Wrenbury, Cheshire Genealogy

England Cheshire  Wrenbury



Parish History
Wrenbury, St. Margaret is an Ancient Parish, originally comprising the townships of Broomhall, Chorley (near Nantwich), Dodcott cum Wilkesley (part), Newhall (near Audlem) (part), Sound (part), Woodcott and Wrenbury cum Frith. St Margaret's Church, Wrenbury overlooks the village green of Wrenbury, Cheshire, England. The church is a Grade II* listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Nantwich. Its benefice is combined with those of St Michael's, Baddiley, Cheshire and St Mary's and St Michael's, Burleydam, Cheshire

This was originally a chapel of ease to St Mary's Church, Acton, Cheshire. The present church dates from the early 16th century with alterations and additions in the 18th and 19th centuries; the nave and porch were restored in 1794, the chancel was rebuilt in 1806 and restored in 1865.

The nave contains box pews, many of them having the arms of local families on their doors. The pew nearest the door was for the dog whipper who, in addition to controlling dogs in the church, had the duty of waking those who fell asleep during the sermon. The pulpit is early Georgian and the west gallery dates from the late 18th century. The parish chest is in the tower, is over 6 feet long and is secured by 14 iron straps. The elaborate brass chandelier was presented to the church in 1839. The font is made from sandstone. In the church are monuments to the Cotton family of Combermere Abbey and the Starkey family of Wrenbury Hall, the most important being the monument to Sir Stapleton Cotton, 1st Viscount Combermere. There are also wooden memorial tablets to Lawrence Starkey dated 1611 and George Cotton dated 1702.The organ was built by Charles Whiteley of Chester in 1884 and renovated by the same firm in 1984.

The village is listed in the Domesday Book as Wareneberie, and became Wrennebury in 1230. The name is said to mean "old forest inhabited by wrens". Wrenbury formed part of the extensive lands of William Malbank (also William Malbedeng), who owned much of the Nantwich hundred.

As a chapel attached to St Mary's Church, Acton, Wrenbury was included in the lands donated to the Cistercian Combermere Abbey in around 1180, shortly after the abbey's 1133 foundation by Hugh Malbank, second Baron of Nantwich. In 1539, after the Dissolution, the land was granted to George Cotton, and the Cotton family remained important local landowners for centuries.

A free school by the church was endowed by Ralph Buckley in 1605

Wrenbury is a village in the civil parish of Wrenbury cum Frith, the unitary authority of Cheshire East, and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies on the River Weaver, around 8.5 miles south-west of Crewe.

The civil parish of Wrenbury cum Frith covers the village of Wrenbury and the small settlements of Gaunton's Bank, Pinsley Green, Porter's Hill, Smeaton Wood, Wrenbury Heath and Wrenburywood.

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.

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:


 * Nantwich (1837–1937)
 * Crewe (1937–74)
 * Congleton and Crewe (1974–88)
 * South Cheshire (1988–98)
 * Cheshire Central (post 1998) The post 2009 reorganisation of civil registration can be found online at Cheshire BMD

Church records
Wrenbury, St. Margaret (Church of England) Registers of Baptisms 1593–1882, Marriages 1593–1965 and Burials 1593–1918 have been deposited at the Cheshire Record Office Parish registers for Wrenbury, Cheshire, 1593-1954 Cheshire Record Office call numbers: P172/1/1-4, P172/2/1-2, P172/P/WREN C, P172/3/1-3, P172/4592/7-9, 11-13, 15, P172/4, P172/5.

The Family History Library (FHL) has copies of the following records.

Bishop's transcripts for Wrenbury, 1593-1881 Records are not arranged in strict chronological order. Some intermittent years are missing. Cheshire Record Office no.: EDB/231

Non-Conformist Churches
Wrenbury Heath, Methodist Chapel (Wesleyan). Built in 1848, closed in 1918. Deposited records at the Cheshire Record Office call number EMS 36  are for Wrenbury cum Frith, Wrenbury Heath Chapel, 1848-1922  The chapel was built by the Primitive Methodists in 1848, closed in 1918, and subsequently sold.

Census records
Index for the Census may be searched at FamilySearch Historical Records

http://www.1881pubs.com/ for details of public houses in the 1881 census

Poor Law Unions
Nantwich Poor Law Union

Banns, churchwarden accounts, overseer papers, 1702-1852 Microfilm copy of original records in the Cheshire Record Office, Chester, England. Cheshire Record Office no.: P172/4,9,15.

Item 8 Banns 1826-1852 Item 9 Churchwarden accounts 1712-1823 Item 10 Overseer papers 1702-1823 FHL BRITISH Film 1656761 Items 8-10

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.See also England Cheshire Probate Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)

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

Web sites
Contributor: Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.

Bibliography

 * Richards, Raymond (1947), Old Cheshire Churches, London: B. T Batsford, pp. 369–372
 * Salter, Mark (1995), The Old Parish Churches of Cheshire, Malvern: Folly Publications, p. 82, ISBN 1871731232