Latchford, Cheshire Genealogy

Parish History
Latchford was a chapelry to Grappenhall Ancient Parish, which included Latchford and Thelwall, Cheshire and Warrington, Lancashire. Thus the chapelry, built in 1777, was ecclesiastically partly in Cheshire and partly in Lancashire. In 1796 the part of Latchford that was ecclesiastically in Lancashire became Latchford, St. James ecclesiastical parish. In 1866, the part of Latchford chapelry that was ecclesiastically in Cheshire became Latchford Christ Church ecclesiastical parish.

Its name came from Anglo-Saxon Læccford = "Boggy-stream ford".

Latchford was originally a township in the ancient parish of Grappenhall, in Cheshire. It was also part of Bucklow Hundred, and was close to the border with Lancashire.

Between 1894 and 1974, part of Latchford was placed within the County Borough of Warrington, and the registration county of Lancashire, whilst the rest of Latchford became a civil parish named "Latchford Without" and was transferred to Lancashire.

With the local government reforms of 1974, as part of the newly formed Cheshire borough of Warrington, Latchford was tranferred back to Cheshire.

Latchford is a suburban district and electoral ward of the unitary borough of Warrington, in Cheshire, England. It is around one mile south of Warrington town centre.

A predominantly residential area, Latchford lies between the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal, and broadly consists of 19th century terraced housing and some open space. The Canal is crossed here by a swing bridge, a high level road bridge and the now disused Latchford railway viaduct.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Registration Districts

 * Runcorn (1837–45)
 * Warrington (1845–98).

Registration events may be searched online at Cheshire BMD

Church records
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.

Parish registers for St. James' Church, Latchford, 1777-1970 St. James Latchford was a chapelry in the parish of Grappenhall. Some records are identified as St. James Warrington which was a district and parish surrounding and contiguous to Grappenhall. Cheshire Record Office reference: P147/1-4, 6; P147/3364/1-3; P147/3364/1/2, P147/3364/2/2-4, P147/3364/3/2.

An index for Cheshire parish registers is available online in FamilySearch Historical Records (formerly Record Search).

Parish registers for Christ Church, Latchford, 1863-1940 Cheshire Record Office reference: P249/1, P249/2/1-4.

Bishop's transcripts for Latchford, 1784-1882 Latchford is a chapelry in the parish of Grappenhall. The name of the church is St. James.Cheshire Record Office reference: EDB 124

An index for Cheshire, Church of England, Bishop’s Transcripts (Diocese of Chester) is available online in FamilySearch Historical Records (formerly Record Search)

Non-Conformist Churches

 * Latchford, Our Lady of the Assumption (Roman Catholic), St. Mary's Road. Built in 1869.
 * Latchford, Friends' Meeting House (Quaker).
 * Latchford, Bethel Baptist Church, Ackers Lane. Built in 1852.
 * Latchford, Methodist Chapel (Primitive), Knutsford Road.
 * Latchford, Methodist Chapel (Wesleyan), Knutsford Road. Built in 1898
 * Latchford, Presbyterian Church, Wilderspool Causeway.

Non-Conformist Records:

Warrington Library Reference WMS 2299 Latchford Methodist Church records Date 1889-1907 Description Photocopies of church deeds Extent 1 bundle

Probate records
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.

Poor Law Unions

 * For more information on the history of the workhouse, see Peter Higginbotham's web site: www.workhouses.org.uk and Runcorn (1837–45)


 * Warrington (1845–98) Warrington Poor Law Union, Lancashire

Maps and Gazetteers
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851


 * Vision of Britain