Morton, Derbyshire Genealogy

England Derbyshire



Parish History
Morton is an Ancient Parish.

MORTON (Holy Cross), a parish, in the union of Chesterfield, hundred of Scarsdale, N. division of the county of Derby, 3½ miles (N.) from Alfreton; containing, with the township of Brackenfield, 646 inhabitants, of whom 187 are in the township of Morton. The manor, previously given to Burton Abbey, belonged at the Domesday survey to Walter Deincourt, and Roger Deincourt, in 1330, claimed a park here, and the right of having a gallows for the execution of criminals. The estate passed, with other lands, to the Leakes; and on the death of Nicholas Leake, Earl of Scarsdale, in 1736, the earl's trustees sold it to Henry Thornhill, of Chesterfield, from whom it was purchased in 1749, by the Sitwells; from them it passed, by will, to Richard Staunton Wilmot, who assumed the name of Sitwell. The parish comprises 2714 acres, of which 1157 are in the township of Morton; of the latter number, 449 acres are arable, 674 meadow, and 34 woodland. The surface is elevated, the soil a cold clay, and the surrounding scenery is diversified: chamomile is extensively grown. The village, which is pleasant, lies on the Matlock and Mansfield road. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £11. 10., and in the alternate patronage of St. John's College, Cambridge, and Gladwyn Turbutt, Esq.; net income, £360: the glebe comprises 67 acres, with a house. In the church are handsome monuments to the Turbutt family. Brackenfield has been formed into an ecclesiastical district. There are a few small bequests for the benefit of the poor.

A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 345-350. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51160 Date accessed: 02 April 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
Morton Holy Cross had a chapelry which became Brackenfield, Derbyshire parish in 1844

Derbyshire Record Office reference D886 has deposited registers Bap 1577-1973 Mar 1575-1984 Burials 1576- 1959 Banns 1754-1812, 1824-1942, 1958-1979

Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts 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

Poor Law Unions
Chesterfield Poor Law Union, Derbyshire

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Derbyshire 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