West Houghton, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes

Guide to West Houghton, Lancashire ancestry, family history, and genealogy: chapelry register transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Chapelry History
HOUGHTON, WEST, a chapelry, in the parish of Deane, union of Bolton, hundred of Salford, S. division of Lancashire, 4 miles west by southwest of Bolton. An episcopal chapel, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, existed in West Houghton in 1662, when it had a roof of thatch; the edifice was rebuilt in 1731, and is now dedicated to St Mary. There are places of worship for Independents, Wesleyans, and the Society of Friends.

HOUGHTON (WEST), a village, a township, a chapelry, and a sub-district in Deane parish, Bolton district, Lancashire. The chapelry is less extensive than the township, and was constituted in 1860. The church was rebuilt in 1731; and re-rebuilt in 1869-70. There are chapels for Independents, Quakers, and Methodists, and a national school.

The first known chapel dedicated to St. Bartholomew, existed in 1577 (believed to have been built in 1509) and a thatched roof, in the midst of the moors, the floor being covered with rushes which the people brought at certain times of the year, and from which custom the ancient rush-bearing festival, and in later years the Wakes, became an annual event. This humble edifice had to be demolished on account of it being “very ruinous and in decay because of its great antiquity.”

A new chapel was built in 1731 and because it was built as a district chapelry, Westhoughton Parish Registers began in 1732. This new chapel, built on an ancient site was consecrated by Bishop Peplo of Chester. By 1860 Westhoughton had taken a step towards parochial autonomy, but it was still to some extent under the jurisdiction of Deane. The Church sadly was gutted by fire in December 1990. Only the tower remained intact, and a new church was consecrated on October 28th 1995. The old building stood from 1869 to 1990.

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

Online Records

 * 1538 - 1910 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1603 - 1910 at FamilySearch — index and images

 Church of England 

West Houghton chapelry's registers of christenings, marriages and burials, along with those of the ancient parish of Deane to which it is attached, have been mostly transcribed and are displayed online at the following websites and ranges of years:

For a full list of all those chapels surrounding West Houghton and comprising the whole ancient parish of Deane to which it was attached, be certain to see "Church Records" on the DEANE ST MARY PARISH page.

Westhoughton- St Bartholomew Baptisms-1732-1852- MFPR 148 Baptisms-1853-1905- MFPR 1605 Burials-1732-1839- MFPR 148 Burials-1840-1886- MFPR 2100 Marriages-1733-1754- MFPR 148 Marriages-1860-1900- MFPR 1606

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

The Manchester Room@City Library (Local Studies)

Parish registers for St. Bartholomew's Church, West Houghton, 1732-1929 Microfilm copy of originals at the Manchester Central Library, Manchester, England. West Houghton is a village, a township, and a chapelry in Deane parish. The chapel is known as St. Bartholomew's. Manchester Archives Central Library call nos.: L 122/1/3/3-5; L 122/1/4/2; L 122/1/6/1-4.

Bishop's transcripts for West Houghton, 1755-1839 Microreproduction of original manuscripts housed at the Lancashire Record Office, Preston. West Houghton is a chapelry in the parish of Deane. Lancashire Record Office: DRM/2/80-81a

Westhoughton St James parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

Poor Law Unions
Bolton, Lancashire Poor Law Union

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.

Taxation

 * 1622 - (p. 160)

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