Ainsworth, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes



Chapelry History
AINSWORTH, or Cockey-Moor,a parochial chapelry,in the parish of Middleton, union of Bury, hundred of Salford, S. division of the county of Lancaster, 3 miles (E. by N.) from Bolton, on the road to Bury; containing 1598 inhabitants. The family of Aynesworth, located here, was of considerable antiquity, and is mentioned in the reigns of Edward III. and Richard II., at which latter time John de Aynesworth was of Pleasington, in Blackburn parish. The lordship passed to the Asshetons of Middleton, at what period does not appear; but by the marriage of the younger coheiress of that family, it became the property of the Earl of Wilton, in whose grandson, the present earl, it is now vested. The township comprises by measurement about 1200 acres: the population is chiefly employed in two large cotton-mills and some bleach-works, in calico-printing, and in collieries and extensive stonequarries. The village is called Cockey-Moor, and this name is better known than the name of the township. There is a station of the Bury and Bolton railway. Ainsworth Hall has been modernised, and now possesses few traces of antiquity. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Rector of Middleton. The church was formerly surrounded by a moat, and stood in the centre of a common; it was rebuilt in 1832, in the early English style, has a square tower, and, standing on an eminence, is seen at a great distance. There is a neat place of worship for English Presbyterians, built in 1715, enlarged in 1773, and altered in 1845; it has a considerable endowment, with a residence for the minister or curator: the present curator is the Rev. James Whitehead, who succeeded his father-in-law, the Rev. Joseph Bealey. Near the church are excellent national schools. The late Sir Ralph Assheton, Bart., gave a piece of ground and a house, now valued at about £15 a year, for the maintenance of a schoolmaster. Roman coins have been found.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis (1848), pp. 17-20. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50746 Date accessed: 25 June 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
Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection

Parish registers for Ainsworth, 1727-1848 Microfilm of original records in the Manchester Central Library, Manchester. Ainsworth is a chapelry in the parish of Middleton.

Bishop's transcripts for Ainsworth, 1731-1877 Microreproduction of original manuscripts housed at the Lancashire Record Office, Preston. Ainsworth, also called Cockey, is a chapelry in the parish of Middleton. Lancashire Record Office: DRM/2/231

Census records
http://www.1881pubs.com/ for details of public houses in the 1881 census

Poor Law Unions
Bury 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

Web sites
Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53025 British History Online Ainsworth