Macclesfield St Michael, Cheshire Genealogy

England Cheshire  Cheshire Parishes  Macclesfield

Parish History
Situated in the ancient Domesday Hundred of Hamestan, the Domesday Book lists Macclesfield as "Maclesfeld", whilst in 1183 it was referred to as "Makeslesfeld". It is thought that Macclesfield got its name from "Michael's field" - referring to St. Michael, as in St. Michael's church. The English Place-Name Society gives it name as being derived from the Old English for Maccels' open country.

Later, Macclesfield was granted a borough charter by the Lord Edward, the future King Edward I, in 1261. There is evidence that the borough had originally been founded by Ranulf III, Earl of Chester, early in the thirteenth century. The parish church of St Michael was built in 1278, an extension of a chapel built in approximately 1220.

The borough had a weekly market, and two annual fairs: the Barnaby fair, was on St Barnabas day (11 June), the other on the feast of All Saints (1 November)

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.

Registration Districts

 * Macclesfield (1837-1998)
 * Cheshire East (post 1998)

Church records
Macclesfield St Michael 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.

The ancient parish which included Macclesfield was Prestbury (see history of the parish)

Macclesfield, St Michael's

Macclesfield, St Peter

Macclesfield, Christ Church, Cheshire

Sutton,near Macclesfield,Cheshire

Macclesfield, St Paul, Cheshire

Macclesfield, St John the Evangelist, Cheshire

Non-Conformist Churches
Macclesfield, St Alban (Roman Catholic)

Macclesfield, St. Edward the Confessor (Roman Catholic), London Road. Built in 1939.

Macclesfield Primitive Methodist Circuit, Cheshire

Macclesfield Methodist chapel, Church Street West, Cheshire

Macclesfield, Baptist Chapel, Calemine Street, rebuilt in 1873 in St. George Street. Macclesfield, Friends' Meeting House (Quaker), Mill Street.See Macclesfield Society of Friends, Cheshire

Macclesfield, Methodist (Mount Tabor) Chapel, Tabor Street. Built in 1861, closed in 1966. See Macclesfield Mount Tabor Methodist Chapel, Cheshire

Macclesfield Park Green United Methodist Chapel, Cheshire

Macclesfield Park Street Methodist chapel, Cheshire

Macclesfield Stamford Road Methodist Chapel,Cheshire

Macclesfield, Sunderland Street Wesleyan Methodist Chapel,Cheshire

Macclesfield Trinity Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Cheshire

Macclesfield, Unitarian (Ebenezer) Chapel,Cheshire

Macclesfield United Reformed Church, Cheshire includes Townley Street Chapel, Roe Street Chapel and Park Green Congregational Church

Macclesfield, Unitarian Chapel, Parsonage Street. Built in 1806, closed in 1887. Macclesfield, Spiritualist Free Chapel, Cumberland Street. Built in 1879.

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.

Poor Law Unions
For more information on the history of the workhouse, see Peter Higginbotham's web site: www.workhouses.org.uk and Macclesfield

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
Contributor: Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above