Northenden, Cheshire Genealogy

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

Parish History
NORTHEN, or Northenden (St. Wilfrid), is a parish, in the union of Altrincham, hundred of Macclesfield, North division of the county of Chester; containing, with the tything of Northen-Etchells, it is 7 miles S from Manchester. The parish is situated on the River Mersey.

Northenden St. Wilfrid is an ancient parish in Cheshire including Etchells and Northen Etchells. Norwordine (North clearing) may have been a Saxon settlement and the dedication to Saint Wilfrid the 8th century Bishop of York may suggest that he visited the place.

The first record of the village is in the Domesday Book (1086), in which the church is mentioned, though the manor is described as vasta ~ devastated.

Church Records
Northenden St Wilfrid parish 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.

Parish registers for Northen, 1561-1914 Northenden is most often called Northen. Manchester Archives Central Library call numbers: M 340/1/1/1-3, 5; M 340/1/2/2-3; M 340/1/4/1-4; M 340/1/5.

Bishop's transcripts of Northenden, 1608-1877

An index for Cheshire, Church of England, Bishop’s Transcripts is available online in Family Search Historical records (formerly Record Search).

Northenden is referred to as Northen. Cheshire Record Office no.: EDB/158 Records are not arranged in strict chronological order. Some intermittent years are missing.

Non-Conformist Churches

 * 1717 England & Wales, Roman Catholics, 1717 at FindMyPast ($), index and images (coverage may vary)
 * 1671-1900 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index (dates may vary by parish)
 * Northenden, St. Hilda (Roman Catholic). Built in 1901.
 * Northenden, Gospel Mission Hall. Built in 1886.
 * Northenden, Methodist Chapel (Wesleyan). Built in 1828, rebuilt in 1886.

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

 * Altrincham (1837–98)
 * Bucklow (1898–1936) Succeeded by Trafford, Macclesfield, Warrington and Manchester districts on abolition.

Poor Law Unions

 * Altrincham (1836–95)
 * Bucklow (1895–1930)
 * Altrincham (renamed Bucklow) 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
Northenden on GENUKI