Dear JustinL,
Thank you for those links. I will check them all out. I understand that there was indeed a large Baptist and other non-conformist population in rural areas as you say however the reason I'm convinced this is not the case with my family is due to the following:
My great grandmother who is the descendent of this line was often stopped in the streets in London in the early 20th century and asked by Jewish people if she was Jewish. I undertook a genetic DNA test which shows that I have some Ashkenazi ancestry and it doesn't plausibly fit with any other branch of my family history through naming and other processes of elimination. Reading up on naming practices amongst non-conformist Christians and Jews, non-conformists who used Biblical names tended to give each child an Old Testament name whereas Jewish families would often only name some children with Hebrew names and give the others non-religious secular names, this fits with my Solomon Rayner who has Arun, Naome, Nathan as siblings but then others with names such as Edgar, Harriet etc. Finally on the Harvey line there were Harvey members in villages close to Hoxne who anecdotally were said to have looked Jewish in the early 1800s because of their dark features and dark hair. Two members of the family were said to wear skull caps and have long beards. In early 19th century England beards were not worn but Jewish people over Europe did have beards at that time. I thought the skull cap could be a confusion for a smoking cap but even smoking caps were not popularised until after the Crimean war. Finally it is another annecdote that one of these Harvey's was cast out from his village for twice marrying his niece, this is permitted under Jewish law but not under English Law or Church Canon Law.
That is why I'm pretty convinced that this family was unlikely to be non-conformists.
Regards,
Nicky
