After the English church split from Rome, Roman Catholicism was suppressed for much of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Sheffield was not a Roman Catholic stronghold, but a small congregation began meeting locally from the late seventeenth century. In 1728 a mission was founded, and a chapel opened in the centre of Sheffield in 1816. Between 1847 and 1850 a beautiful neo-Gothic church dedicated to St Marie was built on the chapel site in Norfolk Row. This became the cathedral church of the Diocese of Hallam in 1980. Population growth during the nineteenth century encouraged more church building which continued into the twentieth century. Some of these churches are now closed.
Sheffield Archives is the Diocesan Register Office for the Diocese of Hallam and holds records for the churches listed below. Some of these records may include events that took place at chapels of ease which are not listed. Note that there is a 50 year closure period for all Roman Catholic parish registers. Search the Sheffield Archives online catalogue for Roman Catholic records.
You might also want to check out the Catholic Family History Society.
The following records are available on this website.
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