Melling (near Liverpool), Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes



Chapelry History
Melling St Thomas and the Holy Rood was created as a chapel of ease in 1810 from, and lying within the boundaries of Halsall, Lancashire Ancient Parish. See also List of Chapelries Lying within Halsall Parish It should not be confused with the parish of Melling, Lancashire St Wilfrid in the same county.

The hamlet of Melling Mount is 1.2 miles (2 km) from the village of Melling.

Historically, a part of Lancashire, its name originates from the Anglo-Saxon roots for "The homestead of Maella", (or Malla). Lying close to Liverpool, the area was first settled by Maella's family in the 6th century[citation needed]. A 'Headless Cross' is located in the parish church.

The village was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Melinge.

The present church St Thomas was built in 1835, Architect J W Casson, to replace the ancient Holy Rood chapelry which was demolished in 1834.

The modern parish is part of the Maghull and melling benefice of the Ormskirk deanery in the Diocese of Liverpool (formerly Diocese of Chester.)

"MELLING, cum Cunscough, a chapelry, in the parish of Halsall, union of Ormskirk, hundred of West Derby, S. division of Lancashire, 8 miles (N. N. E.) from Liverpool, on the road to Ormskirk; containing 607 inhabitants. This place appears to have been part of the tract of land granted by Roger de Poictou to Vivian de Molines; for the son of the latter, Sir Adam de Molines, gave in free and pure alms to the church of St. Mary, of Cockersand, certain acres of land in Melling and Cunscough. A branch of the family of Molyneux was seated here about the 43rd of Edward III.; and Richard, Viscount Molyneux, died seized of the manor in the reign of Charles I. The family of Bootle were resident at Melling in Henry V.'s reign. The chapelry comprises 1957a. 1r. 3p. of land; the surface is elevated, and from the churchyard is a complete panoramic view, including Liverpool, and, in the distance, the Welsh mountains. The river Alt separates the township from Aintree; and both the Liverpool and Bolton, and Liverpool and Preston railways pass through. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £120, with a house, built in 1831; patron, the Rector of Halsall, whose tithes here have been commuted for £505, and who has a glebe of about a quarter of an acre. The church, St. Thomas's, was rebuilt on a new site in 1834, at a cost of £1200; it is in the early English style, and forms, from its elevated situation, a conspicuous object in the scenery. There are two ancient monuments to the Bootles, of Lathom, a monument to the Molyneuxs, of Mosborough, and one to Mr. Savage; these were removed from the old edifice, when taken down in 1834. A school has an endowment of £50 per annum from land; the school-house was rebuilt in 1844."

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis (1848), pp. 283-287. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51142 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

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

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

Poor Law Unions
Ormskirk 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
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
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