Tunstall, Lancashire Genealogy

Guide to Tunstall, Lancashire ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish register transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
Tunstall St John the Baptist is an Ancient Parish in the county of Lancashire. Other places in the parish include: Burrow, Cantsfield, and Burrow with Burrow.

A church at Tunstall is recorded in the Domesday survey but the oldest structure in the present church dates from the 13th century. The church was rebuilt around 1415 by Sir Thomas Tunstal. Alterations were made in the 16th century and the church was restored in 1907.

The church has associations with the Bronte sisters, several of whom attended here briefly whilst at school at nearby Cowan Bridge in 1824. Charlotte Bronte probably used their experiences as inspiration for "Jane Eyre". The sisters may have eaten their lunch in the small room above the entrance porch after services.

The Parish is in the united benefice of East Lonsdale, in the deanery of Tunstall, the archdeaconry of Lancaster and the diocese of Blackburn. The benefice of East Lonsdale combines this church with St Peter, Leck, St Wilfrid, Melling, St James the Less, Tatham, The Good Shepherd, Lowgill, and Holy Trinity, Wray.

"TUNSTALL St John the Baptist, a parish, in the union of Lancaster, hundred of Lonsdale south of the Sands, N. division of Lancashire; containing, with the chapelry of Leek, and the townships of Burrow with Burrow, and Cantsfield, 3¾ miles south from Kirkby Lonsdale." At Leek is a separate chapel.

Find Neighboring Parishes
Use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map
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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 Tunstall
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)

Census Records
Surname Index for 1841-1901 provided by Ingleborough Archaeology Freebooters. These surnames were gleaned from the images in Burrow census enumerators books 1841-1901 which is included in Tunstall area.

Poor Law Unions
Lunesdale 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

 * 1665-1667 - Lancashire Hearth Tax: Lonsdale Hundred, Tunstall. E 179/132/352, The National Archives. Microfilm: . Includes Cantsfield, Nether Burrow, Over Burrow.

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