Chester St Peter, Cheshire Genealogy

England Cheshire  Chester St Peter



Parish History
Chester St Peter Chester is an ancient parish church serving part of the city of Chester.

St Peter's Church, Chester is in Eastgate Street in the centre of the city of Chester, Cheshire, England, immediately to the north of Chester Cross. It is a Grade I listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Chester. Its benefice is united with that of St John's, Chester.

The church stands on the site of part of the Roman Praetorium and some of its fabric dates from that time. A church is said to have been built on this site by Ethelfleda in 907. The present church dates from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, with modifications in the following three centuries. Formerly the tower had a spire which was removed and rebuilt in the 16th century, taken down in the 17th century, then rebuilt and finally removed "having been much injured by lightning" about 1780. In 1886 the church was restored by John Douglas, which included the addition of a pyramidal spire.

Church Records
To find the names of the neighbo ring 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 St. Peter's Church, Chester, 1588-1958 Cheshire Record Office reference: P 63/1/1-3, P63/2/1-3, P63/3/1-5, P63/4/1-3, P63/5, P63/4658/1-3, P63/5266

An index for Cheshire parish registers is available online at FamilySearch Historical Records

Bishop's transcripts for St. Peter's Church, Chester, 1600-1879 Cheshire Record Office reference: EDB 61

An index for Cheshire, Church of England, Bishop's Transcripts (Diocese of Chester) is available online at FamilySearch Historical Records

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.

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

Poor Law Unions
Chester Poor Law Union

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
Contributor: add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.