Leigh, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes



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

For other places in the parish, see A Comprehensive List of Chapelries in Leigh Parish.

"LEIGH (St. Mary), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of West Derby, S. division of Lancashire, 46 miles (S. S. E.) from Lancaster, and 197 (N. W.) from London; containing 22,229 inhabitants, and comprising the parochial district of Tyldesley cum Shakerley, the chapelries of Astley, Atherton, and Bedford, and the townships of Pennington and Westleigh. The name is derived from the Saxon Ley, synonymous with the English word Lea, a field or pasture: the parish appears to have been under the feudal control of the barons of Warrington, and several of its townships, at an early date, communicated their names to local families. The manufacturers of Lancashire are eminently indebted to the ingenuity of Thomas Highs, a reed-maker of Leigh, who in 1764 constructed the first spinning-jenny, which he named after his daughter Jenny or Jane; and in 1767 invented the water-frame, subsequently improved and extensively introduced by Sir Richard Arkwright. The manufacture of silk, cambrics, muslins, and fustians is carried on here, but that of the first, introduced in 1824, is the most considerable. The general trade of the place has been greatly improved by the Bolton, Leigh, and Kenyon railway, and a branch of the Duke of Bridgewater's canal, which here forms a junction with a branch of the Leeds and Liverpool canal. Coal is found in great abundance in the parish, and also a peculiar kind of limestone, which forms an excellent cement, impervious to water. The town is principally in the township of Pennington, and partly in that of Westleigh: courts baron are held here for the manors of Pennington and Westleigh, by their respective lords, and petty-sessions for the Warrington division of the hundred of West Derby are held on every alternate Thursday. The powers of the county debt-court of Leigh, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Leigh. The market is on Saturday; and fairs are held on the 24th and 25th of April, and the 7th and 8th of December, for cattle, pigs, pedlery, &amp;c. The parish comprises 11,969 acres, of which 2767 are arable, 8304 pasture, and 150 woodland; it is bounded on the north by the parish of Deane, on the east by that of Eccles, on the south by the parishes of Newchurch and Lowton, and on the west by Wigan parish. A rivulet from the parish of Deane enters the township of Atherton, and passes by Shakerley, near which it is joined by three small rivulets in the township of Bedford: it is increased by a stream that flows out of West Houghton, and by another from Little Hulton; and the whole of these rills make their final confluence on the margin of Chat Moss, where they give rise to the little river Glazebrook. The features of the country in all the townships of the parish are interesting, though little varied by hill and dale; the meadows are luxuriant, the hedge-rows numerous, and tolerably well stocked with trees in the more sheltered parts. The soil of the parish is chiefly a stiff rich loam, except on the border of the moss land, where it is peaty. Light-Oaks Moss and Bedford Moss, as also the heath called BlackMoor Moss, in Astley, are all portions of Chat Moss; and Tyldesley Moss, though now separated from it by cultivation, once formed a part of that extensive tract. Potatoes are grown to a considerable extent; and the dairies, which are remarkable for the quality rather than the quantity of milk they produce, yield excellent cheese. Few parishes in the kingdom combine so extensively the elements of manufacturing and of rural prosperity. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £9, and in the patronage of Lord Lilford; net income, £270, chiefly derived from land and houses, for the most part bequeathed subsequently to the Reformation: there is a good glebe-house. The church is a large stone structure in the Tudor style, consisting of a nave, aisles, and a chancel, with two sepulchral chapels; that on the north side formerly belonged to the family of Tyldesley, of Tyldesley, and that on the south to the Athertons, of Atherton, of whom Lord Lilford is the present representative. At the west end is a handsome embattled tower, containing an excellent peal of eight bells. At Astley, Atherton, Bedford, Tyldesley, and Westleigh are other churches. There are places of worship for Independents, Wesleyans, Roman Catholics, and others. The free grammar school was endowed in 1655, by Piers Ranicar, with a rent-charge of £5; and subsequent bequests have raised the endowment to £28. Among the other schools are spacious national and infant schools, built in 1841, and endowed with two cottages worth about £12 per annum. The poor-law union of Leigh consists, in addition to this parish, of the adjoining parishes of Newchurch and Lowton, and comprises a population of 28,568."

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis (1848), pp. 62-65. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51102 Date accessed: 01 July 2010.

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

Lancashire Online Parish Clerks
An extremely useful resource for research in Lancashire Parishes http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/

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

Leigh- St Mary the Virgin

The following on-line indexes exist for this church:


 * Baptisms 1558-1839 and Marriages 1560-1837 are indexed on the International Genealogical Index.
 * Marriages 1837-1916 are indexed on Lancashire BMD.
 * Baptisms 1700-1900; Marriages 1560-1837 (some gaps) and Burials 1701-1830 are indexed and transcribed on the Lancashire Online Parish Clerks website.

Baptisms-1559-1701- MFPR 2190 Baptisms-1701-1724- MFPR 1027 or MFPR 2190 Baptisms-1724-1797- MFPR 1027 or MFPR 2191 Baptisms-1797-1825-MFPR 1027 Baptisms-1825-1834- MFPR 1028 Baptisms-1834-1839- MFPR 1028 or MFPR 2194 Baptisms-1839-1885- MFPR 2194 Baptisms-1885-1900- MFPR 2195 Baptisms-1900-1913- Archives L211 Baptisms Transcript--1558-1624- 929.3272 L12 or MFE 929.3272 L13 Baptisms Transcript--1625-1700- 929.3272 L13 Baptisms Transcript--1701-1753- 929.342736 Le(499) Burials-1560-1648- MFPR 2190 Burials-1648-1660- Archives L211 Burials-1660-1661- MFPR 2190 Burials-1661-1701- MFPR 2191 Burials-1701-1786- MFPR 1030 or MFPR 2191 Burials-1786-1830- MFPR 1030 Burials-1830-1837- MFPR 1030 or MFPR 2196 Burials-1837-1842- MFPR 1032 or MFPR 2196 Burials-1842-1856- MFPR 2196 Burials Transcript--1559-1625- 929.3272 L12 or MFE 929.3272 L13 Burials Transcript--1625-1700- 929.3272 L13 Burials Transcript--1701-1753- 929.342736 Le(499) Marriage Index-1754-1799- F929.3272 Be1 Marriages-1560-1701- MFPR 2190 Marriages-1701-1724- MFPR 1029 or MFPR 2191 Marriages-1724-1753- MFPR 1029 or MFPR 2195 Marriages-1754-1758- MFPR 1029 or MFPR 2191 Marriages-1759-1825- MFPR 1029 Marriages-1825-1837- MFPR 1029 or MFPR 2192 Marriages-1837-1845- MFPR 2192 Marriages-1845-1900- MFPR 2193 Marriages-1900-1901- Archives L211 Marriages Transcript--1560-1625- 929.3272 L12 or MFE 929.3272 L13 Marriages Transcript--1625-1700- 929.3272 L13 Marriages Transcript--1701-1753- 929.342736 Le(499)

The Manchester Room and Greater Manchester County Record Office Email: archiveslocalstudies@manchester.gov.uk

The Manchester Room@City Library (Local Studies)

Parish registers for St. Mary-the-Virgin Church, Leigh, 1560-1901 Microfilm of original records in the Wigan Record Office, Leigh, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, England. Many times the records for the chapels in Atherton and Astley are separate. For additional records for Atherton see: Church of England. Atherton (Lancashire). Manchester Archives Central Library call nos.: L 211/1/1/1-4; L 211/1/2/1.(see above for Manchester Archive) Leigh, Greater Manchester : Filmed by the Wigan Record Office], 1993 14 microfilm reels Baptisms, 1560-1723; Marriages, 1560-1723; Burials, 1560-1723. FHL BRITISH Film 1885656 Baptisms, 1724-1797; Marriages, 1724-1759; Burials, 1724-1797. FHL BRITISH Film 1885648 Baptisms, 1798-1812; Burials, 1798-1812. FHL BRITISH Film 1885649 Item 1 Baptisms, 1813-1825 (includes transcripts for 1798-1800). FHL BRITISH Film 1885647 Baptisms, 1825-1834. FHL BRITISH Film 1885649 Items 2 - 3 Baptisms, 1834-1885. FHL BRITISH Film 1885645 Baptisms, 1885-1900; Marriages, 1754-1758. FHL BRITISH Film 1885646 Marriages, 1759-1803. FHL BRITISH Film 1885650 Marriages, 1803-1825. FHL BRITISH Film 1885651 Marriages, 1825-1845. FHL BRITISH Film 1885652 Marriages, 1845-1900 (includes some entries for 1901). FHL BRITISH Film 1885653 Burials, 1813-1830. FHL BRITISH Film 1885654 Burials, 1830-1856. FHL BRITISH Film 1885655 Baptisms, burials, 1560-1660; marriages, 1560-1682. Baptisms, 1660-1724; marriages, 1683-1724; burials, 1661. (another filming) Vault BRITISH Film 1408959 Items 3 - 4 Burials, 1661-1723. Baptisms, marriages, burials, 1724-1743. Baptisms, burials, 1744-1781; marriages, 1744-1759. Baptisms, 1782-1797; burials, 1782-1787 (another filming). Vault BRITISH Film 1408960

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

Poor Law Unions
Leigh, Lancashire Poor Law Union

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.