Rainow, Cheshire Genealogy

England Cheshire  Cheshire Parishes  Rainow

Guide to Rainow, Cheshire family history and genealogy: parish registers (baptism, christening, marriage, and burial records), civil registration (birth, marriage, and death records), census records, history, wills, cemetery, online transcriptions and indexes, an interactive map and websites.



Parish History
RAINOW, is a village, a township-chapelry, and a sub-district, in Cheshire. The village stands 2¾ miles N E of Macclesfield railway station; and is much scattered. The chapelry contains also Harrop hamlet, it is in Prestbury parish. The post-town is, Macclesfield. There is a Wesleyan chapel.

Rainow was created as an Ecclesiastical parish in 1785 a chapel in the Ancient parish of Prestbury, Cheshire and includes the hamlet of Harrop.

Holy Trinity Church was built in 1846, on land given by Joseph Harding, and consecrated in the same year. Rainow was originally a township and chapelry in Prestbury Parish of the Macclesfield Hundred but became a civil parish in 1866.

Jenkin Chapel was built by voluntary contributions in 1733. The church was originally dedicated to St. John the Baptist, but was only consecrated in 1894 when it was re-dedicated to St. John the Evangelist.

The chapel was not consecrated so people still had to walk over to Prestbury to be married. It was demolished in 1844 and part of the site made into a graveyard.

The first Wesleyan chapel was built on Billinge Brow in 1781 as a venue for travelling preachers. The buildings included a cottage to accommodate the preacher and a stable for his horse. This was closed and turned into cottages when a successor was built in the village at what became Chapel Brow. This second chapel was demolished, leaving the Chapel House and its small graveyard, when the current Wesleyan Chapel was erected in 1878.

Church records
Rainow Holy Trinity 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 Rainow. Rainow, Holy Trinity (C of E). Founded 1765 as a chapel to Prestbury, serving part of Rainow township. Registers of Baptisms 1765–1992, Marriages 1846–1941 and Burials 1815–1959 have been deposited at the Cheshire Record Office

Registers of Baptisms 1770–1821, Marriages 1865–1921 and Burials 1770–1821 have been deposited at the Cheshire Record Office Cheshire Record Office reference: P188/3116/1/1-2, P188/3116/2/1-3, P188/3176, P188/3116/3, P188/3116/8, P188/6127/1-3.

Saltersford, St. John the Baptist. A chapel to Prestbury, created a separate parish in 1864 to serve Kettleshulme and part of Rainow township. The chapelry at Saltersford is called Saltersford-cum-Kettleshulme, and contains Kettleshulme and Rainow. It is in the parish of Prestbury. Cheshire Record Office reference: P/188/3116/8.

The Family History Library catalog contains other material for the parish.

Non-Conformist Churches
Rainow, Methodist Chapel (Wesleyan). Founded 1807, Built in 1878. Registers 1808–1837 and 1912–1975 are at the Cheshire Record Office. Microfilm of original records at the Public Record Office, London; and at the Cheshire Record Office, Chester. Cheshire Record Office reference: EMS 17/6/1.

Non-Conformist Records:

Registers 1808–1837 and 1912–1975 are at the Cheshire Record Office. Microfilm of original records at the Public Record Office, London; and at the Cheshire Record Office, Chester. Cheshire Record Office reference: EMS 17/6/1.

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 (1837–1998)
 * Cheshire East (post 1998)

Poor Law Unions

 * 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