Thurstaston, Cheshire Genealogy

History
Thurstaston St Bartholomew is an Ancient parish which included Greasby and Irby.

The earliest mention of a Church occurs around 1125 but other evidence suggests that one may have existed in Saxon times. The Norman church endured for many hundreds of years but was eventually taken down in 1820 and a second edifice, a plain stone building, was completed in 1824. In 1871, the executors of Joseph Hegan of Dawpool set apart £4,500 for a new church to be erected in his memory. This was designed in late 13th century mid-gothic style by John Loughborough Pearson, also the architect of Truro Cathedral, and was built entirely of local sandstone. It was consecrated in 1886. Although nothing remains of the earlier Norman church, the tower of the second one still stands in the churchyard and the sandstone of the building was used to construct a wall enclosing the new churchyard.

Thurstaston means "village of a man called Thorsteinn / Þorsteinn", from the Old Norse personal name Thorsteinn / Þorsteinn and Old English tún "farm, village". A record of the name as Torstestiune in 1048 proves this origin. The village was mentioned in the Domesday Book as Turstanetone. Historically and popularly, the name was wrongly thought to refer to "Thor's Stone", a sandstone outcrop on Thurstaston Common. This local red Sandstone provided the material for the two nineteenth century churches.

Church Records
Parish registers for Thurstaston, 1706-1946 Cheshire Record Office Call number: P48/1/1-2, P48/2, P48/3/1-2, P48/5693.

Bishop's transcripts for Thurstaston, 1587-1895 Records are not arranged in strict chronological order. Some intermittent years are missing. Cheshire Record Office Call number: EDB/201

Non-Conformist Churches
None

Non-Conformist Records
None

Poor Law Unions

 * Wirral

Registration Districts

 * Wirral (1837–1974)
 * Birkenhead (1974–98)
 * Wirral (post1998)

Registration events can be searched online at Cheshire BMD