Tilston, Cheshire Genealogy

England Cheshire  Tilston



Parish History
Tilston St Mary is an ancient parish in the ancient Broxton Hundred which includes the hamlets of Hob Hill and Lowcross Hill and lies three miles northwest of Malpas and twelve miles from Chester.

The ancient church of St. Mary's in the township, despite having been extensively restored in the late 19th century, largely dates from 1659 but there was a church on the site at least as early as the time of King Henry III in the mid 13th century.

It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Malpas. Its benefice is combined with that of St Edith, Shocklach, Cheshire By the end of the 19th century the Manor of Tilston belonged to Lord John Tollemache, whose family lived at nearby Peckforton Castle.

Tilston was the site of a Roman town, known as Bovium, which was on the Roman road between Chester and Wroxeter.

In 1066 after the Battle of Hastings the area of present-day Tilston was taken from the Anglo-Saxons. Hugh Lupus, the nephew of King William I was given these lands. Hugh then gave parts of this land to his supporters. The village of Tilston was given to a knight named Eynion who was the called Eynion de Tilston. The Manor of Tilston was near the border to Wales. In the 12th century, Wales was not part of the Kingdom of England and the Welsh people constantly raided England. Wales was eventually conquered. The Tilston lords lived in a castle on the manor. The Tilston family eventually lost the manor with the demise of feudalism.

Tilston is a village and a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England.

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

 * Great Boughton (1837–69)
 * Chester (1870–1937)
 * West Cheshire (1937–74)
 * Chester and Ellesmere Port (1974–98)
 * Cheshire West (post 1998) 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.

Tilston, St. Mary (C of E). An ancient parish church, serving the townships of Carden, Grafton, Horton, Stretton (near Malpas) and Tilston. Registers of Baptisms 1558–1937, Marriages 1559–1998 and Burials 1558–1924 have been deposited at the Cheshire Record Office. Parish registers for Tilston, 1558-1978 Microfilm copy of original record in the Cheshire Record Office, Chester, England. The parish church is known as St. Mary's.Cheshire Record Office no.: P18/1/1-2, 2/1-3, 3/1-2, 4/1, 5/1-2; P18/6328.

Bishop's transcripts for Tilston, 1585-1839 Microfilm of manuscripts in the Cheshire Record Office, Chester, England. Records are not in strict chronological order. Some years are missing.

Transcripts of this parish are available online at Cheshire Parish Register project

Non-Conformist Churches

 * Tilston, Methodist Chapel (Wesleyan)
 * Tilston, Methodist Chapel (Primitive)

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.


 * A transcribed copy of probate records for Malpas 1603-1625 can be located in book form The Ancient Parishes of Malpas Tilston and Shocklach

Poor Law Unions

 * Great Boughton (1837–71)
 * Tarvin (1871–1930) Tarvin (previously Great Boughton) Poor Law Union, Cheshire

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