Alfreton, Derbyshire Genealogy

England Derbyshire  Derbyshire Parishes



Parish History
ALFRETON, a small town, a parish, and a subdistrict, in the district of Belper, Derby. The town stands on the brow of a hill, about a mile from the new branch railway connecting the Erewash line with the main Midland, and 14 miles NNE of Derby. There are chapels for Independents, Baptists, Wesleyans, and Primitive Methodists.

Alfreton is an Ancient Parish and a market town in the county of Derbyshire. Other places in the parish include: Swanwick, Summercotes, Somercotes, Greenhill Lane, and Birchwood.

For researchers, here is an important 19th century jurisdictional perspective:

ALFRETON (St. Mary), a market-town and parish, in the union of Belper, hundred of Scarsdale, N. division of the county of Derby, 14 miles (N. N. E.) from Derby, and 140 (N. N. W.) from London; comprising the township of Alfreton, the manor of Riddings (in which is Ironville), and the townships or hamlets of Swanwick, Greenhill-Lane, Newlands, Summercotes, and Birchwood; There are places of worship within the township of Alfreton for Wesleyans, General Baptists, and Independents. .

At Riddings is another [Church of England] church. It was called St James, Riddings and was built to replace a former chapel of ease. The registers of christenings, marriages and burials commence from at least 1840 (which see).

Church records
parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

Bishop's transcripts held at Lichfield Record Office Bap 1668-1848 Marr 1668-1837 Bur 1668-1847

To find the names of the neighbouring parishes, use Jurisdictions 1851. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.

Non-Conformist Churches

 * Baptist
 * Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
 * Particular Baptist
 * Primitive Methodist
 * Roman Catholic
 * Wesleyan Methodist
 * Wesleyan Methodist Reform

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.

Registration District

 * Belper

Poor Law Unions
Belper 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