Birkdale, St John, Lancashire Genealogy

History
Birkdale St John is an Ecclesiastical parish created from North Meols, Lancashire Ancient parish. See also List of Chapelries Within North Meols Parish Birkdale probably takes its name from two Old Norse words, birki meaning "birch-copse" and dalr meaning "dale" or "valley" Birkdale is a village and district in the southern part of the conurbation of the town of Southport, within the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, though historically in Lancashire, in the north-west of England. The village is located on the Irish Sea coast, approximately a mile away from the centre of its now parent town. From 1894 to 1912, Birkdale and the adjoining suburb/village of Ainsdale were administered by Birkdale Urban District Council before becoming part of the county borough of Southport. Until 1 April 1974, Birkdale lay in the traditional borders of the county of Lancashire.

Birkdale is home to the Royal Birkdale golf course and regularly hosts the Open Golf Championship. Red Rum the legendary racehorse who was trained by Ginger McCain had his stables in Upper Aughton Road in Birkdale, while a horse named after the village took part and finished tenth in the 2002 Grand National.

"In connexion with the Established Church there are three places of worship in Birkdale. The earliest is St. James's, opened in 1857 (fn. 16) ; St. John's, at first a mission church in connexion with it, became a parish church in 1905; St. Peter's, preceded by a school-chapel in 1870, was consecrated in 1872. (fn. 17) The vicars are appointed by different bodies of trustees.

The Wesleyan Methodists have a large church in Aughton Road, called Wesley Chapel; there are also two mission chapels. The United Methodist Free Church has a place of worship. The Congregationalists acquired a building here in 1877." 'Townships: Birkdale', A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 3 (1907), pp. 236-238. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41327 Date accessed: 16 December 2010.

There are two Roman Catholic churches, St. Joseph's, built in 1867, and St. Teresa's, opened in 1884. The convent of Notre Dame is served from the former.

Birkdale St John forms a benefice within the North Meols deanery of the Diocese of Liverpool. It is teamed with St Peter's Birkdale and nearby village of Ainsdale St John.

BIRKDALE, a township-chapelry in North Meols parish, Lancashire; on the coast, and on the Southport railway, 1½ mile S of Southport. It has a r. station, several streets, good residences, and boarding-houses; and, in 1869, had greatly increased in pop., and was about to have a sewerage-system and public gardens. Post Town, Southport. Acres, 5,670; of which 3,435 are water. Pop. in 1861, 1,286. Houses, 237. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Chester. Value, £380.* Patrons, 'Trustees. The church is recent, and has a spire.

John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72)

Civil registration
Online index of Lancashire Births, Marriages and Deaths Lancashire BMD and Free BMD

Lancashire Online Parish Clerks
An extremely useful resource for research in Lancashire Parishes http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/

Church Records
Parish registers for Birkdale Microfilm copy of original records housed in the Lancashire Record Office, Preston, Lancashire. Birkdale is a township-chapelry in the parish of North Meols. Lancashire Record Office no. PR 3354/1/1 - PR 3354/1/7, /1/12

Baptisms, 1857-1897. Marriages, 1857-1900. Marriage banns, 1857-1874. FS Library BRITISH Film 1657578 Items 18 - 21 Marriage banns, 1874-1900. Vestry notebook, 1882-1900. FS Library BRITISH Film 1657579 Items 1 - 3

Census
1841 FS Library BRITISH Film 306902 1851 p. 354-373 FS Library BRITISH Film 87205 1816 FS Library BRITISH Film 543024 1871 FS Library BRITISH Film 842029 1881 FS Library BRITISH Film 1341896 1891 RG 12/3032 (3 fiches) FS Library BRITISH Fiche 6098142 1891 RG 12/3033 (3 fiches) FS Library BRITISH Fiche 6098143

Poor Law Unions
Ormskirk Poor Law Union, Lancashire