Croston, Lancashire Genealogy

Guide to Croston, Lancashire ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish register transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records. See a List of Chapelries in Croston Parish

Parish History
CROSTON (St. Michael and All Angels), a parish, and formerly a market-town, in the unions of Chorley and Wigan, hundred of Leyland, N. division of the county of Lancaster; containing, the townships of Bispham,Bretherton, Mawdesley, and Ulnes-Walton.

Croston began in the 7th century when St. Aidan arrived at the riverside settlements. In the absence of a church, a cross erected as a place of worship. Croston gets its name from 'cross' derived from the Irish and the Scandinavian word 'tun' which means town (cross-town). It is unique as there are no other Crostons in the UK.

Centuries ago the parish of Croston was far larger than it is today[citation needed]. It included Chorley, Much Hoole, Rufford, Bretherton, Mawdesley, Tarleton, Hesketh Bank, Bispham, Walmer Bridge and Ulnes Walton. A charter granted by Edward I in 1283 permitted an annual medieval fair and market to be held on the village green. Ancient maps also depict a castle which is believed to have been of a wooden construction because there is no evidence of a stone structure.

Find Neighboring Parishes
Use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map
 * Type the name of the parish in the search bar
 * Click on the location pin on the map
 * Choose Options from the pop up box
 * Click "List Contiguous Parishes" to find the neighboring parishes

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
The Church of England (Anglican) became the official state religion in 1534, with the reigning monarch as its Supreme Governor. Non-Conformist refers to all other religious denominations that are not the official state religion.

Church of England
Chapelry is a church or churches built in a large ecclesiastical parish to help the members attend worship services closer to their homes.

Chapelries of Croston
Online Parish Records Table

Due to the increasing access of online records: Hover over the collection's title for more information Other Websites These databases have incomplete parish coverage.
 * Individual parish coverage for databases in this table are inconsistent and should be verified
 * Dates in the following table are approximate
 * Joiner Marriage Index - Lancashire ($)
 * The Genealogist Parish Registers - Lancashire ($)
 * UK Websites for Parish Records - Links to online genealogical records
 * Online Genealogical Index - Links to online genealogical records
 * OnLine Parish Clerks - Lancashire - OnLine Parish Clerks project for Lancashire

Non-Conformist Churches (All other Religions)

 * 1647-1996 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index (dates may vary by parish)

Catholic

 * 1628 - 1628 List of Recusants in Croston (p. 173)
 * 1628 - 1628 List of Recusants in Vlvrswalton (Ulneswalton) (p. 175)

Poor Law Unions
Chorley Poor Law 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.

Taxation

 * 1628 - 1628 Subsidy of Croston (p. 165)


 * 1628 - 1628 Subsidy of Vlvswalton (Ulneswalton) (p. 166)


 * 1665 - Lancashire Hearth Tax: Leyland Hundred, Croston. E 179/132/351, The National Archives. Microfilm:.


 * 1665 - Lancashire Hearth Tax: Leyland Hundred, Cuerden. E 179/132/351, The National Archives. Microfilm:.


 * 1665 - Lancashire Hearth Tax: Leyland Hundred, Ulnes Walton. E 179/132/351, The National Archives. Microfilm:.

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
Croston on GENUKI