Backford, Cheshire Genealogy

Guide to Backford, Cheshire ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
BACKFORD (St. Oswald), is a parish, in the union of Great Boughton, partly in the Higher division of the hundred of Wirral, and partly in the Lower division of the hundred of Broxton, S. division of the county of Chester; it is comprised of the townships of Backford, Caughall, Chorlton, Lea, and Mollington-Tarrant.

Backford, St. Oswald is an ancient parish serving the townships of Backford, Caughall, Chorlton by Backford, Great Mollington and Lea by Backford. Registers of Baptisms 1562–1981, Marriages 1562–1977 and Burials 1573–1981 have been deposited at the Cheshire Record Office.

St Oswald's Church, Backford is in the village of Backford, northwest of Chester, Cheshire. The church dates from the 14th century with later additions and restorations. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Wirral South. Its benefice is combined with that of Holy Trinity Church, Capenhurst.

The first mention of a church on this site is in the 13th century. Soon after this it was given by the barons of Dunham Massey to the Benedictine Priory at Birkenhead. At the dissolution of the monasteries the advowson was passed to the Diocese of Chester. The chancel dates from the 14th century and the tower from the 15th century. The nave was rebuilt in 1728–31.

Church Records
Backford St Oswald parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials have been indexed by the following groups:

To find the names of the neighbouring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.

Parish registers for Backford, 1562-1981 Cheshire Record Office reference: P32 1/1-4, P32/2/1-2, P32/3/1-3, P32/4, P32/5/1-2, P32/6.

An index for Cheshire parish registers is available online FamilySearch Historical Records.

Here is a list of church registers on microfilm at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

The parish register transcripts online are complete at Cheshire Parish Register project.

Title Bishop's transcripts for Backford, 1581-1840 Early entries in Latin. The church is St. Oswald. Cheshire Record Office refence: EDB 14.

To find the names of the neighbouring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.

Non-Conformist Churches

 * 1717 England & Wales, Roman Catholics, 1717 at FindMyPast ($), index and images (coverage may vary)
 * 1671-1900 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index (dates may vary by parish)

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from 1 July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. Here are two excellent Internet sites with birth, marriage and death indexes available:


 * FreeBMD
 * Cheshire BMD

Registration Districts

 * Great Boughton (1837-1869)
 * Chester (1870-1937)
 * West Cheshire (1937)

Poor Law Unions
Tarvin (previously Great Boughton) Poor Law Union, Cheshire

Chester Poor Law Union (1871-1930)

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Cheshire Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

See also England Cheshire Probate Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Maps
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Websites
Backford on GENUKI