Charles Street Baptist Church, Newport, Records

Records of the Charles Street Baptist Church, Newport, 1818-1997, including minute books, 1884-1995; registers, 1818-1883; church membership records, 1813-1996; Charles Street Baptist Sunday School records, 1907-1974; Men's Bible Class register, 1923-1932; choir records, 1926-1939; correspondence, 1952-1997.

The Charles Street Baptist Church owed its foundation mainly to three women; Mrs Samuel (wife of John Samuel of Henllys Court) who had been baptised in Bethesda Tydu in 1762, Mrs Griffiths (afterwards Mrs Perkins) and Mrs James. All three had been members of the Baptist cause at Bethesda and the new cause was regarded as a branch of that church. In 1796 Mrs Samuel removed to Newport, she had been widowed in 1774 and her daughter Amy married William Williams, the brother of Mrs James. In 1807 Mrs Samuel and her friends rented a room in John Rowe's house on Stow Hill and asked the preachers John Hier and his deputy James Edmunds, both from Bethesda, to preach to them there. They later moved to a larger room in Charles Street. At the Castleton Baptist Association meeting held in 1816 it was resolved to build the first Welsh Baptist Chapel in Newport, and the land then acquired in Charles Street, with the help of a bequest from John Williams, a Newport tailor. The opening services of the new church were held in May 1817. In July 1879 it was decided to change the services from Welsh to English, due to the decline in Welsh-speaking in the town. In September 1993, the Charles Street fellowship joined in joint worship with Ebbw Bridge Baptist Church, Newport, and the Charles Street Chapel closed.

Arranged into the following: Minute books; Registers; Church membership; Charles Street Baptist Sunday School; Men's Bible Class; Choir; Correspondence; Miscellaneous

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Source not recorded

Compiled by Richard Burman for the ANW project. The following source was used to compile this description: Gwent Record Office, Catalogue of the records of the Charles Street Baptist Church. Newport.

Hard copies of the catalogue are available in Gwent Record Office and the National Register of Archives

Usual copyright regulations apply.

All records deposited at Gwent Record Office have been retained.

Accruals are possible

Further registers of the Charles Street Baptist Church are Gwent Record Office, D2774/11