Siddington, Cheshire Genealogy

England Cheshire  Siddington

Parish History
Siddington All Saints is the parish church for Capesthorne with Siddington and is a former township of Prestbury Ancient parish.

It is believed that the church was founded in the 14th century but the first documentary evidence dates from 1474, when the church was mentioned in the will of Robert Sydington as a chapel of ease for Prestbury. The church is near Thorneycroft Hall and in 1722, Edward Thorneycroft wrote that he had made enquiries about the origins of the church from the registers at Prestbury. He believed that it had been formerly a domestic chapel belonging to Siddington Hall and built by one of the Fittons. Richards in Old Cheshire Churches points out that this is unlikely as the Fittons did not obtain Siddington Hall until the death of Robert Sydyngton in 1474 by which time the church was already in existence. In 1550, it was recorded that the vicar of Prestbury let his corn tithes in Siddington to Edward Fitton. The original chapel had a timber frame but much of the old chapel was pulled down in the 18th century to be replaced by the current brick construction. There were restorations in 1853 and 1894. and the painted brickwork reminds of the black oak frame appearance of its predecessor.

The list of incumbents goes back to 1582. There are records of a chapel at Siddington in 1337 and in 1474 which was consecrated for preaching in 1521. It was originally a timber framed building. By 1815 the walls were bulging and the timber framing was strengthened by being enclosed in brick. The chancel and the south porch retain the original timber framing. The west wall is painted to appear like timber-framing.

The church interior is decorated by corn dollies, provided by Ray Rush who lives next door to the church. Corn dollies are the English craft of weaving stems and even heads of 'corn' into decorations and 'fabrics'. Additional to the technical manipulation of the material is the superstition and belief of the good harvest that would ensue from the gods of the earth and harvest by retaining heads of the past crop/s with stems made up into an object of decoration and veneration. As in many prehistoric traditions that have survived in some form to the present day the early church appropriated the custom and practice.

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

 * Macclesfield (1837–1998)
 * Cheshire East (1998+)

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.

Prestbury, St. Peter (C of E). The ancient parish church for Siddington. Siddington, All Saints (C of E). A chapelry to Prestbury from 1722 serving Siddington township; a joint parish with Capesthorne since 1846. Registers of Baptisms 1718–1895, Marriages 1722–1754, 1783–1784, 1965–1968 and Burials 1724–1874 have been deposited at the Cheshire Record Office. Microfilm copy of original record in the Cheshire Record Office, Chester, England. Cheshire Record Office call numbers: P241/1-3. Siddington and Capesthorne are chapelries in the parish of Prestbury.

Bishop's transcripts for Siddington and Capesthorne, 1722-1863

Includes joint registers with the Chapelry of Capesthorne, 1850-1860.Chapelry in Prestbury parish. Cheshire Record Office call number: EDB 186

Non-Conformist Churches
Siddington, Methodist Chapel (Wesleyan). Built in 1865.

Non-Conformist Records:

Records are at Chester Record Office call number EMS 290 Collection Siddington Chapel 1865-1979

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

 * Macclesfield

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