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England Yorkshire  Sheffield

Guide to Sheffield history, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.



History
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough in what is now South Yorkshire, England. In 2009, the UK Government changed the boundaries, and added new counties, to the ancient English county divisions. Historically just within the county of Yorkshire, and part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city.

The area that is now occupied by the City of Sheffield is believed to have been inhabited since at least the late Upper Palaeolithic period, about 12,800 years ago.

The earliest evidence of human occupation in the Sheffield area was found at Creswell Crags to the east of the city. In the Iron Age the area became the southernmost territory of the Pennine tribe called the Brigantes.

A Celtic presence within the Sheffield area is evidenced by two settlements called Wales and Waleswood close to Sheffield.

However the settlements that grew and merged to form Sheffield date from the second half of the first millennium, and are of Anglo-Saxon and Danish origin. Much of the area now known as Yorkshire had major invasions from the marauding Viking hordes.

In Anglo-Saxon times, the Sheffield area straddled the border between the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria.

After the Norman conquest, Sheffield Castle was built to protect the local settlements, and a small town developed that is the nucleus of the modern city.

During the 1740s, a form of the crucible steel process was discovered that allowed the manufacture of a better quality of steel than had previously been possible. In about the same period, a technique was developed for fusing a thin sheet of silver onto a copper ingot to produce silver plating, which became widely known as Sheffield plate. These innovations spurred Sheffield's growth as an industrial town, but the loss of some important export markets led to a recession in the late 18th and early 19th century. The resulting poor conditions culminated in a cholera epidemic that killed 402 people in 1832. The population of the town grew rapidly throughout the 19th century; increasing from 60,095 in 1801 to 451,195 by 1901. The town was incorporated as a borough in 1842 and was granted a city charter in 1893. The influx of people also led to demand for better water supplies, and a number of new reservoirs were constructed on the outskirts of the town.

However growth created many problems, including the collapse of the dam wall of one of these reservoirs in 1864 resulting in the Great Sheffield Flood, which killed 270 people and devastated large parts of the town.

Following the major decline in the steelworking industries,attempts to regenerate the city were kick-started when the city hosted the 1991 World Student Games, which saw the construction of new sporting facilities such as the Sheffield Arena, Don Valley Stadium and the Ponds Forge complex.

Sheffield is changing rapidly as new projects regenerate some of the more run-down parts of the city. One such, the Heart of the City Project, has initiated a number of public works in the city center: the Peace Gardens were renovated in 1998, the Millennium Galleries opened in April 2001, the Winter Gardens were opened in May 2003, and a public space to link these two areas, the Millennium Square, was opened in May 2006.

Cemeteries (Civil)
UK Cemsearch

Preston Government offices

Findagrave

Genuki

Parishes
St Andrews


 * Address:
 * Blackpool Road
 * Preston, Lancashire, PR2 1ES

Christ Church, Fulwood


 * Address:
 * Victoria Road
 * Fulwood
 * Preston, Lancashire, PR2 8NE

St. Cuthbert, Fulwood


 * Address:
 * Lytham Road
 * Fulwood
 * Preston, Lancashire, PR2 3AR

St. George, the Martyr


 * Address:
 * Georges Road
 * Preston, Lancashire, PR1 2NP

St. James


 * Address:
 * Knowsley St, off Avenham Lane
 * Preston, Lancashire, PR1 3SA

St. John's Minster


 * Address:
 * Church Street
 * Preston, Lancashire PR! 3BT

St. Margaret's


 * Address:
 * Tag Lane
 * Ingol, Lancashire, PR2 3ZU

St. Matthews


 * Address
 * New Hall Lane
 * Preston, Lancashire, PR1 5XB

Preston All Saints

Preston, Lancashire, PR1 2RX
 * Address:
 * Elizabeth Street, (nr. Walker Street Carpark)

Non Conformists

 * Baptist
 * Calvary Christian Fellowship
 * Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
 * Full Life Church
 * Methodist
 * Presbyterian
 * Roman Catholic

Non Christian groups that meet regularly in Preston include:


 * Buddhist
 * Hindu
 * Jewish
 * Muslim
 * Sikh

Civil Registration

 * Lancashire BMD Org


 * Lancashire Genealogy


 * UK BMD Parish Records

Local Histories

 * Local Histories: Preston


 * BBC History: Preston

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Street Map of Preston


 * Old Maps of Lancashire


 * Old Maps of the UK


 * genuki gazetteer of Preston Lancashire

Newspapers

 * The Lancashire Evening News / Preston


 * The British Newspaper archive / Preston Chronicle

Occupations
Since the major overhaul of the English Counties in 1974, Preston was chosen as the seat of Government for Lancashire. The Lancashire County Council building is located on Fishergate. This change has provided many positions for employees within the new County Government.

Preston is a major center of the British defense aerospace industry with BAE Systems, the UK's principal military aircraft design, development and manufacture supplier, having its Military Aircraft headquarters located in nearby Warton. The company has two of its major facilities located some miles on either side of the city. BAE Warton is located to the western side of the city whilst BAE Samlesbury is located to the east, over the M6 motorway. BAE Systems also operate large office facilities at the Portway area within the city and at The Strand office complex.

The Westinghouse Electric Company (formerly BNFL) Springfields nuclear processing plant also lies to the west of the city boundary at Salwick.

The city is home to Alstom Transport's main UK spare parts distribution center (formerly GEC Traction Ltd). Matalan Retail Ltd was also founded in Preston under the name Matalan Cash and Carry. Although the head office of Matalan moved to Skelmersdale in 1998, the city still has the tax office for the company.

The financial sector also has a large presence in the city with a large selection of consultancies, insurance and law firms including national debt collection agency iQor Recovery Services Ltd.

Due to Preston's location as a transport hub, sitting between the M6, M55, M65, and M61 it is also home to several freight and haulage companies.

Societies
Preston Historical Society

Preston Branch, Lancashire Historical Society

Lancashire BMD organization

Archives
Lancashire Archives


 * Address:
 * Lancashire Record Office
 * Bow Lane
 * Preston PR1 2RE


 * Phone: +44 1772 533039


 * Lancashire Archives


 * Family Tree Resources for Lancashire

Web Sites

 * Preston City Council


 * Lancashire County Council