Woodchurch, Cheshire Genealogy
Guide to Woodchurch, Cheshire ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.
Woodchurch, Cheshire | |
---|---|
Woodchurch, Birkenhead Holy Cross | |
Type | England Jurisdictions |
Civil Jurisdictions | |
Hundred | Wirrall |
County | Cheshire, England Genealogy |
Poor Law Union | Wirral |
Registration District | Wirrall |
Records begin | |
Parish registers: 1571 | |
Bishop's Transcripts: 1581 | |
Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions | |
Rural Deanery | Wirral |
Diocese | Pre-1541 - Lichfield and Coventry; Post-1540 - Chester |
Province | York |
Legal Jurisdictions | |
Probate Court | Pre-1541 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory) Post-1540 - Court of the Bishop of Cheshire (Episcopal Consistory) |
Location of Archive | |
Cheshire Record Office | |
Contents
Parish History[edit | edit source]
WOODCHURCH (Holy Cross), a parish, in the union, and Lower division of the hundred, of Wirral, South division of Cheshire; with the townships of Arrowe, Barnston, Landican, Noctorum, Oxton, Pensby, Prenton, Thingwall, and part of Irby.[1]
Woodchurch, Holy Cross (Church of England). An ancient parish church, originally serving the townships of Arrowe, Barnston, Claughton cum Grange (part), Irby (part), Landican, Noctorum, Oxton, Pensby, Prenton, Thingwall and Woodchurch.
The cross probably stood intact in the graveyard until the 17th century when many such crosses were destroyed by the Puritans it has been said. In the 14th century the south aisle, chancel and tower were added. The south aisle was rebuilt in the 16th century and a south porch was added. Heavy diagonal buttresses were added to the tower in 1675. The vestry was built in 1766. The north aisle by Hubert Worthington was added in 1964–65.
From the Ancient parish two later parishes were created:
- Barnston, Christ Church (C of E). The parish church since 1880.
- Pensby, St. Michael and All Angels (C of E). Founded 1958 as a chapel to Barnston. Registers of Baptisms from 1958 and Marriages from 1964 are held at the church.
Resources[edit | edit source]
Census[edit | edit source]
Census records from 1841 to 1911 are available online. For access, see England Census. Census records from 1841 to 1891 are also available on film through a Family History Center or at the Family History Library.
Church Records[edit | edit source]
Woodchurch Holy Cross parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials have been indexed by the following groups:
CPR = Cheshire Parish Register Project - free[2] | |||||
FS PR's =FamilySearch Parish Registers | |||||
FS BT's = FamilySearch Bishops Transcripts | |||||
JOIN = The Joiner Marriage Index - (£)[3] |
Woodchurch Holy Cross Parish (1571) Online Records | ||||||
Indexes | Images | Indexes | Images | Indexes | Images | |
CPR | 1571-1871 | 1571-1871 | 1580-1871 | |||
FS PR's | 1571-1909 |
NONE |
1571-1934 |
NONE |
1580-1913 |
NONE |
FS BT'S | 1582-1894 |
NONE |
1582-1836 |
NONE |
1567-1894 |
NONE |
JOIN | 1571-1837 |
To find the names of the neighbouring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.
Registers of Baptisms 1571–1945, Marriages 1571–1951 and Burials 1571–1913 have been deposited at the Cheshire Record Office Microreproduction of originals at the Cheshire Record Office in Chester, England. Includes some Latin
Cheshire Record Office call number: P50/4765/1-3, 5-17, 20-22.
The Family History Library (FHL) has copies of the following records.
Parish Register Content | FHL Film |
Burials, 1571-1812. Baptisms, 1571-1945. Marriages, 1571-1754, 1760-1933. | 2106346 |
Marriages, 1933-1940. Marriage banns, 1823-1872, 1923-1940. Burials, 1813-1913 | 2106347 Items 1 - 7 |
Marriages, 1940-Apr. 1947 | 2262943 Items 10 - 11 |
Marriages, Apr. 1947-1951 | 2262944 Item 1 |
Bishop's transcripts for Woodchurch, 1581-1894. Record are not arranged in strict chronological order. Some intermittent years are missing. Cheshire Record Office number: EDB/226. The Family History Library has copies of the following records.
Bishop's Transcripts Content | FHL Film |
Baptisms, marriages, burials, 1581, 1586-1589, 1596-1597, 1600-1601, 1604-1611, 1615-1620, 1622-1625, 1627-1628, 1630-1636, 1638-1639, 1642, 1666-1677, 1679-1685, 1690-1826, 1829-1836. Baptisms, burials, 1837. Baptisms, 1855-1856, 1858-1869. | 1836383 Item 2 |
Baptisms, 1869-1894. Burials, 1891-1894 | 1836384 Item 1 |
The above records can be searched in online indexes of Cheshire parish registers and Bishop's Transcripts at FamilySearch Historical recordsThe parish is also included in the online transcript collection Cheshire Parish Register project.
Woodchurch- Holy Cross
Baptisms-1571-1945- MFPR 475
Burials-1571-1812- MFPR 475
Burials-1813-1913- MFPR 476
Marriages-1571-1759- MFPR 475
Marriages-1760-1930- MFPR 476
For original registers of above please enquire at Cheshire Record Office.
The Manchester Room and Greater Manchester County Record Office
Email: archiveslocalstudies@manchester.gov.uk
The Manchester Room@City Library (Local Studies)
Non-Conformist Churches[edit | edit source]
- 1717 England & Wales, Roman Catholics, 1717 at FindMyPast ($), index and images
- 1600s-1910 Cheshire Non-Conformist & Roman Catholic Registers (Baptism) 17th Century-1910 at FindMyPast ($); index and images (dates may vary by parish)
- 1671-1900 England, Cheshire Non-conformist Records, 1671-1900 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index (dates may vary by parish)
- Woodchurch, St. Michael & All Angels (Roman Catholic). Founded 1952.
- Woodchurch, Methodist Chapel. Founded 1957, Built in 1963.
Civil Registration[edit | edit source]
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from 1 July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. Here are two excellent Internet sites with birth, marriage and death indexes available:
Registration Districts[edit | edit source]
- Wirral (1837–1974)
- Birkenhead (1974–1998)
- Wirral (post 1998)
Poor Law Unions[edit | edit source]
Probate Records[edit | edit source]
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Cheshire Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.
See also England, Cheshire Probate Records - FamilySearch Historical Records
Maps and Gazetteers[edit | edit source]
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.
Websites[edit | edit source]
Woodchurch on GENUKI
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Lewis, Samuel A., A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848). Date Accessed: 19 April 2013
- ↑ 'CPR Project Progress (As on 17 January 2014),' Cheshire Parish Register Project, accessed 1 February 2014.
- ↑ Cheshire Coverage, The Joiner Marriage Index, accessed 16 October 2013.
http://www.achurchnearyou.com/woodchurchholycross/ For details about the parish
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Holy-Cross-Church-Woodchurch/139286336089311
Wikipaedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Cross_Church,_Woodchurch
Gen UKI page http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/genuki/chs/woodchurch.html
Bibliography[edit | edit source]
- Salter, Mark (1995), The Old Parish Churches of Cheshire, Malvern: Folly Publications, pp. 81, ISBN 1871731232
- Richards, Raymond (1947), Old Cheshire Churches, London: Batsford, pp. 364–367
- Morant, Roland W. (1989), Cheshire Churches, Birkenhead: Countyvise, pp. 193, ISBN 0 907768 18 0
- Pevsner, Nikolaus; Edward Hubbard (2003) [1971], The Buildings of England: Cheshire, New Haven: Yale University Press, pp. 105–106, ISBN 0 300 09588 0