigrate abroad.

The financial records of a congregation should not be overlooked when searching for a Presbyterian ancestor. Occasionally they will survive for a period for which registers of baptisms and marriages are absent. These records range from stipend lists (the stipend being the minister’s salary), pew rent books, and account books. For 1st Lisburn Presbyterian Church there is a subscription list for the new meeting house from 1764-5.

Pew rent books can be particularly interesting documents. Formerly, the greater part of the minister’s stipend was derived from pew rents, that is, from the letting of pews or seats within the meeting house for a fixed annual sum. In some congregations there were different classes of pew-sitters, reflecting a certain social stratification. For example, in Glendermott Presbyterian Church pew-sitters were divided into gentlemen, farmers, and artisans/cottiers. Some pew rent books survive from the early eighteenth century. For instance, for Rosemary Street Presbyterian Church in Belfast there are surviving pew rent books, 1726-73, 1788-96, 1816-56 and 1866-73.

When a congregation had settled on their choice for a new minister a ‘call’ was issued to him, signed by the members. It was then up to the individual to whom the call was issued to decide whether or not he wished to accept that call. Some of these calls can incorporate fairly extensive lists of names of members of individual congregations. For example, the call issued to Thomas Clark by the Presbyterians of Ballyalbany, County Monaghan, in 1751 contains the names of over 160 individuals. It was published in S. Lyle Orr and Alex Haslett, Historical Sketch of Ballyalbany Presbyterian Church (1940), pp 10-12.

Within Presbyterianism there was a strong emphasis on education. There was a high value placed on the ability to read the Bible for oneself, and so literacy was considered extremely important. Many ministers conducted classes in their home or in the session room of their meeting house. Providing a Classical education, these schools were often used to prepare young men for the ministry. Few records relating to these establishments survive.

Education records that do survive among congregational records relate principally to the Sunday schools that were established in their hundreds in the early nineteenth century. For example, among the records of 2nd Portglenone Presbyterian Church, County Antrim, is a Sunday school roll book, 1821-67. The records for Antrim (Millrow) Presbyterian Church include a Sabbath School library loan book, 1870, and a Sabbath School receipt and expenditure book, 1835-62, incorporating a weekly roll of teachers and salaries, 1840-41.