Bowdon, Cheshire Genealogy

England Cheshire Cheshire Parishes  Bowden

Guide to Bowden, Cheshire ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
Bowdon St Mary the Virgin is an ancient parish is Cheshire including originally Altrincham, Ashley, Baguley, Bowdon, Carrington, Dunham Massey, Hale (near Altrincham), Partington and Timperley and parts of Agden (near Lymm), Ashton upon Mersey and Bollington (near Lymm).

A church on the site was noted in the Domesday Book. It is likely that a new church was built in the 14th century and remodelled in the 16th century. The church was completely rebuilt between 1858 and 1860 by W. H. Brakspear, although the 16th century roofs of the aisles were retained and incorporated into the new structure.

BOWDON, or Bowden (St. Nicholas), is a parish, in the union of Altrincham, hundred of Bucklow, N. division of the county of Chester; comprising the chapelries of Altrincham and Carrington, the townships of Ashley, Baguley, Bowdon, Dunham-Massey, Hale, Partington, and Timperley, and part of the townships of Agden, Ashton-upon-Mersey, and Bollington ; it is 1 mile (S. W. by S.) from Altrincham. There are three chapels, forming separate incumbencies; viz., Altrincham, built in 1799; Carrington, built about 1760, at the cost of the Countess of Stamford; and Ringway, the date of which is uncertain.

Church Records
Bowdon Blessed Virgin Mary parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials have been indexed by the following groups:

Dunham Massey registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

Ashley registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

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. Parish registers for Bowdon, 1628-1993

An index for Cheshire parish registers is available online in FamilySearch Historical Records. Here is a list of church registers on microfilm at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

Bishop's transcripts for Bowdon, 1600-1900 Cheshire Record Office reference: EDB 32

An index for Cheshire, Church of England, Bishop’s Transcripts is available online at FamilySearch Historical Records

Non-Conformist Churches
Bowdon, St. Paul's Methodist Church (Wesleyan), Enville Road. Built in 1880. Bowdon, Methodist Church (Wesleyan), Vicarage Lane. Bowdon, Methodist Church (Wesleyan), Priory Street. Bowdon, Presbyterian Church, Delamere Road. Built in 1872. Non-Conformist Records:

Bowdon- Bowdon Wesleyan, Enville Road Manchester Central Library collection: Baptisms-1857-1927- MFPR 2134 Baptisms-1927-1966- Archives C18/5

Their website is here.

Church records for Wesleyan Methodist Church, Bowdon, 1857-1927

Bowdon Vale Methodist church

Bowdon Downs- Bowden Downs Congregational Manchester City Library collection Burials-1881-1887- MFPR 2157

Bowdon- Partington Independent Baptisms-1815-1837- MFPR 292. Also searchable http://www.bmdregisters.co.uk/

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from 1 July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. Here are two excellent Internet sites with birth, marriage and death indexes available:


 * FreeBMD
 * Cheshire BMD

Registration Districts

 * Altrincham (1837–98)
 * Bucklow (1898–1974)
 * Trafford (post 1974)

Poor Law Unions
Altrincham (renamed Bucklow) Poor Law Union, Cheshire

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