Penley, Flintshire, Wales Genealogy

Guide to Penley, Flintshire ancestry, family history, and genealogy: civil registration, census records, and parish register transcripts.

History
Penley (Welsh: Llannerch Banna) is a village and ecclesiastical parish in the County Borough of Wrexham, Wales, close to the border with Shropshire, England. Penley is in the community of Maelor South.

Before 1974 the village was in the historic county of Flintshire and, between 1974 and 1996 in the County of Clwyd. In 1996 it became part of the modern County Borough of Wrexham.

The village was until 1974 in an exclave of the historic county of Flintshire known as Maelor Saesneg (English: English-speaking Maelor), sometimes called "Flintshire Detached"

Penley was originally part of the neighbouring English parish of Ellesmere in Shropshire, but it became a separate parish towards the end of the Commonwealth period. In early 1661 it reverted to being part of the parish of Ellesmere until 1860, when it again became a separate parish.

The parish church of St. Mary Magdalene was originally built around 1538 as a chapel of ease to Ellesmere. The original timber structure was replaced by a brick one in 1793 but this was demolished in 1893. The current church was completed in 1899.

Penley remained part of the English Diocese of Lichfield until 1920 when, following the disestablishment of the Church in Wales, it was transferred to the Welsh Diocese of St Asaph.

Cemeteries

 * St. Mary Magdalene Church

Census Records
The parish of Overton formed part of the Ellesmere Registrar's District.

Church Records
The following Penley Parish Registers have been deposited at the Flintshire Records Office in Hawarden:


 * Bishop's Transcripts of the Penley registers are held at the Lichfield Record Office, Staffordshire, England: Bap 1663; 1752-1896 / Mar 1752-1812 / Bur 1752-1896 (but missing all events: 1850; 1864-1872.)


 * The Clwyd Family History Society have published several volumes the Penley parish registers

Parish Chest
Vestry minutes (DATES) are at the [URL ARCHIVE].

Church warden accounts (DATES) are at the [URL ARCHIVE].

Tithe Records
The tithe agreement date for Penley was DATE.

Nonconformist Chapel Records
XXXX-XXXX denotes that the information has not been compiled yet.

Civil Registration
The Civil Registration District for Penley is DATESANDNAMESCIVREG.

Births, marriages and deaths in Penley are recorded in the GRO indexes as:

Poor Law Unions
Visit the England and Wales Poor Law Records page for more information.

Penley was part of the Ellesmere Union, which was created on 14 November 1836. The workhouse was built in Haughton, Ellesmere. The records for the Ellesmere Union are held at Shropshire Record Office in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England.

Websites

 * Penley at Vision of Britain
 * Ordnance Survey map of Penley
 * Penley Parish Church at CPAT
 * Penley War Memorial at Clwyd FHS
 * Penley Parish Church at Clwyd FHS
 * A Penley Register of the Interregnum - Part 1 by Derrick Pratt at Clwyd FHS
 * A Penley Register of the Interregnum - Part 2 by Derrick Pratt at Clwyd FHS
 * Penley Parish Church at the Open Church Network
 * Penley Parish Church at Sacred Spaces