Chelford, Cheshire Genealogy

Guide to Chelford, Cheshire ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
CHELFORD, is a chapelry, in the parish of Prestbury, the union and hundred of Macclesfield, N. division of the county of Chester, it is 5 miles SE by E from Knutsford; it contains the township of Old Withington. Here is a station on the Manchester and Birmingham railway. The chapel was rebuilt in 1776.

Chelford St John the Evangelist is an ancient chapelry in the Ancient Parish of Prestbury St Peter. It was the church for Old Withington from its foundation. The parish is the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Knutsford. Its modern benefice is combined with that of St Peter, Lower Withington.

The church dates from 1774–76 and the west tower was added in 1840

Church records
Chelford St John the Evangelist registers of christenings, marriages and burials have been indexed by the following groups:

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.

Prestbury, St. Peter (C of E). The ancient parish church for Old Withington. Chelford, St. John the Evangelist (C of E). An ancient chapelry in Prestbury parish. Parish registers for Chelford, 1679-1934 Cheshire Record Office call no.: P182/1/1-2, P182/2, P182/3, P182/6129.

Microfilm copy of original filmed at the Cheshire Record Office in Chester, England.

Here is a list of church records on microfilm at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

Bishop's transcripts for Chelford, 1839-1903 Cheshire Record Office: call number EDB 49 Microfilm of originals in the Cheshire Record Office, Chester.

IGI coverage 1674-1794

The parish may be found in FamilySearch Historical Records (formerly Record Search) and further information about record sources can be found in The FamilySearch Catalog

Non-Conformist Churches

 * 1671-1900 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index (dates may vary by parish)

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from 1 July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. Here are two excellent Internet sites with birth, marriage and death indexes available:


 * FreeBMD
 * Cheshire BMD

Registration Districts

 * Macclesfield (1837–1937)
 * Cheshire East

Poor Law Unions

 * Macclesfield
 * Macclesfield Poor Law Union, Cheshire

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.

see also England Cheshire Probate Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

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
Chelford on GENUKI