Saltersford, Cheshire Genealogy

England Cheshire  Saltersford

Parish History
Saltersford St John was dedicated originally to St John the Baptist later St John the Evangelist and as a chapelry was known as the Jenkin Chapel. Saltersford is one of the 35 townships in pre-Norman Prestbury Ancient Parish.

The Jenkin Chapel is situated by the side of one of the old packhorse ‘saltways’. The Church appears to have an upstairs room which might be some sort of class room, perhaps used for Sunday school. Its building was financed by John Slack of Saltersford Hall, and by other voluntary contributions, and it was dedicated on 24 June 1733, originally to St John the Baptist. The tower was added in 1754-55, but the church was not officially consecrated until 1894, when it was re-dedicated to St. John the Evangelist.

Various theories account for the name. One suggests Jenkin was the name of a local farming family who also gave the district its name. Another suggests Jenkin was a fiery welsh preacher, who regularly came to preach at the horse fair which was held annually at this spot. A third, rather fanciful suggestion is that as the chapel was partly financed by voluntary contributions, the name arose from ‘jinking’, the sound raised by charity collectors everywhere when shaking the proverbial collecting tin into which coins could be dropped, although in 1733, that ‘tin’ is believed to have been a basket!

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+)

Registration events can be searched online at Cheshire BMD

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 Kettleshulme,Rainow and Saltersford. Macclesfield, St. Michael (C of E). An ancient chapelry in Prestbury parish. Saltersford was a separate parish created in 1780 and later joined with Kettleshulme as a parish in 1864. Saltersford, St. John the Baptist (C of E). The parish church from 1863.

Parish registers for Rainow with Saltersford parish, 1765-1992 The parish of Rainow-with-Salterford was created in 1921. Previously, Rainow was a chapelry in Presbury Parish. Salterford was a separate parish created in 1780 and later joined with Kettleshulme as a parish in 1863 Cheshire Record Office call numbers: P188/3116/1/1-2, P188/3116/2/1-3, P188/3176, P188/3116/3, P188/3116/8,  P188/6127/1-3.

Bishop's transcripts for Prestbury, Chelford, Adlingron, Saltersford-cum-Kettleshulme, 1596-1858

Includes records of Chelford, Adlington, and Saltersford-cum- Kettleshulme Chapels. Cheshire Record Office call number: EDB 172.

Further material for this parish can be found in the Family History Library Catalog.

Non-Conformist Churches
Kettleshulme, Methodist Chapel (Wesleyan). Built in 1815, rebuilt in 1901. Registers 1808–1836 are at the Cheshire Record Office.

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

Web sites
Contributor: Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.