Protestation Returns of 1641–1642

The Protestation Returns of 1641–1642 are lists of English males over the age of 18 who took, or did not take, an oath of allegiance "to live and die for the true Protestant religion, the liberties and rights of subjects and the privilege of Parliaments."

They are of importance to local historians for estimating populations, to genealogists trying to find an ancestor immediately before the English Civil War and for scholars interested in surname distributions.

[2] In May 1641, reacting to scares, rumours of plots and anxiety that the Protestant reformation was in danger of being undone, a 10-man committee of the House of Commons, in the Long Parliament, was appointed to draft a national declaration.

[7] The idea was that those that refused to take the oath would be presumed to be Catholics and so unfit to hold office in Church or state.

[8] Many county returns have been published; Cornwall,[9] Devon,[10] Nottinghamshire,[11] Oxfordshire,[12] and Lincolnshire[13] amongst them.