Thornton, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes

Chapelry History
THORNTON, a township, in the parish of Poulton, union of the Fylde, hundred of Amounderness, N. division of Lancashire, 1¾ mile (N. by E.) from Poulton; containing, with the town of Fleetwood (which see), 3847 inhabitants. In the Testa de Nevill is mentioned Matilda de Thorenton, who was at the king's donation, but unmarried. In the 17th of Edward II., half the town of Thornton was held by William Banastre, and the other moiety by Laurence de Thorneton, a descendant probably of the above-named Matilda; in the 13th of Henry VIII., Thomas, Earl of Derby, held the manor. It is now considered merely a manor by reputation, of which Sir Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, Bart., is lord. Singleton-Thorpe, a village in this part, was entirely washed away by a sudden irruption of the sea in 1555. The township is bounded on the north by Morecambe bay, on the west by the Irish Sea, and on the east by the estuary of the Wyre; and comprises 4688 acres, equally divided between arable and pasture: the Marsh was inclosed in 1800, and is now celebrated for its corn. Burn Hall, here, is a dwelling of the 15th century, now used as a farmhouse. A church, dedicated to Christ [Church], was erected in 1835, at a cost of £800: the living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of Five Trustees; net income, £110, with a house. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for £244. 2. 6., and a rentcharge of £40 has been awarded to the perpetual curate. James Baines in 1717 bequeathed land now producing £40 per annum, for teaching children.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis (1848), pp. 337-341. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51337 Date accessed: 31 July 2010.

Historically part of Lancashire. During the compilation of the Domesday Book in 1086, the settlement of Torentún is recorded, along with the settlement of Homer Green, which far outdates any claim that Ince Blundell is the oldest village in Sefton. Thornton was combined with Crosby Village and Blundellsands to form the Great Crosby urban district. The district subsequently became part the municipal borough of Crosby in 1937. This in turn was absorbed into the new Metropolitan Borough of Sefton on 1 April 1974. Thornton still however retains Parish Council status and therefore has a historical boundary.

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.

Online index of Lancashire Births, Marriages and Deaths Lancashire BMD

Lancashire Online Parish Clerks
An extremely useful resource for research in Lancashire Parishes http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/

Church records
Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection

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

Poor Law Unions
West Derby, Lancashire Poor Law Union

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Lancashire 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
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