A Recorded Minister was originally a male or female Quaker (that is, a member of the Religious Society of Friends), who was acknowledged to have a gift of spoken ministry.
The practice of recording in a Monthly Meeting Minute the acknowledgment that a Friend had a gift of spoken ministry began in the 1730s in London Yearly Meeting, according to Milligan's Biographical dictionary of British Quakers in commerce and industry.
[1][2] The acknowledgment did not involve anything like ordination or any payment, in view of early Friends' testimony against "Hireling Priests".
In London Yearly Meeting the practice of recording Ministers was discontinued in 1924.
[1][4] While many Yearly Meetings have discontinued the practice of recording ministers, it is maintained by many others.