Bosley, Cheshire Genealogy

England Cheshire  Bosley

Parish History
Bosley St Mary the Virgin was originally a chapelry in the Ancient Parish of Prestbury.

The church was originally dedicated to St. Thomas a Becket of Canterbury but later this was changed to St. Lawrence and then to St. Mary the Virgin. It was formerly a chapel of ease for Prestbury, and was granted the right to have a font and burial ground by Pope Boniface in a Papal Bull of 5 April 1402 as recorded at Lichfield. This was because Bosley was 6 miles from Prestbury and the journey was difficult in bad weather. The church was originally timber framed dating from the 14th and 15th centuries with a 16th century stone tower. The nave was rebuilt in brick in 1777 and the chancel was added in 1834. The original entrance was through a south porch but it is now at the west end under the tower. The height of the tower was increased by 6 feet in 1878-9 when new bells were hung. The original parapet and pinnacles were not replaced. There are six bells; the oldest was made in 1663 and there are two from 1756. The parish registers go back to 1728 and the list of vicars to approximately 1596.

Following the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, there were a series of Acts of Parliament designed to punish the Nonconformists and to protect the Church of England. Royalists such as Sir Peter Leicester at Tabley and Sir Geoffrey Shakerley at Hulme Hall were enthusiastic in pursuing those they suspected of Nonconformism. Sir Peter's letters of the period, now at the County Record Office, show how he wrote to the civil authorities in Chester listing known Nonconformists in various parishes in the Buckley Hundred. Sir Geoffrey Shakerley went further, and dragged from the pulpit at Bosley the minister, Mr. John Gartside, because he refused to read from the "Book of Sports" and had him imprisoned at Chester. (In 1617 King James I visited Lancashire, and in consequence of a petition presented to him at Hoghton Towers, complaining of the restrictions imposed upon Sunday amusements, he issued in 1618 the Book of Sports. Permission was given for dancing, archery, leaping, vaulting and other recreations such as May games, May-poles, morris dancing and Whitsun Ales)

The Revd. John Thornley was curate from 1728 to 1765. He lived for a time in the church tower. In 1736 he was responsible, together with Captain William Whittaker and Edward Dawson, for building a school house in Bosley. Later it was used as a parsonage and then converted to two cottages. It appears to have been demolished by 1833 when the Rev. Sutcliffe was appointed. In 1839 the site was used for the construction of what is now Old School Cottages. It bears a plaque with the inscription "This house and these schools were erected by voluntary contributions with the aid of a grant from the National Schools Society, AD 1839". This was superseded by the present school, in 1858. It was funded by £200 and a grant of half an acre of land from Lord Harrington, funds from the Committee of Council and public subscription.

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.

Registration Districts

 * Macclesfield (1837–98)
 * Cheshire East (post 1998)

Church Records
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.

Prestbury, St. Peter was the ancient parish church for Bosley. Bosley, St. Mary. An ancient chapelry to Prestbury, becoming the parish church for Bosley in 1883.

Parish registers of Bosley, Cheshire, 1728-1847

Bosley is a chapelry in Prestbury parish. Cheshire Record Office reference: P42/1/1-2, P42/2, P42/3.

An index for Cheshire parish registers is available online in Record Search

Bishop's Transcripts 1617-1893 Some text in Latin. The transcripts are online on Record Search. Chapelry (now a parish) in Prestbury parish. Cheshire Record Office reference: EDB 31

An index for Cheshire, Church of England, Bishop's Transcripts (Diocese of Chester) is available online in Record Search

Non-Conformist Churches


Bosley, Methodist Chapel (Wesleyan). Founded 1832. Memorial inscriptions have been published by the FHS of Cheshire (1995).

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.

Poor Law Unions

 * Macclesfield
 * Macclesfield Poor Law Union,Cheshire

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