Bolton le Sands, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes



Parish History
Bolton le Sands St Michael is an Ancient Parish in the county of Lancashire.The church was formerly in the Diocese of Chester, Manchester (1847-1926).

Other places in the parish include: Hest, Nether Kellet, Stapleton Farm, Slyne, Slyne with Hest, and Nether Kellett.

Referred to as Bodeltone in the Domesday book, the village was known as Bolton until the arrival of the railways, when the name was changed to Bolton-le-Sands to differentiate from similarly named towns on the same line, such as Bolton which was then a part of Lancashire and called Bolton-le-Moors.

The oldest church in the village, founded prior to 1094, is the Church of England Holy Trinity church, originally dedicated to St Michael. The oldest part of the current building is the tower, supposed to have been built around 1500. The nave and chancel date from the 19th century. The other churches are the Roman Catholic St Mary of the Angels and the Christ Church United Reformed Church.

The Diocese of Blackburn is a Church of England diocese, covering much of Lancashire, created in 1926 from part of the Diocese of Manchester. The Diocese includes the towns of Blackburn, Blackpool, Burnley, and the cities of Lancaster, and Preston, as well as a large part of the Ribble Valley.

"BOLTON-LE-SANDS (St. Michael), a parish, in the hundred of Lonsdale south of the Sands, N. division of the county of Lancaster; containing 1774 inhabitants, of whom 671 are in the township of Bolton, 4 miles (N.) from Lancaster, on the road to Kendal. On the foundation of the priory at Lancaster, Roger de Poictou gave to it the church of "Boelton," with the tithes of the lordship, and half a carucate of land; and in the Testa de Nevill, several transactions are mentioned of a family of the local name, as occurring in the registry of the priory. The manor of Bolton, on the suppression of religious communities, seems to have passed to the crown. The parish comprises the townships of Bolton, Slyne with Hest, and Nether Kellet, and the chapelry of Over Kellet. Bolton township comprises 1574a. 3r., chiefly arable land; the surface is undulated, and the soil principally loam, with a gravelly subsoil. It is beautifully situated on Morecambe bay, having views of the Lake mountains and the opposite shore of Furness. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £4. 15., and in the patronage of the Bishop of Chester, who is appropriator. The church has a noble square tower: the body was rebuilt in 1816; as was the chancel in 1846, in the early English style, at a cost of £600, by John Holden, Esq., of Woodlands, Gateacre, near Liverpool, as a memorial of his late wife, the daughter of John Walmsley, Esq., of Richmond House, Lancaster. The windows of the chancel are of stained glass, by Wailes, of Newcastle; the eastern window depicts the Crucifixion and Ascension, and the rest contain family arms. The chapel at Over Kellet forms a distinct incumbency. The free school was founded in 1619, by Thomas Assheton, and has an income of £27, arising from the original endowment and subsequent benefactions. The interest of £250, left in 1838 by Richard Sparling Berry, Esq., is given in rewards to parents who educate their children without parochial relief, in the township of Bolton. The arm of a Saxon stone cross, and the remains of the cross from the churchyard, are preserved."

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis (1848), pp. 295-302. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50811 Date accessed: 25 June 2010.

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.

Online index of Lancashire Births, Marriages and Deaths Lancashire BMD

Lancashire Online Parish Clerks
An extremely useful resource for research in Lancashire Parishes http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/

Church records
Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection

Bolton-le-Sands- Holy Trinity Baptisms Transcript-1655-1736- 929.3272 B32 Burials Transcript-1655-1736- 929.3272 B32 Marriages Transcript-1653-1736- 929.3272 B32

For the original registers of the above church please enquire at Lancashire Record Office.

The Manchester Room and Greater Manchester County Record Office Email: archiveslocalstudies@manchester.gov.uk

The Manchester Room@City Library (Local Studies)

Census records
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.

http://www.1881pubs.com/ for details of public houses in the 1881 census

Poor Law Unions
Caton Gilbert Union,Lancashire

Lancaster Poor Law Union,Lancashire from 1869

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

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
Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53281 British History Online

http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-181777-holy-trinity-bolton-le-sands British Listed Building