Heswall, Cheshire Genealogy

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

Parish History
HESWALL, a parish, in the union, and Lower division of the hundred, of Wirral, S. division of the county of Chester; containing the township of Gayton ,it is 3½ miles NW by N from Great Neston.

Heswall St Peter an ancient parish known as Heswall cum Oldfield formerly in Cheshire and now part of the administrative county of Merseyside since 1974. It includes Gayton, Heswall with Oldfield and Oldfield.

Church Records
Heswall St Peter 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.

Heswall, St. Peter (C of E). The ancient parish for the townships of Gayton and Heswall. Registers of Baptisms 1599–1953, Marriages 1539–1963 and Burials 1558–1946 have been deposited at the Cheshire Record Office. Microreproduction of originals at the Cheshire Record Office in Chester, England. Cheshire Record Office call no.: P129/1/1-3, P129/2/1-5, P129/3/1-3, P129/4/1-2.

Bishop's Transcripts Microfilm copy of original record in the Cheshire Record Office, Chester, England. Some records in Latin. Cheshire Record Office no.: EDB 108.

The registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials in the parish of Heswall, in the county and diocese of Chester, from their commencement to the year 1729: together with a table of the rectors of Heswall from the year 1300 to the present time, and a terrier of lands, fees, charges, etc., in the year 1733 edited by Thomas Henry May Includes index. The parish registers cover 1559-1729. Also on microfilm. Salt Lake City: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1972. on 1 microfilm reel; 35 mm. FHL BRITISH Film 924706 Item 2

Online transcripts for the parish are available online at Cheshire Parish Register project Heswall, Church of the Good Shepherd (C of E), Telegraph Road. Built in 1901 as a chapel to St. Peter. Registers of Baptisms from 1962 are held at St Peter's (no marriages or burials). Heswall, Nautical Training School (C of E). A chapel attached to St Peter, built in 1915 and closed in 1956. Registers of Baptisms 1937–1956 have been deposited at the Cheshire Record Office (no baptisms or burials).

Non Conformist Churches

 * 1600s-1910 Cheshire Non-Conformist & Roman Catholic Registers (Baptism) 17th Century-1910 at FindMyPast ($); index and images (dates may vary by parish)


 * 1671-1900 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index (dates may vary by parish)
 * Heswall, Our Lady and St. John (Roman Catholic), Telegraph Road. Built in 1919.
 * Heswall, Friends' Meeting House (Quakers). Founded 1939.
 * Heswall, Centenary Methodist Chapel (Wesleyan), Telegraph Road. Built in 1891 (replacing an earlier building in Gayton). Registers of baptisms 1859–1949 are at the Cheshire Record Office. Microfilm of original records at the Cheshire Record Office, Chester. Cheshire Record Office call no.: EMS 134/1. Baptisms, 1859-1949. VAULT BRITISH Film 2299421 Item 23
 * Heswall, United Reformed Church (Presbyterian), Telegraph Road. Rebuilt in 1909.

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 District

 * Wirral (1837–1974)
 * Birkenhead (1974–98)
 * Wirral (post 1998)

Poor-Law Union

 * Wirral 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
Heswall cum Oldfield on GENUKI

Heswall St Peter on GENUKI