Manchester St Mary, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes

Chapel History
St. Mary's, [Manchester] in Dean's-gate and [near] the river Irwell, erected by the Warden and Fellows of the College, by act of parliament, in 1756, is a handsome edifice of the Doric order, with a tower and spire 186 feet in height. The interior, though dark, from the massive proportions of the pillars supporting the galleries, is very elegant: the altar is embellished with a well-executed painting of the Ascension, after Raphael, by Williams, and the window is enriched with stained glass, beneath which are the heads of St. Peter and St. Paul. The living is a rectory not in charge; net income, £166; patrons, the Dean and Chapter.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis (1848), pp. 221-247. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51130 Date accessed: 19 July 2010.

This chapel of ease was one of very few in Greater Manchester that was allowed to perform marriages. By 1806, sanction had been given for marriages, which is reflected in the fact that this chapel's marriage registers commence from 1806 onward, during the Lord Hardwick Act era (post-1754 to 1837).

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

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

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

Poor Law Unions
Manchester Poor Law Union

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
Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.