Thornton le Moors, Cheshire Genealogy

Guide to Thornton le Moors, Cheshire family history and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
THORNTON (St. Mary), is a parish, in the union of Great Boughton, Second division of the hundred of Eddisbury. South division of the county of Chester; containing, with the townships of Dunham-on-the-Hill, Elton , Hapsford , and Wimbolds-Trafford , as well as the township of Thornton-in-the Moors, it is 6 miles NNE from Chester.

Thornton le Moors St Mary, Cheshire is an Ancient parish and includes Dunham on the Hill, Elton (near Chester), Hapsford, Thornton le Moors and Wimbolds Trafford.

A chapel was present on the site in Saxon times and is recorded in the Domesday Book. It was formerly dedicated to St Helen. The nave, chancel and south aisle of the present church date from the 14th century as does the south door. A chapel, the Elton Chapel, was added in the 16th century. A restoration was carried out in 1878.The church has undergone further restoration in recent years.

Thornton le Moors was a township in Thornton Parish, Eddisbury Hundred, which became a civil parish in 1866.

Thornton-le-Moors is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England.

The village is seven miles north east of the city of Chester. To the north of the village is the Stanlow Refinery. To the west is the nearest town of Ellesmere Port and to the north west is the nearest village, Elton

Church records
Thornton le Moors St Mary parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials have been indexed by the following groups:

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 Thornton-le-Moors, Cheshire, 1574-1901 Cheshire Record Office reference: P163/1/1-3, P163/2/1-3, P163/3/1-2, P163/5/1-2.

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

Bishop's transcripts for Thornton-le-Moors, 1601-1891 Records are not arranged in strict chronological order. Some intermittent years are missing. Cheshire Record Office no.: EDB/199

Non-Conformist Churches

 * 1671-1900 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index (dates may vary by parish)

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from 1 July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. Here are two excellent Internet sites with birth, marriage and death indexes available:


 * FreeBMD
 * Cheshire BMD

Registration Districts

 * Great Boughton (1837–69)
 * Chester (1870–1937)
 * West Cheshire (1937–74)
 * Chester and Ellesmere Port (1974–98)
 * Cheshire West (post 1998)

Poor Law Unions

 * Great Boughton (1837–71)Tarvin (previously Great Boughton) Poor Law Union, Cheshire
 * Chester Poor Law Union(1871–1930)

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.

See also England Cheshire Probate Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

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

Websites
Thornton le Moors on GENUKI