Saddleworth, Yorkshire Genealogy

England Yorkshire Yorkshire Parishes, S-Y  West Riding  Saddleworth

Parish History
SADDLEWORTH cum Quick, a parochial chapelry,in the parish of Rochdale, wapentake of Agbrigg and Morley, W. riding of York, 12 miles (N. E. by E.) from Manchester, and 12 (S. W. by W.) from Huddersfield; containing, in the year 1841, 16,829 inhabitants. This district, which is 7 miles in length and about 5 in breadth, is of considerable historical interest. During the occupation of Britain by the Romans, that people had a camp at Castleshaw, in the chapelry, which formed the first station from Manchester, on the road to York. It is said, though on doubtful authority, that this camp was superseded by a fortress which, with its ramparts and outworks, occupied an area of some acres, andwhich, from its situation at the foot of Stanedge, a loftyrange of hills, continued for many generations to be abaronial residence of some importance. At the time ofthe Conquest, Saddleworth was constituted a manor; and in the year 1200, William de Stapleton, to whom it then belonged, founded a chapel here for his tenants,which he made subordinate to the church of St. Chad, Rochdale. From the Stapletons the portion of the manor called Friermere or Friar-Mere, which is in extentone-half of the chapelry, descended to the Warrens, of Scargill, who, by deed of gift dated at Rupe (RocheAbbey) in 1314, granted the whole of Friermere, then called Hill-bright-hope, to the monks of Rupe, who held it till the Dissolution. Henry VIII., in the 35th of his reign, gave Friermere to Arthur Assheton, of Rochdale, on his rendering to the king the "service of one soldier or knight, and 40s. 1d. in lieu of tenths." By deed dated 27th May, 1551, it was divided equally between the above Arthur Assheton and Roger Gartside, the moieties being called, respectively, the "Light Side" andthe "Dark Side" of the Mere. Since that time the lands of Friermere have passed into other families, withthe exception of the estate of Woodbrow, in the possession of Captain Gartside. The remaining portion of the manor or chapelry was purchased by the Ramsden family, and is now divided into small freeholds.

In the latter part of the 17th century, Saddleworthis described in several deeds and public documents asthe parish of Saddleworth cum Quick, and for all civil purposes it is now considered a distinct parish; but in ecclesiastical matters it is subject to the Vicar of Rochdale, in whose patronage the living, a perpetual curacy, is vested: net income, £150. The chapel is dedicated to St. Chad; the tower was rebuilt in 1746, and the body of the edifice was enlarged and almost rebuilt in 1833, by subscription and church-rates, aided by a grant of £400 from the Incorporated Society. It is a neat specimen of the later English style, and contains 1104 sittings, of which 872 are free. In the north aisle is atablet to the memory of John Winterbottom, paymaster of the 52nd regiment, born at Saddleworth in 1781, and who died at Barbadoes in November 1838: the tabletwas erected by 130 officers of his regiment and other military friends, to commemorate his bravery and worth. Chapels have been erected at Dobcross, Lydgate, and Friermere, the livings of which are perpetual curacies,in the patronage of the Vicar. There are places of worship for Independents at Delph, Upper Mill, andSpring-head; and for Wesleyans at Delph, Upper Mill, and Bagulay. A free school was founded in 1729, by Ralph Hawkyard, who endowed it with £280; and inaugmentation of the master's salary, John Walker, in1755, bequeathed £200. National schools are supported at Castleshaw, Deanshaw, Kilgreen, and other places. At Greenfield are some interesting natural curiosities, consisting of huge caverns and rocks; also many Druidical remains.—See Delph, Dobcross, Friermere, and Lydgate.

From: Lewis, Samuel A, A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 1-4. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51252 Date accessed: 01 November 2011.

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.

Church records
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.

Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, non conformist 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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Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Yorkshire 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
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
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