Melling (near Liverpool), Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes



Chapelry History
Melling St Thomas and the Holy Rood was created as a chapel of ease in 1810 from, and lying within the boundaries of Halsall, Lancashire Ancient Parish. See also List of Chapelries Lying within Halsall Parish It should not be confused with the parish of Melling, Lancashire St Wilfrid in the same county.

The hamlet of Melling Mount is 1.2 miles (2 km) from the village of Melling.

Historically, a part of Lancashire, its name originates from the Anglo-Saxon roots for "The homestead of Maella", (or Malla). Lying close to Liverpool, the area was first settled by Maella's family in the 6th century[citation needed]. A 'Headless Cross' is located in the parish church.

The village was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Melinge.

The present church St Thomas was built in 1835, Architect J W Casson, to replace the ancient Holy Rood chapelry which was demolished in 1834.

The modern parish is part of the Maghull and melling benefice of the Ormskirk deanery in the Diocese of Liverpool (formerly Diocese of Chester.)

"MELLING, cum Cunscough, a chapelry, in the parish of Halsall, union of Ormskirk, hundred of West Derby, S. division of Lancashire, 8 miles north by northeast from Liverpool. The church, St. Thomas's, was rebuilt on a new site in 1834."

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 

Melling St Thomas chapelry's registers of christenings, marriages and burials, along with those of the ancient parish of Halsall 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 Melling St Thomas and comprising the whole ancient parish of Halsall to which it was attached, be certain to see "Church Records" on the HALSALL ST CUTHBERT PARISH page.

Poor Law Unions
Ormskirk Poor Law Union, Lancashire

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