West Derby St Mary, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes



Chapelry History
West Derby St Mary was created a chapel of ease by 1688 from and lying within the boundaries of Walton on the Hill St Mary, Lancashire ancient parish.

Other places in the parish include: Stanley and Kensington.

The earlier chapelry building was replaced in 1853/4 by present church designed by Gilbert G. Scott built of red sandstone with Yorkshire stone pillars and is situated in the heart of West Derby Village at the entrance to Croxteth Park.It is regarded as a fine example of Scott’s work and has windows by Clayton and Bell together with some fine wood-work in the Chancel and Sanctuary. The style is 14th century Gothic, but because of the great expense of providing secure foundations for the tower, the original more elaborate design had to be significantly modified. The whole cost was raised by voluntary subscriptions! The building cost £8,000. The tower, marked by three turrets of matching size and a larger one which includes the staircase cost another £4,000 and was built at the expense of Mr Pemberton Heywood. It is 30 feet square and over 160 feet high. The nave is 72 feet by 50 feet and the chancel 41 feet by 25 feet.

"DERBY, WEST St Mary, a district [chapel of ease as of 1688], and the head of a union, in the parish of Walton-on-the-Hill, hundred of West Derby, S. division of the county of Lancaster, 4 miles northeast of Liverpool. St James' church was built, in 1847. St Jude's church, in Hardwick-street, was built in 1841. There are also churches at Stanley (or Old Swan), Knotty-Ash, and Edge-Hill, which places are separately described.

A Roman Catholic chapel, called Gillmoss chapel, is situated in West Derby, about a mile from Croxteth Hall; it was built in 1823.—See Liverpool."

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

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

West Derby- St Mary Baptisms Transcript-1688-1837- 929.3272 We1 Marriages Transcript-1698-1837- 929.3272 We1

The Manchester Room and Greater Manchester County Record Office Email: archiveslocalstudies@manchester.gov.uk

The Manchester Room@City Library (Local Studies)

For original registers of above please enquire at Liverpool Record Office.

Parish registers for St. Mary-the-Virgin Church, West Derby, 1688-1948 Microfilm copy of original records at the Liverpool Record Office. West Derby was a chapelry of Walton-on-the-Hill parish until 1847. Liverpool Record Office no.: WES 1/1-2, 2/1-7, 3/1-10, 5/1-2.

Bishop's transcripts for St. Mary-the-Virgin Church, West Derby, 1697-1871 Microfilm of original records at the Lancashire Record Office, Preston. West Derby was a chapelry of Walton-on-the-Hill until 1847.

Poor Law Unions
West Derby, Lancashire 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.

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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
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