Bolton le Sands, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes

Parish History
BOLTON-LE-SANDS (St. Michael), a parish, in the hundred of Lonsdale south of the Sands, N. division of the county of Lancaster; containing 1774 inhabitants, of whom 671 are in the township of Bolton, 4 miles (N.) from Lancaster, on the road to Kendal. On the foundation of the priory at Lancaster, Roger de Poictou gave to it the church of "Boelton," with the tithes of the lordship, and half a carucate of land; and in the Testa de Nevill, several transactions are mentioned of a family of the local name, as occurring in the registry of the priory. The manor of Bolton, on the suppression of religious communities, seems to have passed to the crown. The parish comprises the townships of Bolton, Slyne with Hest, and Nether Kellet, and the chapelry of Over Kellet. Bolton township comprises 1574a. 3r., chiefly arable land; the surface is undulated, and the soil principally loam, with a gravelly subsoil. It is beautifully situated on Morecambe bay, having views of the Lake mountains and the opposite shore of Furness. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £4. 15., and in the patronage of the Bishop of Chester, who is appropriator. The church has a noble square tower: the body was rebuilt in 1816; as was the chancel in 1846, in the early English style, at a cost of £600, by John Holden, Esq., of Woodlands, Gateacre, near Liverpool, as a memorial of his late wife, the daughter of John Walmsley, Esq., of Richmond House, Lancaster. The windows of the chancel are of stained glass, by Wailes, of Newcastle; the eastern window depicts the Crucifixion and Ascension, and the rest contain family arms. The chapel at Over Kellet forms a distinct incumbency. The free school was founded in 1619, by Thomas Assheton, and has an income of £27, arising from the original endowment and subsequent benefactions. The interest of £250, left in 1838 by Richard Sparling Berry, Esq., is given in rewards to parents who educate their children without parochial relief, in the township of Bolton. The arm of a Saxon stone cross, and the remains of the cross from the churchyard, are preserved.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis (1848), pp. 295-302. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50811 Date accessed: 25 June 2010.

Civil Registration
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Church records
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Census records
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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.

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Web sites
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