St. Martin's, Shropshire Genealogy

Guide to St. Martin's, Shropshire ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish register transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
In 1848 - MARTIN, ST., a parish, in the hundred of Oswestry, N. division of Shropshire, ½ a mile (E. by S.) from Chirk.

The ancient parish of St. Martin's was made up of the townships of Ifton, Bronygarth and Weston Rhyn. Each of these townships bordered Wales, with the River Ceiriog and the River Dee forming the border. However, in 1870 the townships of Weston Rhyn and Bronygarth were formed into the new parish of Weston Rhyn.The area was, for centuries, under the influence of nearby Chirk Castle and, later, the Trevor family of Brynkinallt (Welsh: Bryncunallt) in Chirk.

Although predominantly an agricultural area, coal was mined in St Martin's for several centuries. The collieries at Ifton, Chirk Bank, Quinta, Trehowell, Moreton Hall and Preesgweene were, geologically, an extension of the Denbighshire coalfield. Coal production ceased in the area with the closure of the last remaining colliery in the area at Ifton in 1968. Ifton was the largest colliery in Shropshire and its workings crossed the border into Wales, linking up to the coal seams of the former collieries at Brynkinallt and Black Park.

Around the 16th century, a bridge was built across the River Ceiriog at Pontfaen as part of the Chester to Cardiff highway. Later the A5, the London-Shrewsbury-Holyhead trunk road was constructed by Thomas Telford through the parish of St Martin's, crossing into Wales via the bridge at Chirk Bank.



In the 19th century a canal was constructed through St Martin's Moor by Thomas Telford linking the industrial areas around Ruabon to the canal network. This now forms part of the Llangollen Canal.

By 1848 the Chester to Ruabon railway line had been extended south to Shrewsbury, but only one station, Preesgweene (later known as Weston Rhyn), was built in St Martin's parish. Later however, branch lines were built to link the collieries in the area to the main rail network.

Find Neighboring Parishes
Use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map
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Census Records
The parish of St Martin's formed part of the Oswestry Registrar's District.

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
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 - Shropshire ($)
 * The Genealogist Parish Registers - Shropshire ($)
 * UK Websites for Parish Records - Links to online genealogical records
 * Online Genealogical Index - Links to online genealogical records

Non-Conformists (All other Religions)

 * 1717 England & Wales, Roman Catholics, 1717 at Findmypast ($), index and images (coverage may vary)

Civil Records
The parish of St Martin's formed a sub-district of the Oswestry Registration District and any entries for births, marriages or deaths from 1837 in St Martin's will appear as Oswestry in the GRO Indexes.

Websites
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SAL/StMartin/index.html


 * Ordnance Survey map of St. Martin's