On 16/01/15 16:31, Peter Goodey wrote: > On 16/01/15 15:35, [email protected] wrote:> On Monday, 8 September > 2014 23:42:02 UTC+1, Tickettyboo wrote: > >> RG4 Piece 1581: South Shields, Apsceate Congregation (Scotch Church), > >> 1783-1813 > >> I am not very au fait with the various flavours of Non Conformists and > >> though I have Googled till my fingers are worn down I can't find any > >> explanation of the term "Apsceate" > > Could it be "apostate" - someone who abandons his religion - a renegade > or rebel? Could it be associated with a split or secession from the church? It was a Presbyterian church of some sort, so I can believe someone outside the church might have referred to them, somewhat pejoratively, as apostates. Another possibility that crossed my mind as "associate", where the first "s" was a long "s". I'm not quite sure what that would mean in this context. Richard