Manchester St Mary, Lancashire Genealogy

Guide to Manchester St Mary, Lancashire ancestry, family history, and genealogy: chapelry register transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Chapel History
Manchester (St. Mary's) chapel, in Dean's-gate and near the river Irwell, erected by the Warden and Fellows of the College, by act of parliament, in 1756, is a handsome edifice of the Doric order, with a tower and spire 186 feet in height. This chapel of ease was one of very few in Greater Manchester that was allowed to perform marriages. By 1806, sanction had been given for marriages, which is reflected in the fact that this chapel's marriage registers commence from 1806 onward.

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
Online Records
 * 1538 - 1910 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1603 - 1910 at FamilySearch — index and images

The chapel of St Mary's Manchester has online transcriptions covering many of its marriage, burial and baptism registers, as well as for the ancient parish (the Cathedral) of Our Lady, St George and St Denys. The available years you can search online are displayed below and located at the web sites indicated; note the ranges of years:

To view a full list of all of Manchester City's numerous (over 150) chapelries and district churches, see the ancient parish (the Cathedral) of MANCHESTER OUR LADY, ST GEORGE, &amp; ST DENYS page.

Original Records

The original parish registers for St Mary Manchester are housed at the Manchester Central Library Archives. FamilySearch has microfilmed and imaged these registers and they are available online at FamilySearch.org.

Non Conformist Records

 * 1647-1996 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index (dates may vary by parish)

Poor Law Unions
Manchester 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.

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