Litherland Christ Church, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes

Chapelry History
Litherland Christ Church [Waterloo]" was created a chapelry in 1839, was enlarged, and rebuilt in 1892. It lay within the boundaries of Sefton ancient Parish.

The name Litherland is a hybrid name, from Old Norse hliŏ/hlith-ar which means "slope" and Old English land "land".

Litherland was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Liderlant, however there was no mention of Liverpool at that time. The first manor of Litherland consisted of one half and two quarters, the areas being Litherland including what is now Seaforth (the half) and present day Orrell and Ford (the two quarters).

Litherland remained a poor area until the arrival of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in 1774, this brought the area into the modern world, originally providing a safe route through Lancashire from Liverpool to Wigan, and eventually in 1816 through to Leeds. The route became very busy primarily for goods and later for the transportation of passengers. The outcome of all this activity was to bring prosperous businessmen from the City to the countryside, where they had a desire to live.

Litherland ChristChurch was built from 1839 and subsequently rebuilt several times. the present church was built in 1892 and became known loacally as Old Christ Church. Old Christ Church was also later damaged in World War II and vandalism also caused damage through the years.

"LITHERLAND, a township, a chapelry, and a subdistrict in Sefton parish, West Derby district, Lancashire. The township lies on the coast, on the Southport and Liverpool railway, and on the Leeds and Liverpool canal, 4 miles N by W of Liverpool; and contains the hamlet of Seaforth and a portion of Waterloo, each of which has a station on the railway and a post office under Liverpool. Acres, 1,914; of which 7 5 are water. Real property, £19,961. Pop. in 1851,2,252; in 1861, 3,632. Houses, 597. The increase of pop. arose from proximity to the harbour of Liverpool, and to the extension of trade there. The manor belongs to the Earl of Sefton; and much of the land, to him, and to the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone. Seaforth Hall and Seaforth House are chief residences; but a great many fine villas are in Seaforth and Waterloo, and command charming views of the Mersey.—The chapelry was constituted in 1842, and includes but a portion of the township; the rest of which is in the two chapelries of Waterloo. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Chester. Value, £87.* Patron, the Rector of Sefton. The church is a handsome structure of white stone; and consists of nave, aisles, transepts, and chancel, with tower and spire. There is a national school.—The sub-district contains all the township, and also five other townships of Sefton. Acres, 6,269. Pop., 5,084. Houses, 836."

John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1872)

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

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

Poor Law Unions
West Derby, 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.

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
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