Birkenhead, Cheshire Genealogy

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

Parish History
BIRKENHEAD, is a seaport town, a market town, and a township, and seven chapelries, in the district of Wirral, Cheshire. The town stands on the Mersey, opposite Liverpool, about a mile by water W of Liverpool, and 14 3/4 miles by railway NNW of Chester. It comprises the ancient extra parochial district or chapelry of Birkenhead, the former township of Claughton in Bidstone, and part of that of Oxton in Woodchurch. They have been incorporated with the township of Birkenhead. The place was anciently called Bircheved, Birkete, Birket-wood, and Birkenhedde.

There are upward of thirty non-established places of worship (including Claughton and Oxton). There are two Roman Catholic churches. There is also a Mariners' church. The chapelries are St. Mary which was formed out of Bidstone parish; St. James, Trinity, was constituted in 1841, St. Anne, St. John, were formed out of St. Mary; and St. Paul was formed out of Bibington. Trinity; St. Anne, in 1847.

Church Records
Birkenhead 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.

Bishop's Transcripts are online in Family Search Historical Records.

St. Oswald Bidston. The ancient parish church for Birkenhead. Birkenhead St Mary - 1719

Birkenhead Holy Trinity - 1841

Birkenhead St Anne - 1847

Birkenhead St James - 1841


 * Birkenhead, St. John the Evangelist (C of E), Grange Road. A separate parish from 1859; closed in 1971. Registers of Baptisms 1859–1971 and Marriages 1859–1968 have been deposited at the Cheshire Record Office (no burials here).


 * Birkenhead, St. Paul (C of E), Argyle Street. Built in 1864 as a chapel to St John, becoming a separate parish in 1922; closed in 1948. Registers of Baptisms 1863–1948 and Marriages 1864–1948 have been deposited at the Cheshire Record Office (no burials here).


 * Birkenhead, St. Peter (C of E), Cathcart Street. Built in 1867 as a chapel to Holy Trinity, becoming a parish church the following year. Registers of Baptisms 1867–1991 and Marriages 1868–1991 have been deposited at the Cheshire Record Office (no burials here).


 * Claughton, Christ Church (C of E). Serving part of Birkenhead from 1876.


 * Birkenhead All Saints - 1879


 * Birkenhead, St. Matthew (C of E), Park Road East. Built in 1882 in Claughton Road as a chapel to Holy Trinity; rebuilt in 1889 on Park Road East, becoming a separate parish in 1914; closed in 1970. Registers of Baptisms 1889–1969 and Marriages 1914–1969 have been deposited at the Cheshire Record Office (no burials here).


 * Birkenhead, St. Bede (C of E), Built in 1888 in Park Road West as a chapel to Claughton, Christ Church, becoming a chapel to Birkenhead All Saints in 1911. Closed in 1941 after air-raid damage, and replaced by a new building in Upton Road in 1960 which has been attached to St James since the closure of All Saints in 1971. Registers of Baptisms 1888–1907 have been deposited at the Cheshire Record Office (no burials here).


 * Birkenhead, St. Mark (C of E), Devonshire Road. Built in 1891 as a chapel to St John, becoming a separate parish in 1922; closed in 1991. Registers of Baptisms 1894–1991 and Marriages 1895–1990 have been deposited at the Cheshire Record Office (no burials here).


 * Birkenhead Priory, Christ the King (C of E). Church Street. Opened in 1974 to replace St. Mary's as the parish church. Registers of Baptisms and Marriages are still at the church (no burials here).


 * Birkenhead St Winifred's - 1891

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

Parish registers for St. John's Church, Birkenhead, 1859-1946 Cheshire Record Office call no.: P 106/1/1-8, P 106/2/1-5, P106/3.

Parish registers for St. Paul's, Birkenhead, 1863-1948 Cheshire Record Office call no.: P 71/1/1-8, 2/1-5.

Parish registers for St. Peter's Church, Birkenhead, 1867-1957

Parish registers for St. Matthew's, Birkenhead, 1889-1954 Cheshire Record Office call no.: P 104/1/1-5, 2/1-6, 3/1.

Parish registers for St. Mark's Church, Birkenhead, 1894-1948 Cheshire Record Office call no.: P164/1, P164/2/1-5, P164/2953/2.

Non-Conformist Churches

 * Birkenhead, St. Werburgh (Roman Catholic), Grange Road. Founded 1834.
 * Birkenhead, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception and St. Edward the Confessor (Roman Catholic), Cavendish Street. Founded 1854.
 * Birkenhead, St. Laurence (Roman Catholic), Beckwith Street. Founded 1864.
 * Birkenhead, St. Joseph (Roman Catholic), North Road. Founded 1900.
 * Birkenhead, Holy Cross (Roman Catholic), Hoylake Road. Founded 1928.
 * Birkenhead, Baptist Union Chapel. Built in 1839 in Hamilton Terrace, rebuilt in 1852 in Price Street, rebuilt in 1889.
 * Birkenhead, Baptist Union Chapel, Grange Road. Built in 1858.
 * Birkenhead, Baptist Union Chapel, Laird Street. Founded 1902.
 * Birkenhead, Baptist Union Chapel, Alvanley Place.
 * Birkenhead, Methodist (Brunswick) Chapel, Price Street. Built in 1830, closed in 1960. Registers of baptisms 1839–1958 and marriages 1867–1954 are at the Cheshire Record Office.
 * Birkenhead, Methodist Chapel (Primitive), Grange Road. Founded 1855, Built in 1870, closed in 1958. Registers of baptisms 1886–1958 and marriages 1916–58 are at the Cheshire Record Office.
 * Birkenhead, Methodist (Palm Grove) Chapel (Wesleyan), Talbot Lane/Lorne Road. Founded 1858, Built in 1871, closed in 1978. Registers of baptisms 1858–87 and marriages 1875–1977 are at the Cheshire Record Office.
 * Birkenhead, Methodist Chapel (Free), Claughton Road. Founded 1864, Built in 1881, closed in 1938. Registers of baptisms 1864–1938 and marriages 1927–38 are at the Cheshire Record Office.
 * Birkenhead, Methodist Chapel (Wesleyan), Laird Street. Built in 1864, destroyed by bombing in 1941. Registers of baptisms 1874–1941 are at the Cheshire Record Office.
 * Birkenhead, Methodist Chapel (Wesleyan), Grange Road. Built in 1872.
 * Birkenhead, Methodist Chapel (Wesleyan), Hind Street. Built in 1873 (replacing a building in Blackpool Street), closed in 1966. Registers of baptisms 1873–1965 and marriages 1965–66 are at the Cheshire Record Office.
 * Birkenhead, Methodist Chapel (Wesleyan), Lowe Street. Built in 1878, closed in 1958. Registers of baptisms 1879–1957 are at the Cheshire Record Office.
 * Birkenhead, Methodist Chapel (Primitive), Beckwith Street.
 * Birkenhead, Methodist (Mount Tabor) Chapel (Primitive), Holt Road. Built in 1879, closed in 1966. Registers of baptisms 1895–1945 and marriages 1916–64 are at the Cheshire Record Office.
 * Birkenhead, St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Conway Street. Built in 1840.
 * Birkenhead, Presbyterian Church (Welsh), Parkfield. Founded 1837.
 * Birkenhead, Presbyterian Church, Regent Place. Built in 1848, closed in 1976.
 * Birkenhead, Presbyterian (Hamilton Memorial) Church, Upton Road. Founded 1868, Built in 1922.
 * Birkenhead, Presbyterian Church (Welsh), Laird Street. Founded 1905.
 * Birkenhead, Presbyterian Church (Welsh), Woodchurch Road. Founded 1906.
 * Birkenhead, Unitarian Chapel, Clive Road. Founded 1851 in Charing Cross, moved to Bessborough Road in 1903. The present building was opened in 1959. Registers of baptisms 1888–1921 are at the Cheshire Record Office.
 * Birkenhead, United Reformed Church (Indpendent/Congregational). Built in 1856 in Oxton Road, rebuilt in 1923 in Balls Road.
 * Birkenhead, Welsh Independent Church, Clifton Road. Built in 1844, rebuilt in 1881. Registers 1842–1854 are in the National Library of Wales.
 * Birkenhead, Welsh Independent Church, Vittoria Street. Founded 1886.

Non-Conformist Records:

Here is a list of Church records on microfilm at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Church records for Oxton Catholic Church, 1909-1971 Cheshire Record Office call no.: ERC 29/5477/1-2.

Church records for the Brunswick Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Birkenhead, 1830-1958

Church records for the Claughton Road United Methodist Chapel, Birkenhead, 1864-1938 Cheshire Record Office: EMS 132/1/1-3, EMS 132/7/1-2.

Church records for the Grange Road Primitive Methodist Chapel, Birkenhead, 1886-1958

Brunswick Chapel Wesleyan Methodist Church records, 1830-1837 Microfilm of original records at the Public Record Office, London.

Palm Grove Chapel Oxton, Cheshire Wesleyan Methodist Church records, 1858-1887 Cheshire Record Office: EMS 139/13

Church records Hind Street Chapel Birkenhead, Cheshire Weslayan, 1873-1965

Church records Laird Street Chapel Weslayan, 1874-1941 Cheshire Record Office: EMS 136/1

Church records Lowe Street Chapel Birkenhead Wesleyan Methodist, 1879-1957 Cheshire Record Office: EMS 137/1

Church records Mount Tabor Chapel Birkenhead Primitive Methodist, 1896-1945 Cheshire Record Office: EMS 138/1a

Church records St. Andrew's Church Birkenhead, Presbyterian, 1900-1943 Microfilm of original records at the Presbyterian Historical Society, London.

Church records Presbyterian Church Birkenhead, Cheshire, 1929-1942 Microfilm of original records at the Presbyterian Historical Society, London

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Birkenhead Branch Record of members, ca. 1852-1945 Microfilm of originals in the LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City.

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

 *  Wirral (1837–61)
 * Birkenhead (1861–1998)
 * Wirral (post 1998)

Poor Law Unions

 * Wirral Poor Law Union, Cheshire (1836–61)
 * Birkenhead Poor Law Union, Cheshire (1861–1930).

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 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

Websites
Birkenhead on GENUKI