Openshaw, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes

Parish History
OPENSHAW, an ecclesiastical district, in the parish of Manchester, union of Chorlton, hundred of Salford, S. division of Lancashire, 3 miles (E. by S.) from Manchester, on the road to Ashton-under-Lyne; comprising the townships of Beswick, Bradford, and Openshaw; and containing 3536 inhabitants; of whom 2280 are in Openshaw township. The area of Openshaw is about 500 Lancashire acres. Here is an excellent clay for fire and other bricks, and the lands have a coal substratum. The extensive dye-works of Messrs. George Whyatt and Sons employ 250 hands; there are a cottonmill, and a small bleaching concern. The Sheffield and Manchester railway and the Stockport canal run through the township. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of Trustees; net income, £175, with a house. The church, dedicated to St. Barnabas, was erected in 1839, at a cost of £4500; and is in the early English style, with a square tower and a spire. The Wesleyans and the New Connexion of Methodists have places of worship. Some Church schools here are endowed with £30 per annum, the rent of five houses left by John Neden, in 1845.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis (1848), pp. 476-479. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51193 Date accessed: 20 July 2010.

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.

Church records
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Census records
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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
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
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