Chester, Cheshire Genealogy

England Cheshire  Chester

Parish History
CHESTER, a city and two sub-districts in Great Boughton district, Cheshire; and a diocese in Cheshire and part of Lancashire. The city stands on the river Dee and on the Via Devana, 5 miles SE of the head of the Dee's estuary, and 16, through Birkenhead, SSE of Liverpool. An artificial channel of the Dee, navigable for vessels of 350 tons, gives it communication, through the Dee's estuary, with the sea; one canal connects it northward with the Mersey at Ellesmere-Port, and another east-south-eastward with the Birmingham canal at Nantwich; and railways go from it in five directions, toward Birkenhead, Manchester, Crewe, Shrewsbury, and Holyhead.

The places of worship within the city, in 1851, were 15 of the Church of England, 17 of dissenters, and 3 of other bodies. Those in 1869, besides the cathedral and some in the suburban parts, were 11 of the Church of England, 1 of English Presbyterians, 4 of independents, 1 of Baptists, 1 of Quakers, 1 of Unitarians, 2 of Wesleyans, 1 of N.Methodists, 1 of Primative Methodists, 1 of Welsh Calvinists, 1 of Christians, 1 of Brethren, and 3 of Roman Catholics. There was also a Roman Catholic convent. The livings in the city, or connected with it, are the rectories of St. Bridget, St. Martin, St. Peter, St. Mary-on-the-Hill, and Holy Trinity; the vicarages of St. John the Baptist, St. Oswald, St. Michael, St. Olave, Lache-with-Saltney, and Bruera; and the p. curacies of Little St. John, Upton, St. Paul, and Christ-Church. St. Martin is annexed to St. Bridget; St. Olave to St. Michael; Upton to St. Mary on-the-Hill.

Chester was first chartered by its earls in the 13th century; and has sent two members to parliament since 1541. It is governed by a mayor, ten aldermen, and thirty councillors; and is divided municipally into five wards. It includes, as a borough, the parishes of St. John the Baptist, St. Olave, St. Michael, St. Peter, St. Bridget, and St. Martin; the extra-parochial places of Chester-Castle, Chester Cathedral, Little St. John, and Spittle-Boughton; and large portions of the parishes of St. Oswald, St. Mary-on-the-Hill, and Holy Trinity. The county assizes are held at it in both Lent and summer; and quarter sessions in April, July, Oct., and Dec.

The above extract is taken from: John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72). The full account is available on Vision of Britain.

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.

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.

Chester Cathedral

Chester Holy Trinity

Chester St Bridget

Chester St John the Baptist

Chester St Mary

Chester St Michael

Chester St Olave

Chester St Oswald

Chester St Peter

Chester Little St John

Chester Christ Church

Chester St Paul

Chester St Barnabas

Bennett collection, ca.1252-1955 Authors Bennett, J. H. E. (John Henry Elliot), 1873- (Main Author) Broster, John Lawson, P. H Richards, Raymond Of interest to Cheshire generally but specific Chester content includes:

Online trancripts for the parishes of Chester St John and Chester St Mary are available at Cheshire Parish Register project

Non Conformist Churches
Chester, St. Werburgh (Roman Catholic), Grosvenor Park Road. Built in 1875, replacing Queens Street Chapel (built c.1800). Registers of baptisms 1794–1956, marriages 1827–1973 and burials 1861–1923 are at the Cheshire Record Office. Indexes to baptisms 1790–1956 are at the Cheshire Record Office.

Census records
Contributor: Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

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
Contributor: Add information about the pertinent poor law unions in the area.

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

Web sites
Contributor: Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.