Claughton within Garstang, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes



Chapelry History
Garstang is an Ancient Parish and a market town in the county of Lancashire.

Other places in the parish include: Bilsborough, Billisborrow, Cabus, Catteral, Catterall, Claughton, Cleveley, Forton, Holleth, Kirkland, Nateby, Nether Wyresdale, Winmarleigh, Barnacre with Bonds, Barnacre with Ronds, and Bilsborrow.

Claughton village should not be confused with Claughton St Chad, Lancashire Ancient parish, near Lancaster in the Diocese of Blackburn.

Claughton is a tiny village and civil parish in the county of Lancashire, located within the Borough of Wyre. Its full name is Claughton-on-Brock to distinguish it from another Claughton in Lancashire in the Lune valley between Lancaster and Hornby. The Brock Claughton is pronounced /ˈklaɪtən/ "Clyeton", whereas the Lune Claughton is pronounced /ˈklæftən/ "Clafton".

The village has both a Catholic church (St Thomas Apostle) and a Catholic primary school (St Mary's), but no Church of England presence, which might be considered unusual for a parish in England, were it not for the strong Catholic tradition of the area and the presence of an early church building.

The parish was historically in the Amounderness Hundred. It lies between the Calder and Brock valleys. The A6 road runs through the west end of the parish, a short distance south of Garstang.

Claughton is mentioned in the Domesday Book appearing as Clactune. Later variations include Clacton, 1184; Clagton Clahton, 1253; Claghton, 1284. The name is believed to be of Saxon origin, meaning 'farm on the hill'.

The Fitzherbert-Brockholes family have been associated with Claughton on Brock since the time of Edward II. They were regarded as recusants during and after the Reformation.

CLAUGHTON, [or Claughton within Garstang], a township, in the parish and union of Garstang, hundred of Amounderness, N. division of the county of Lancaster, 2 miles south by southeast from Garstang. Here was built also, a Roman Catholic chapel."

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

The Chapelry of Claughton St Thomas with Garstang has much online data which is now accessible to view and not only for its own registers but for many of its sister chapelries as well. These chapel registers are now available for the following range of years:

[Note: FS = FamilySearch.org; LOPC = Lancashire Online Parish Clerk; AC = Ancestry.Co.uk]

For Church of England records see Garstang, Lancashire

for Roman Catholic history of the village and area see http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53249&amp;strquery=claughton British History online. The Roman Catholic church of St Thomas the Apostle was built in 1794.

Trinity Presbyterian Church was located in the township of Claughton, in the parish of Garstang.

Trinity Presbyterian Church of England, Claughton : a historical sketch, 1863-1938 by R. S. Archer Publication Birkenhead [England] : Willmer Brothers, 1938 77 p., [16] p. of plates

The Independent churches were ones in which each congregation was autonomous, upholding the principles of independence. In the 19th century they became known as Congregational.

In 1972 the Congregational church joined with the English Presbyterian church to become the United Reformed Church.

Founded in 1777 the church is now known as the United Reformed Church, Croston Road, Garstang.



Poor Law Unions
Caton Gilbert 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