Wavertree Holy Trinity, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes



Chapelry History
Wavertree Holy Trinity was created a chapelry in 1825 from, and lying within the boundaries of Childwall, Lancashire Ancient Parish.

The name derives from the Old English words wæfre and treow, meaning "wavering tree", possibly in reference to aspen trees common locally. It has also been variously described as "a clearing in a wood" or "the place by the common pond". In the past the name has been spelt Watry, Wartre, Waurtree, Wavertre and Wavertree. The earliest settlement of Wavertree is attested to by the discovery of Bronze Age burial urns in Victoria Park in the mid 1880s. The Domesday Book reference is "Leving held Wauretreu. There are 2 carucates of land. It was worth 64 pence".

Wavertree was part of the parish of Childwall in the West Derby hundred.

Wavertree also boasts a village lock-up, commonly known as The Roundhouse, despite being octagonal in shape. Built in 1796, and later modified by prominent local resident and architect Sir James Picton, it was once used to detain local drunks. The lock-up was made a listed building in 1952. A similar structure, known as Prince Rupert's Tower, survives in Everton. The village green, on which Wavertree's lock-up was built, is officially the only surviving piece of common land in Liverpool.

Holy Trinity Church was built in 1794 and is situated on Church Road close to the famous Blue Coat School and the church was described by the late Sir John Betjeman as "Liverpool's best Georgian church".

"WAVERTREE, a township, in the parish of Childwall, union and hundred of West Derby, S. division of Lancashire, 2½ miles (E. by S.) from Liverpool; containing 2669 inhabitants. The orthography of the name in ancient records has the remarkable variations of Waudter, Wavre, Wastpull, Wastyete, and Wartre. In the 36th of Henry III. the manor was granted to William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, from whom it reverted to the crown. The royalty of the lands was generally held with the neighbouring township of West Derby, and continued in the line of Lancaster so late as Queen Elizabeth, whose manor Wavertree was. The manor was sold, 14th Charles I., to Edward Ditchfield and others, citizens of London, who immediately afterwards conveyed it to James, Lord Stanley and Strange. From the Stanleys it passed successively to the Legays, Greens, and Gascoynes; and was brought by the heiress of the last named family to the Marquess of Salisbury, the present lord. The township of Wavertree comprises 1390 acres. Its proximity to Liverpool, and the salubrity of the air, have made it the residence of numerous wealthy families, and the land is fast increasing in value. The high grounds on the east form a fine shelter to the lower parts, which include the Wellington road; and a new road is projected, from Gateacre, past Wavertree, through Spekelands, to the end of Myrtle-street, Liverpool; the houses are to be of the first class, and the road will form one of the principal entrances into the town. The Manchester railway passes here, through a deep cutting of solid red-sandstone rock. In the township is an extensive brewery, established in 1836, and subsequently much enlarged by the proprietor, Mr. John Anderton. The living is a perpetual curacy, with a net income of £125, and in the patronage of Trustees. The church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, was built in 1793, and is a plain structure with a tower and cupola: the late John Ewart, Esq., a member of the present respectable family of that name, is interred here. Another church, dedicated to St. Mary, was erected in Sandown-park in 1848-9, at a cost of £2400; it is in the middle-pointed style of architecture, from the designs of John Hay, Esq., and is surmounted with a tower and spire. The living is in the gift of the Bishop of Chester. There are excellent Church schools. A well here, at which contributions were anciently received by monks, bears a curious inscription in Latin, and the date 1414. Mrs. Hemans, the poetess, resided at Wavertree."

From: Samuel A Lewis: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 486-490. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51382 Date accessed: 03 August 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.

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/

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

Poor Law Unions
West Derby, Lancashire 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.

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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
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Web sites
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