Bowdon, Cheshire Genealogy

England Cheshire  Bowden

Parish History
Bowdon St Mary the Virgin is an ancient parish is Cheshire including originally Altrincham, Ashley, Baguley, Bowdon, Carrington, Dunham Massey, Hale (near Altrincham), Partington and Timperley and parts of Agden (near Lymm), Ashton upon Mersey and Bollington (near Lymm).

A church on the site was noted in the Domesday Book. It is likely that a new church was built in the 14th century and remodelled in the 16th century. The church was completely rebuilt between 1858 and 1860 by W. H. Brakspear, although the 16th century roofs of the aisles were retained and incorporated into the new structure.

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.

Registration Districts

 * Altrincham (1837–98)
 * Bucklow (1898–1974)
 * Trafford (post 1974)

registration events may be searched online at Cheshire BMD

Church Records
To find the names of the neighbouring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes. Parish registers for Bowdon, 1628-1993

An index for Cheshire parish registers is available online in FamilySearch Historical Records. Here is a list of church registers on microfilm at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

Bishop's transcripts for Bowdon, 1600-1900 Cheshire Record Office reference: EDB 32

An index for Cheshire, Church of England, Bishop’s Transcripts is available online at FamilySearch Historical Records

Non-Conformist Churches
Bowdon, St. Paul's Methodist Church (Wesleyan), Enville Road. Built in 1880. Bowdon, Methodist Church (Wesleyan), Vicarage Lane. Bowdon, Methodist Church (Wesleyan), Priory Street. Bowdon, Presbyterian Church, Delamere Road. Built in 1872.

Non-Conformist Records:

Bowdon- Bowdon Wesleyan, Enville Road Manchester Central Library collection: Baptisms-1857-1927- MFPR 2134 Baptisms-1927-1966- Archives C18/5

Their website is | here.

Church records for Wesleyan Methodist Church, Bowdon, 1857-1927

Bowdon Vale Methodist church

Bowdon Downs- Bowden Downs Congregational Manchester City Library collection Burials-1881-1887- MFPR 2157

Bowdon- Partington Independent Baptisms-1815-1837- MFPR 292. Also searchable http://www.bmdregisters.co.uk/

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

Poor Law Unions
Altrincham (renamed Bucklow) Poor Law Union, Cheshire

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Cheshire 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
To take an online 360 tour of the church http://www.bowdonchurch.org/#/st-marys/4535967268