Upton by Birkenhead, Cheshire Genealogy

England Cheshire  Upton by Birkenhead



Parish History
Upton St Mary by Birkenhead is an Ancient Parish in the county of Cheshire.

Upton is a village on the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside, England, situated close to Birkenhead. The village of Overchurch is located to the north of Upton and is contiguous with the suburban area.

Upton was originally settled as a farming community, during the Anglo-Saxon period. In Norman times, Upton was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Optone and was written as being in the possession of William Mallbank.[3] Upton was the primary economic centre of northern Wirral until the industrial development of Birkenhead during the mid-19th century. The main thoroughfare of the village was also the place of a weekly market. Fairs were also held in the village at Michaelmas and Easter.

A Runestone was discovered in the ruins of Upton's Norman parish church in Overchurch. The stone is now kept at the Grosvenor Museum in Chester.

In 1847, William Williams Mortimer said of Upton in his History of the Hundred of Wirral:

"..though now only a small village, Upton was formerly considered the metropolis of the lower mediety of Wirral, and had two annual fairs of considerable importance, and also a weekly market that was discontinued in 1620, the village having been recently almost entirely rebuilt, contains several good houses, among which may be particularly mentioned Upton Hall..." A major contributor to the village was William Inman, owner of the Inman Line, who donated money for the construction of St. Mary's Church. Inman resided at Upton Manor, within the grounds of Upton Park.

St. Mary's Church is Upton's Church of England parish church and was consecrated on 28 April 1868. It replaced earlier church on the site.

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 available 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.

Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, non conformist 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 Upton, near Birkenhead Microfilm copy of originals at the Cheshire Record Office in Chester, England.Upton parish is also known as Overchurch. Cheshire Record Office call no.: P155/1, 2/1-2, 3/1-5, 4.

Early registers (baptisms, marriages, burials, 1755-1812). Baptisms, 1813-1936. Marriages, 1814-1920. FHL BRITISH Film 2105378 Items 11 - 15 Marriages, 1921-1941. Burials, 1813-1937. FHL BRITISH Film 2105391 Items 1 - 4 An index for this parish is available online at FamilySearch Historical Records

Bishop's transcripts for Upton Baptisms, marriages, burials, 1714, 1716, 1719-1724, 1711, 1702, 1701, 1700, 1699, 1694, 1691, 1684, 1682, [no date], 1680, 1676, 1667-1672, 1671-1672, 1675, 1674, 1656, 1634-1635, 1625, 1624, 1623, 1622, 1621, 1620, 1619, 1618, 1617, 1615, 1613, 1610, 1609, 1600, 1736, [no date], 1741, [no date], 1735, 1734, 1731-1733, 1730, 1813-1814, 1812, 1811, 1729, 1728, 1727, 1726, 1737, 1762-1764, 1759, [1753?], 1756, [no date], 1754, 1753, 1752, 1750, 1749, 1746-1747, 1744, [no date], 1775, 1773-1778, 1770-1772, 1768-1769, 1765-1767, 1776, 1799-1811, 1799-1800, 1794-1799, 1791-1793, 1787-1789, 1785-1787, 1783-1785, 1778-1781, 1825-1826, baptisms, 1826-1831, burials, 1826-1831, marriages, 1826-1830, baptisms, marriages, burials, 1831, 1833-1834, baptisms, 1835, marriages, 1838, baptisms, 1837-1838, baptisms, burials, 1836, baptisms, 1868-1870, 1851, 1845-1849, 1868-1871, burials, 1869-1870, baptisms, 1871, burials,1870-1872, baptisms, 1873-1892. FHL BRITISH Film 1751485 Item 2

An index of these Bishop's Transcripts is available online at FamilySearch Historical Records

Non Conformist Churches
Church records of St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Upton Microfilm copy of originals at the Cheshire Record Office in Chester, England.Cheshire Record Office call no.: ERC 28/5473/1. Mostly Latin. Baptisms, 1914-1940. Vault BRITISH Film 2197776 Item 2

An index for these records is available online at FamilySearch Historical records England Cheshire Nonconformist Church Records (FamilySearch Historical Records) Latin name searches for given names are necessary. FamilySearch privacy policy may apply to this index for 100 years after Baptism.



Census records
Contributor: 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.

Index for the Census may be searched at FamilySearch Historical Records

http://www.1881pubs.com/ for details of public houses in the 1881 census

Poor Law Unions
Wirral Poor Law Union, Cheshire

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.

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.