Whitehaven St James, Cumberland Genealogy

England Cumberland  Cumberland Parishes

Parish History
"The parishes of St. Nicholas, Holy Trinity and St. James were all created on the same day in 1835 all carved out of the larger and older parish of St. Bees. The parishes merged at different times but were completely united, along with Christ Church, in 1977 to form the new Parish of Whitehaven.

It is therefore suggested that only information relating specifically to the history and records of St. James Church be put on this page. All other information about the area to be put on the Whitehaven page.

Church located at the East end of Queen Street at the top of steep hill. Building constructed in 1752, becomes parish in 1835 and in 1977 becomes the home of Whitehaven parish.

Stone building, with chancel, nave, aisles and a tower, with clock and one bell. The clock was the work of a local blacksmith.

1752 – April – Foundation stone laid

1753 – 26 July – Church consecrated by the Bishop of Carlisle, acting for the Bishop of Chester.

1823 – Large iron gates presented by the Earl of Lonsdale

1835 – 11 August – St James, along with St Nicholas and Holy Trinity were carved out of the mother parish of St Bees.

1865 – Pulpit removed from the center to the north aisle of the church

1873 – Chancel restored

1886 – Church restored and reseated

1909 – New organ added

1921 – Major structural alterations with addition of memorial chapel, sacristy, new baptistry and a vestry. 1200 sittings

1965 – New parish hall built

1977 – 24 February – Unification of parishes of Holy Trinity with Christ Church, St James and St Nicholas. Rev. Alan J. Postlethwaite installed as first vicar of Whitehaven on 30 June 1977. St James becomes the parish church."

Source: Hay, Daniel. Whitehaven: An Illustrated History. Whitehaven, Cumbria: Michael Moon. Revised and enlarged edition 1979 p. 105-6

"WHITEHAVEN, asea-port, market-town, newlyenfranchised borough, and the head of a union, in the parish of St. Bees, Allerdale ward above Derwent, W. division of CSt. James', on an eminence at the eastern extremity of the town, was rebuilt in 1753, and is a neat structure with a square tower surmounted with pinnacles: net income, £200.  St. James', on an eminence at the eastern extremity of the town, was rebuilt in 1753, and is a neat structure with a square tower surmounted with pinnacles: net income, £200.  There are places of worship for Presbyterians, Particular Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, and Roman Catholics."

Church records
Parish Registers begin in 1753

Source: Hay, Daniel. Whitehaven: An Illustrated History. Whitehaven, Cumbria: Michael Moon. Revised and enlarged edition 1979 p. 105-6

The Family History Library has the Bishop's transcripts to St James Chapelry registers from the year 1753 to 1878.

Online Records
Some online transcriptions exist for this chapelry at the following website[s] and ranges of years:

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. Two popular sites are:


 * 1) FreeBMD.
 * 2) Cumberland BMD