Denton, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes



Chapelry History
DENTON, a chapelry, in the parish of Manchester, union of Ashton-under-Lyne, hundred of Salford, S. division of the county of Lancaster, 3¾ miles (N. E. by N.) from Stockport; containing 3440 inhabitants. It lies west of the river Tame, on the road from Stockport to Ashton-under-Lyne, and contains 1630 acres of land. The village, which is five miles distant from Manchester, probably derived its name from Dane-town, an etymology countenanced by the appellations of Danehead-bank and Daneditch-bourne, places in the neighbourhood. The manufacture of hats, both for the home trade and exportation, is carried on upon a large scale; and coal is obtained at several places within the chapelry. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Grosvenor family; net income, £135; impropriators, the Dean and Canons of Manchester. The chapel, dedicated to St. James, was erected about 1530, and has portions in the early and decorated English styles, with some fragments of stained glass in the windows. A church district, comprising part of the township of Denton, and part of that of Haughton, and called Christ-Church, was formed in April, 1846, under the act 6 and 7 Victoria, cap. 37; the population of the district is about 4000, and the living is in the gift of the Crown and the Bishop of Chester, alternately. The Wesleyans and others have places of worship.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis (1848), pp. 28-32. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50917 Date accessed: 29 June 2010.

Th'Owd Peg as it is known locally due to the timber frame construction St Lawrence Denton was founded in 1468.

Originally the timber-framed structure was neither a parish church nor dedicated to St. Lawrence. It began as a chapel of ease for the medieval manor of Denton within the Parish of Manchester, dedicated to St. James. It became a parish church under the name St. Lawrence in 1839.

The Church was dedicated to St. Lawrence as a result of the discovery within the structure of fragments of glass depicting the martyrdom of St. Lawrence. These fragments are now incorporated into a window on the south side of the sanctuary.

St Lawrence is a timber framed church and a Grade II* listed building; it is one of only 29 surviving timber framed churches and chapels in England. The chapelry of Denton was established in 1531 with the construction of the chapel of ease, then Roman Catholic in the Diocese of Lichfield and dedicated to St James.

The church was rededicated to St Lawrence in 1839 and became a parish church in 1854. In 1872, the church was expanded and remodelled by J Medland Taylor and Henry Taylor. The church features sixteenth stained century glass. The church was restored between 1993 and 2003.

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
Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection

Parish registers for St. Lawrence chapelry, Denton, 1758-1950 Microfilm of original records in the Manchester Central Library, Manchester, and the church of St. Lawrence, Denton, England. Denton is a chapelry in the parish of Manchester. This chapelry is known as St. Lawrence. Manchester Archives Central Library call no.: L204.

Bishop's transcripts for St. Lawrence Chapelry, Denton, 1700-1855 Microreproduction of original manuscripts housed at the Lancashire Record Office, Preston. The chapelries of St. Lawrence and Christ Church are in the township of Denton, parish of Manchester.Lancashire Record Office: DRM/2/208a-208b

Lancashire Online Parish Clerks
An extremely useful resource for the parish:

http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/Denton/stlawrence/index.html baptism transcripts including surname index

http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/Denton/stlawrence/index.html burial transcripts including surname index

Census records
Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

http://www.1881pubs.com/ for details of public houses in the 1881 census

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

Web sites
Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.

http://www.stlawrencedenton.org.uk/ for information about the parish

http://www.manchester2002-uk.com/buildings/churches3.html for history and information about the church.