Whitehaven St Nicholas, 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. Nicholas Church be put on this page. All other information about the area to be put on the Whitehaven page.

Church located at the junction of Lowther Street and Church Street, enter off of Lowther Street.

1642 – First evidence of the existence of a chapel of St. Bees at Whitehaven. Shown in the 1642 print of Whitehaven, it is 45 feet x 15 feet with five small windows on north side, bell turret on the west and an east gable.

1693 – March - original chapel demolished

1693 – New church built, under leadership of Mr. Ebenezer Gale, and dedicated by Rt. Rev. Nicholas Stratford, Bishop of Chester.

1694/6/8 – When do registers actually begin? Discrepancies.

1745-6 – Church enlarged by two wings. South wing later used as a choir vestry, and north side later used as a baptistry.

1756 – Organ installed and replaced in 1901

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

1883 – 31 August – New church built of red sandstone from Beggarghyll Quarry, near Egremont, and dedicated by Rt. Rev. Harvey Goodwin, Bishop of Carlisle. 1693 Doorway retained as inner doorway of tower.

1971 – 31 August – Fire destroys nave and sanctuary. Church not rebuilt. Tower was fitted out as an auxiliary chapel.

1974 – Following the fire the parishioners worship with Christ Church. Now united as the new parish of Christ Church St. Nicholas

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

Source: Hay, Daniel, "Whitehaven: An Illustrated History." Whitehaven, Cumbria: Michael Moon. Revised and enlarged edition 1979 p. 102-103

"WHITEHAVEN, a sea-port, market-town, newly enfranchised borough, and the head of a union, in the parish of St. Bees, Allerdale ward above Derwent, W. division of Cumberland, 40 miles (S. W.) from Carlisle, and 320 (N. W.) from London; containing 11,854 inhabitants. St. Nicholas' was by 1845 one of four chapelries erected in the town; St Nicholas was built by 1694. The other chapels included Holy Trinity (1717), St James (1753) and Mount Pleasant (1845). There are places of worship for Presbyterians, Particular Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, and Roman Catholics."

Online Records
Some online transcriptions exist for this chapelry and the ancient parish of St Bees to which it was attached, at the following website[s] and ranges of years:

Question – when do the registers actually begin? On the page for Computer Printouts for Whitehaven, St. Nicholas it states that the births and christenings begin in 1696, another filming begins in 1698, yet the published records by Stout appear to start in 1694? Check actual beginnings. Same questions exist for beginning of the marriages? Also note apparent gap in marriage registers from 1810 to 1814 (what are actual dates? Are there other gaps?)

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) CumberlandBMD