Chester Castle, Cheshire Genealogy

Parish History
CHESTER CASTLE is in common with many other castles, Chester was pressed back into use during the English civil war and suffered as a consequence when the Parliamentarians besieged it between September 1645 and February 1646.

"... On the left-hand is a chappell and hard by adjoining thereunto, the goodly fair and large Shire-Hall newly repaired where all matters of Law touching the County Palatine are heard, and judicially determined..."

Chester Castle was an extra-parochial place within the city of Chester, which became a civil parish in 1858 and has remained a separate enclave from the parish and borough of Chester. Including Chester Barracks and Chester Gaol.

Chester Castle is an area around the castle in Chester. It was historically an extra-parochial area and today remains a civil parish, although with no inhabitants in recent decades.

The parish is bounded by Castle Drive to the south, Grosvenor Street (the A483) to the west, and Castle Street and St Mary's Hill to the east. Apart from the castle/prison, the parish also includes the Crown Courts, County Hall, and the Cheshire Military Museum. In April-May 1966, the infamous Moors murders case was tried at Cheshire Crown Court.

It was part of the Chester Rural District, despite being in the middle of the city, and did not form part of Chester County Borough. This meant that County Hall was actually in the administrative county of Cheshire which it administered. The Local Government Act 1972 saw it become part of Chester District, along with the rest of Chester Rural District. Since April 2009 County Hall has been the headquarters of the Cheshire West and Chester Council.

Church records
Chester Castle parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials have been indexed by the following groups:

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.

Non-Conformist Churches

 * 1671-1900 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index (dates may vary by parish)

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from 1 July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. Here are two excellent Internet sites with birth, marriage and death indexes available:


 * FreeBMD
 * Cheshire BMD

Registration Districts
The following registration districts served the Greater Chester City region:


 * Great Boughton (1837–69)
 * Chester (1870–1937)
 * West Cheshire (1937–74)
 * Chester and Ellesmere Port (1974–98)
 * Cheshire West (post 1998)

Poor Law Unions
1837-1971 Tarvin (previously Great Boughton) Poor Law Union, Cheshire

1871-1930 Chester Poor Law Union

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.

See also England Cheshire Probate Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

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

Websites
Chester Castle on GENUKI