Royton, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes

Chapelry History
ROYTON, a chapelry, in the parochial chapelry, parliamentary borough, and union of Oldham, parish of Prestwich, hundred of Salford, S. division of Lancashire, 2 miles (N. by W.) from Oldham, on the road to Rochdale; containing 5730 inhabitants. This is the smallest of the townships in connexion with Oldham, comprising only 700 acres. It is chiefly pasture land; the surface is undulated and hilly, the soil generally dry and sandy, and the aspect rather wild. The village is seated in a deep valley, and fifty years ago contained only a few straggling cottages, but within the last thirty years it has assumed the appearance of a town, from the erection of several regular streets, which are lighted with gas. The population is chiefly employed in the cotton, fustian, and flannel manufactures, and in the extensive coalmines and stone-quarries in the neighbourhood. The streams of the Irk and the Beal rise in the chapelry. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Rector of Prestwich; net income, £170, with a house. The tithes of the township have been commuted for £50. The chapel, dedicated to St. Paul, was built by subscription in 1754, and a tower, with a clock, was added, also by subscription, in 1828. There are places of worship for Independents, Wesleyans, and the Society of Friends; and a good national school, opened in 1846.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis (1848), pp. 707-711. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51248 Date accessed: 20 July 2010.

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
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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 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
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
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