Gressingham, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes



Chapelry History
Gressingham St John the Evangelist was created a chapel of ease by 1676 lying within the boundaries of Lancaster St Mary, Lancashire Ancient Parish.

Other places in the parish include: Eskrigg.

St John the Evangelist's Church was originally built in the 12th century and is a Grade I listed building. It was partly rebuilt in 1734, and restored by Edward Paley in 1862.

The Diocese of Blackburn is a Church of England diocese, covering much of Lancashire, created in 1926 from part of the Diocese of Manchester. The Diocese includes the towns of Blackburn, Blackpool, Burnley, and the cities of Lancaster, and Preston, as well as a large part of the Ribble Valley.

"GRESSINGHAM, a chapelry, in the parish of Lancaster, hundred of Lonsdale south of the Sands, N. division of Lancashire, 8 miles (N. E.) from Lancaster; containing 185 inhabitants. A family of the same name was seated here at a very early period; and mention is made of several families who subsequently held lands within the township, amongst them the De Burghs, in the reign of Henry III., and Stanleys, in that of Elizabeth. The place is situated on the west side of the river Lune, and has some beautiful sites for building, with fine views of Hornby Castle, the vale of the Lune, Ingleborough, and other distant Yorkshire hills. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar of Lancaster; net income, £80, with a house; impropriator, Francis Pearson, Esq., of Kirkby-Lonsdale, in right of his ancient estate of Gressingham Hall. The church is an old structure, with a square tower, and fine Saxon porch, and contains two small brasses."

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis (1848), pp. 338-340. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50990 Date accessed: 01 July 2010.

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.

Online index of Lancashire Births, Marriages and Deaths Lancashire BMD

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

Church records
Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection

Gressingham- St John the Evangelist Baptisms Transcript-1676-1812- 929.3272 C25 Burials Transcript-1678-1812- 929.3272 C25 Marriages Transcript-1691-1828- 929.3272 C25

For original registers of above please enquire at Lancashire Record Office.

The Manchester Room and Greater Manchester County Record Office Email: archiveslocalstudies@manchester.gov.uk

The Manchester Room@City Library (Local Studies)

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

Poor Law Unions
Caton Gilbert Union,Lancashire

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Lancashire Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

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
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