Beswick, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes



Chapelry History
BESWICK, [St Mary] an extra-parochial district, in the hundred of Salford, S. division of the county of Lancaster, 1½ mile (E.) from Manchester; containing 345 inhabitants. This place, which comprises 95 acres, and which at the beginning of the present century had only one solitary house, is indebted for its present extent and increase in population, to its contiguity to the town of Manchester.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis (1848), pp. 223-228. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50795 Date accessed: 25 June 2010.

Beswick is an extra-parochial place prior to the foundation of Beswick St Mary ( The Bishop Lee Memorial Church). Search surrounding parishes for records and information. See the Manchester page and click on "A Comprehensive List of All Pre-1851 Chapels in Manchester".

Beswick St Mary was established as a district chapelry in 1878 and the living was in part linked to the Bishop of Manchester.

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


 * Manchester 1837-1874
 * Prestwich 1874-1925
 * Mancester North 1925-1934
 * Heywood 1934-1974
 * Greater Manchester post 1974

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

Parish registers for St. Mary's Church, Beswick, 1878-1966 Microfilm of original records formerly held in the Manchester Central Library, Manchester. The church is also known as "Bishop Lee Memorial Church". Manchester Central Library call nos.: M 280/1/1/1-2. M 280/1/2/1-7.

Census records
Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

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.

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41422 British History Online Beswick

In addition to being subject of an art work by L.S.Lowry St Mary's was featured as a location in John Schlesinger's 1962 Film "A kind of Loving" in http://www.reelstreets.com/public/p_film_page.php?film=kind_of_loving