Crossens, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes



Chapelry History
Crossens St John was created a chapel of ease in 1837 from and lying within the boundaries of North Meols, Lancashire ancient parish.

Crossens is the northernmost district of the town of Southport, Merseyside, England and part of the ancient parish of North Meols. Whilst most of the village is now within Merseyside, part of northern Crossens known as Fiddlers Ferry, is in West Lancashire. Formerly, Crossens was a detached settlement lying on the western edge of Martin Mere, but after the drainage of the Mere and the expansion of Southport, it had become absorbed into the town's conurbation.

Formerly Crossenes or Crosnes meaning a “ness” or headland with a cross. The cross was possibly a guide for shipping or people crossing the Ribble Estuary from Freckleton (near Lytham). A hospice or lodging house was sited in Crossens where travellers could rest after making the crossing. It is also believed to be the point at which 2,000 horsemen from a retreating Royalist force crossed the Ribble estuary following the battle of Marston Moor. They later joined the battle at Lathom Hall.

"CROSSENS, a hamlet [with a chapel of ease], in the parish of North Meols, union of Ormskirk, hundred of West Derby, S. division of Lancashire, 3½ miles northwest of Southport; containing 582. The church of St. John's was erected in 1837, for the accommodation of the inhabitants, and those of the adjoining hamlet of Banks."

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

Lancashire Online Parish Clerks
An extremely useful resource for research in Lancashire Parishes http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/

Online Records
 Church of England 

Crossens chapelry's registers of christenings, marriages and burials, along with those of the ancient parish of North Meols to which it is attached, have been mostly transcribed and are displayed online at the following web sites and ranges of years:

For a full list of all those chapels surrounding Crossens and comprising the whole ancient parish of North Meols to which it was attached, be certain to see "Church Records" on the NORTH MEOLS PARISH page.

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