| Description | These files cover the period from 1673 to 1789, but more sacrament certificates are contained in the Quarter Sessions files, together with the declarations against transubstantiation. The 17th century sacrament certificates usually give the office e.g. Councillor, Sheriff, Mayor etc. for which the certificate was required. Files QRR/2, QRR/5 and QRR/7 have been repaired |
| Administrative History | The Test Act, 1673 compelled every person who held civil or military office to receive the sacrament of communion in the Church of England within six months of appointment and to deliver to quarter sessions a certificate to that effect, signed by the minister, churchwardens and two witnesses. Officials were also obliged to make a declaration denying the doctrine of transubstantiation and to take oaths of supremacy and allegiance. The Test and Corporation Acts were repealed in 1828. The records comprise files of sacrament certificates, which, in the seventeenth century, usually give the office for which the certificate was required. |