Waterhead, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes

Chapelry History
WATERHEAD, an ecclesiastical parish, in the parish of Prestwich cum Oldham, hundred of Salford, S. division of Lancashire, 2 miles (E. by N.) from Oldham; containing upwards of 4000 inhabitants. It is about a mile in length and two miles in breadth, of cold aspect, and rather sterile and rugged surface. Whatever part of the land has escaped conversion into stone-quarries and coal-mines, is occupied in grazing cattle. The village has grown into its present magnitude within the last twenty years: the population is employed in the mines and the cotton manufacture. The road from Manchester to Huddersfield passes through. The district of Waterhead was formed out of St. James's district, Oldham, in Nov. 1844, under the act 6th and 7th Victoria, cap. 37; and became a parish on the consecration of the church in July 1847. The edifice is dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity, and is a beautiful structure in the style of the 13th century, containing accommodation for 800 persons. Of the cost, exceeding £3000, the sum of £1380 was contributed by Church-Building societies, and the remainder collected from the inhabitants of Waterhead and Oldham, and, through the exertions of the Rev. P. H. Reynolds, the first incumbent of the parish, from persons in other parts of England. It is proposed to erect a tower and spire, when funds are obtained for the purpose. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Crown and the Bishop of Manchester, alternately; net income, £150. The late A. R. Sidebottom, Esq., presented the sites for the church and schools. There is a place of worship for Independents.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis (1848), pp. 484-486. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51381 Date accessed: 03 August 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.

Church records
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Census records
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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
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
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