Cheshire, England Genealogy

Cheshire is a maritime county in western England, bounded on the northwest by the Irish Sea.

CHESHIRE
A maritime county; bounded, on the NW, by the Irish sea; on the N, by Lancashire; on the NE, by Yorkshire; on the E, by Derbyshire; on the SE, by Staffordshire; on the S, by Shropshire; on the SW, by North Wales...

The county contains 91 parishes, parts of 5 other parishes, and 4 extra-parochial places... measures 692,999 acres...

The county is governed by a lord lieutenant, a high sheriff, 65 deputy lieutenants, and about 290 magistrates. The assizes are held at Chester; and quarter-sessions at Chester and Knutsford... The county, excepting part of the parish of Threapwood, is all in the diocese of Chester... The places of worship, within the county proper, in 1851 were 252 of the Church of England, 2 of United Presbyterians, 3 of English Presbyterians, 66 of Independents, 31 of Baptists, 10 of Quakers, 14 of Unitarians, 3 of Moravians, 188 of Wesleyan Methodists, 29 of New Connexion Methodists, 135 of Primitive Methodists, 50 of the Wesleyan Association, 4 of Calvinistic Methodists, 8 of Lady Huntingdon's Connexion, 5 of Brethren, 7 of isolated congregations, 9 of Latter Day Saints, and 17 of Roman Catholics...

Population in 1801 was 192,305; in 1821, 270,098; in 1841, 395,660; in 1861, 505,428...

The above extract is taken from: John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72). You may read the full version online at Vision of Britain.

Research Tools
The following list of records can all be found on FamilySearch Record Search:


 * Church of England burial records for Cheshire for 1538-1907
 * Church of England christening records for Cheshire for 1538-1907
 * Church of England marriage records for Cheshire for 1538-1907
 * A register of Electors of Cheshire for 1842-1900

For civil or vital records beginning in 1837, go to Cheshire BMD (births, marriages and deaths). A search can be done by name or by a 'simple search'. The "simple search shows all records for the first letter of the surname for chosen year ranges" (statement from the Web site).

Jurisdictions
Use an interactive mapto find jurisdictions for each parish in Cheshire.

Civil Districts
When civil registration of births, marriages and deaths began in 1837, Cheshire was divided into a number of registration districts, each containing several parishes. The index to the civil records gives the name of the district where an event took place. Click here to see a list of the civil districts in Cheshire and the parishes covered by each. Read more about England Civil Registration.

Parishes
Click on the link to go to a list of the parishes of Cheshire with links to articles.

Probate Jurisdictions
Before 1858, every town and parish in Cheshire was under the probate jurisdiction of several ecclesiastical courts. To read more about probate records and see a list of Cheshire towns and parishes and the probate courts that had jurisdiction over them, go to Cheshire Probate Records.

Useful Resources
Raymond, Stuart A. Cheshire: a genealogical bibliography, vol. 1. Cheshire genealogical sources. Birmingham, England: Family History SOcieties (Pubblications) Ltd., c1995.

Raymond, Stuart A. Cheshire: a genealogical bibliography, vol. 2. ''Cheshire family histories and pedigrees. ''Birmingham, England: Family History Societies (Publications) Ltd., c1995.

Useful Websites
Here is a list of more websites useful for Cheshire research:

To view a further list of web sites and/or web pages for Cheshire and many of its parishes, visit FHLFavorites.info.
 * The GENUKI Cheshire pages
 * Cheshire on Genealogylinks.net
 * Cheshire BMD, for indexes to births, marriages, and deaths from 1837
 * The Cheshire Parish Register Transcription Project
 * The Cheshire Record Office's page for getting started in family history