Great Stanney, Cheshire Genealogy

History
Stoak, St. Lawrence is an ancient parish church, originally serving the townships of Great Stanney, Little Stanney, Stoak or Stoke (near Chester) and part of Whitby. Great Stanney is an extra parochial place within the parish.

A Saxon chapel was originally on the site. It was not mentioned in the Domesday Book but fragments of architecture still present in the 19th century showed that a new church must have been built soon after the Norman conquest. Ormerod quotes sources from the 14th century which stated that at that time the church was "a sumptuous fabric of stone and wood, of great size, with four bells, but was then becoming ruinous". The present church dates from its rebuilding in 1827, undertaken by George Edgecombe (or Edgecumbe), and very little of the original work remains. A further restoration was carried out in 1911–12.

Church Records
Parish registers for Stoak 1573-1964 Cheshire Record Office call no.: P31/1/1-4, P31/2/1-2, P31/3059/1/1-2, P31/3059/2-4, P31/5.

An index for Cheshire parish registers is available online in Record Search

Bishop's transcripts for Stoak (Stoke), 1607-1848 Records are not in strict chronological order. Some years are missing.

An index for Cheshire, Church of England, Bishop’s transcripts is available online in Record Search

Non-Conformist Churches
Wolverham, Methodist Chapel. Founded 1954, closed in 1962.

Poor Law Unions

 * Great Boughton (1837–71)
 * Chester (1871–1930)

Registration Districts

 * Great Boughton (1837–69)
 * Chester (1870–1937)
 * West Cheshire (1937–50)
 * Chester and Ellesmere Port (1974–98)
 * Cheshire West (post 1998)

registration events may be searched online at Cheshire BMD