Blackpool St John, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes



Chapelry History
BLACKPOOL, a chapelry [as of 1821] and bathing-place, in the township of Layton with Warbrick, parish of Bispham, union of the Fylde, hundred of Amounderness, N. division of the county of Lancaster, 4 miles (S. W. by W.) from Poulton, 19 (W. by N.) from Preston, and 25 (S. W. by W.) from Lancaster; containing 1304 inhabitants. This place perhaps acquired its name from a boggy pool at the southern end of the village: until within the last 90 years it was an inconsiderable hamlet; but owing to its eligibility for sea-bathing, it has become a very favourite locality. No bathing-place can be better situated; it opens out to the sea, is refreshed by a pure and bracing air, presents a fine smooth sand, new modelled by every tide, but always firm, safe, and elastic, and is furnished with excellent accommodations. The village at the height of the season commonly numbers a thousand visiters; many of them of rank and fashion, mixed with good company from the manufacturing districts. The houses of public reception, and the villas, are scattered along the coast, and in the rear are the habitations of the villagers; when viewed from the sea, the place has a large and imposing appearance. The parade forms an agreeable promenade, from which there is an extensive view of the fells in Westmorland and Cumberland, and the mountains in North Wales. Assemblies occasionally take place at the principal hotels; a news-room has been established; and much is otherwise done to conduce to the pleasure and comfort of the increasing number of families who sojourn here. The sea has receded towards the south, but appears to have encroached considerably on the shore towards the north; a large rock called Penny-stone, lying on the sands about half a mile from the shore, is stated by tradition to mark the site on which a public-house formerly stood. An act was passed in 1845 for making a branch to this village of the Preston and Wyre railway; the branch, 3¼ miles long, has been completed, and the communication between Blackpool and the important town of Preston is thus easy and rapid. Fox Hall, once a sequestered residence of the gallant family of Tildesley, is now a farmhouse. The living is a perpetual curacy in the patronage of certain Trustees; net income, £150, with a house. The chapel was built in 1821, at a cost of £1150, and has been twice enlarged. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans; and a free school, established in 1817, is conducted on Dr. Bell's plan. In the peat bog here, numerous antediluvian trees are found.—See South-Shore.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England by samuel Lewis (1848), pp. 270-275. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50805 Date accessed: 25 June 2010.

The Diocese of Blackburn is a Church of England diocese, covering much of Lancashire, created in 1926 from part of the Diocese of Manchester. The Diocese includes the towns of Blackburn, Blackpool, Burnley, and the cities of Lancaster, and Preston, as well as a large part of the Ribble Valley.

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

Poor Law Unions
Fylde 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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