Openshaw, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes



Chapel History
Openshaw St Barnabas was createda district chapel in 1839 from, and lying within the boundaries of Manchester Our Lady, St George and St Denys ancient parish.

Its name derives from the Old English Opinschawe, which means an open wood or coppice. Since 1890 it has been incorporated into the City of Manchester. St Barnabas church South Street, Openshaw was replaced by the smaller current church in the late 1960's.

"OPENSHAW, an ecclesiastical district, in the parish of Manchester, union of Chorlton, hundred of Salford, S. division of Lancashire, 3 miles (E. by S.) from Manchester, on the road to Ashton-under-Lyne; comprising the townships of Beswick, Bradford, and Openshaw; and containing 3536 inhabitants; of whom 2280 are in Openshaw township. The area of Openshaw is about 500 Lancashire acres. Here is an excellent clay for fire and other bricks, and the lands have a coal substratum. The extensive dye-works of Messrs. George Whyatt and Sons employ 250 hands; there are a cottonmill, and a small bleaching concern. The Sheffield and Manchester railway and the Stockport canal run through the township. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of Trustees; net income, £175, with a house. The church, dedicated to St. Barnabas, was erected in 1839, at a cost of £4500; and is in the early English style, with a square tower and a spire. The Wesleyans and the New Connexion of Methodists have places of worship. Some Church schools here are endowed with £30 per annum, the rent of five houses left by John Neden, in 1845."

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis (1848), pp. 476-479. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51193 Date accessed: 20 July 2010.

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

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

Poor Law Unions
Chorlton Poor Law Union,Lancashire

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
Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.