Bruera, Cheshire Genealogy

England Cheshire  Bruera

Parish History
Bruera St Mary is now an ecclesiatical parish on the site of a former ancient chapel to Chester St Oswalds. It was created as a parish in 1868.

The settlement of Bruera is not recorded in the Domesday Book and the first mention of the church is in the Chartulary of St Werburgh's Abbey, Chester dating from around 1150. It was then a chapel in the parish of St Oswald's, Chester. Raymond Richards claims that the church was in existence in Saxon times but this is disputed by other historians The fabric of the present church dates from the Norman period and there have been a number of additions and restorations since. The Norman south doorway was rebuilt in the 14th century. Also in the 14th century and later windows were modified and in the 15th century a south chapel was added. A major restoration was carried out in 1896 by W. M. Boden at expense of the 1st Duke of Westminster involving the south porch and vestry, and a belfry was added.

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.

Registration Districts

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

Church Records
To find the names of the neighboring 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 Bruera, 1657-1949 Bruera is a chapelry in Chester St. Oswald parish. Cheshire Record Office reference: P24/1-2, P24/3193/1/1-2, P24/3193/2, P24/4881/1, P24/5327

An index for Cheshire parish registers is available online in Record Search. Here is a list of church records on microfilm at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

Bishop's transcripts for Bruera, 1666-1884 The chapelry of Bruera is located in the parish of St. Oswald Chester. Cheshire Record Office reference: EDB 36.

An index for Cheshire, Church of England, Bishop’s Transcripts (Diocese of Chester) is available online in Record Search

Census records
Contributor: Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

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.

Poor Law Unions

 * Great Boughton (1837–71)     http://www.institutions.org.uk/workhouses/england/ches/great_broughton_workhouse.htm
 * Tarvin (1871–1930)

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.