Openshaw, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes

Guide to Openshaw, Lancashire family history and genealogy. Parish registers (baptism, christening, marriage, and burial records), civil registration (birth, marriage, and death records), census records, history, wills, cemetery, online transcriptions and indexes, an interactive map and websites.



Chapel History
Openshaw St Barnabas was created a district chapel in 1839 from, and lying within the boundaries ofManchester Our Lady, St George and St Denys ancient parish.

Its name derives from the Old English Opinschawe, which means an open wood or coppice. Since 1890 it has been incorporated into the City of Manchester. St Barnabas church South Street, Openshaw was replaced by the smaller current church in the late 1960's.

"OPENSHAW, an ecclesiastical district with a chapel, in the parish of Manchester, union of Chorlton, hundred of Salford, S. division of Lancashire, 3 miles east by south of Manchester, comprising the townships of Beswick, Bradford, and Openshawp. The church, dedicated to St. Barnabas, was erected in 1839. The Wesleyans and the New Connexion of Methodists have places of worship."

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.

Online index of Lancashire Births, Marriages and Deaths Lancashire BMD

Church records
Online Records

A few online transcriptions for Openshaw St Barnabas (1839) and St Clements (1880) Chapelries exist, as well as those for the ancient parish of Manchester Our Lady, St George, and St Denys--to which these were attached. Links to online baptisms, marriages and burial registers are displayed below and located at the web sites indicated; note the ranges of years:

To view a full list of all the (150-plus) chapelries and district churches comprising the ancient parish of Manchester and, their respective links to online transcriptions of their baptisms, marriages and burials, be sure to visit the MANCHESTER (CATHEDRAL) OUR LADY, ST GEORGE &amp; ST DENYS page.

Original Records

Original Parish (chapelry) registers are housed at the Manchester Central Library in Manchester.

Poor Law Unions
Chorlton Poor Law Union,Lancashire

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Lancashire 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
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain