Eccleston, Cheshire Genealogy

Guide to Eccleston, Cheshire ancestry, family history, and genealogy. Parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
ECCLESTON (St. Mary), is a parish, in the union of Great Boughton, the lower division of the hundred of Broxton, S. division of the county of Chester; it contains the Eton township. This parish is situated on the River Dee, in Eccleston township.

Eccleston St Mary's is an ancient parish and is situated on the estate of the Duke Westminster and includes: Eaton, Wrightington, Parbold, and Heskin.

Formerly a township in Broxton Hundred, it includes the hamlets of Belgrave and Morris Oak. Eccleston is a civil parish and village in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire and close to Chester.

Church Records
Eccleston St Mary parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials have been indexed by the following groups:

Eccleston, St. Mary (C of E). An ancient parish church serving the townships of Eaton (near Chester) and Eccleston. Records are deposited at the Cheshire Record Office. These include:


 * Registers of baptisms 1593–1892, marriages 1593–1833 and burials 1593–1885. CRO call number: P87 1/1-2, P87/2, P87/3/1-2, P87/4.
 * Bishop's transcripts for Eccleston, 1599-1879 Early entries in Latin. Cheshire Record Office call number: EDB 86.

Records have been microfilmed and are available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. These include:

Non-Conformist Churches

 * 1671-1900 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index (dates may vary by parish)

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 Districts
Here is a list of districts that have included Eccleston since 1837, with dates of inclusion:


 * Great Boughton (1837–69)
 * Chester (1870–1937)
 * West Cheshire (1937–74)
 * Chester and Ellesmere Port (1974–98)
 * Cheshire West (1998+)

Poor Law Unions
Poor Law Unions were geographic areas made up of a number of parishes, and first came into being in rural areas around 1700. However, we refer here to the poor law unions created as a result of the passing of the New Poor Law Act in 1834. Poor Law Unions, with boards of guardians, were established throughout England and Wales, and each union had an institution or workhouse where the poor and indigent were sent when they were unable to care for themselves or provide for their families. The directors of the institutions kept careful records of admissions and discharges and of life within the workhouse walls, and also of those who received 'out-relief' which enabled them to stay in their own homes. These records may provide you valuable information about your poorer ancestors.

Eccleston was included in the following poor law unions:


 * Great Boughton (1837–53) Tarvin (previously Great Boughton) Poor Law Union, Cheshire
 * Hawarden Poor Law Union (1853–71)
 * Chester Poor Law Union (1871–1930)

Records
Some records are deposited at the National Archives at Kew near London and others are deposited at county record archives. To learn about records, try the following:


 * Contact the Record Office.
 * Search the FamilySearch Catalog for records of the poor law unions.
 * Check the three-volume guide Poor Law Union Records by Jeremy Gibson and Colin Rogers, published by the Federation of Family History Societies. The guide is available at many archives and libraries. (Family History Library book 942 P37gj; vol. 1- South-East England and East Anglia, vol. 2- The Midlands and Northern England, vol. 3- South-West England, The Marches and Wales.)

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
Eccleston on GENUKI