Halton, Cheshire Genealogy

England Cheshire  Halton

Parish History
Halton St Mary the Virgin is an ecclesiastical parish in Cheshire created from Runcorn Ancient Parish.

A chapel had been associated with Halton Castle for many centuries but by the end of the Civil War it was in ruins. It had been situated just below the castle walls, a plain, square building with a bellcote on its eastern gable. Its repair was beyond the financial means of the congregation and a petition was made to the bishop for funds. Enough money was provided to rebuild the chapel and this remained in use until the middle of the 19th century. By 1847 the roof was in need of a major repair and within four years it was decided that a new church was needed. The money for this was provided by Sir Richard Brooke of Norton Priory. Sir George Gilbert Scott was appointed as the architect and the church was consecrated on 12 November 1852. Halton had formerly been a chapel of ease to the parish church of Runcorn but in June 1860 it became a separate parish.

Castlefields, Christ Church (Ecunemical). Attached to Halton St Mary for C of E services. Registers of Baptisms start in 1974, and are held at Halton St Mary (no marriages or burials here).

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

 * Runcorn (1837–1974)
 * Halton (post 1974)

Church records
To find the names of the neighboring 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 Halton, 1732-1957 Cheshire Record Office call number: P27/1/1, P27/2/1-4, P27/3/1, P27/2632/1-2, P27/3.

Halton was a chapelry in Runcorn parish. The chapelry later became a parish. Here is a list of church records on microfilm at the Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City.

An index for Cheshire parish registers is available online in Record Search

Bishop's transcripts for Halton, 1732-1887 Halton was formerly a chapelry in the parish of Runcorn. Cheshire Record Office call number: EDB 100. Baptisms, marriages for 1732-1739 are filmed twice separated with a second title board for item 3.

An index for Cheshire, Church of England, Bishop’s Transcripts is available online in Record Search

Non-Conformist Churches

 * Halton, Methodist Chapel (Wesleyan). Founded 1818, rebuilt in 1875.
 * Halton, Methodist Chapel (Primitive). Built in 1882.

Non-Conformist Records:

  Cheshire Record Office DocumentReference  EMS 109       Halton Methodist Chapel   Date  19th century - 20th century    Various records1824-1978   URL  http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=017-ems109&amp;cid=0

Census records
Contributor: Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

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

 * Runcorn

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.