Aldingham, Lancashire Genealogy

Guide to Aldingham, Lancashire ancestry, family history, and genealogy. Parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records. See a List of Chapelries in Aldingham Parish.

Parish History
ALDINGHAM (St. Cuthbert), a parish, in the union of Ulverston, hundred of Lonsdale north of the Sands, N. division of the county of Lancaster, 5¾ miles (S.) from Ulverston. It was part of the Diocese of Chester until 1847 when it passed to the Diocese of Carlisle as part of the Furness deanery. Other places in the parish include: Gleaston, Birkrig Common, and Leece.

At the centre of the present village, now on the shores of the Bay, is St Cuthbert's Church. An inscription in Durham Cathedral gives the names of several places in the area, including Aldingham, where the body of Saint Cuthbert rested when the Saxons were fleeing from the Danes. It is known that during his life, Cuthbert held lands around Cartmel, on the neighboring peninsula across the Leven Estuary, although it is not known if those possessions extended this far west.

The building dates from the mid 12th century, with extensions being made to the chancel in the 13th century, the addition of the tower in 1350 and extensive restoration taking place in the 19th century and again in 1932. In the eastern wall of the chancel is a hole about 5 inches (130 mm) by 3 inches (76 mm) that goes right through the wall: it is believed this would once have been a place for local lepers to view the church services without having to enter the building.

A separate curacy (chapel of ease) was built in the 1642 and rebuilt in the 18th century, called Dendron (which also see).

Civil Registration of Births, Marriages Deaths - 1837 to the Present
Read about England Civil Registration (vital records) of birth, marriages and deaths on the England main page.

Online Indexes

There are two separate (free) indexes available for Lancashire civil registration of births, marriages and deaths. One index covers all registrations nation-wide, and one index covers the copies of the local registration district office's certificate copies for all registration districts throughout Lancashire, as follows:


 * FreeBMD - an online (free) index to the certificates held at the General Registrar's Office, formerly in London, now in Solihull, Merseyside, UK. The years currently covered in this index include July, 1837 to at least 1940.
 * LancashireBMD - an online index (free) to the local superintendant's registrar of births, marriages and deaths for all registration districts throughout Lancashire, for the following range of years and their events: births 1837-1974; marriages 1837-2010; deaths 1837-1975.
 * Lancashire-OPC provides numerous parish and chapel transcriptions online (free) for the post-1837 to 1910 period. Marriages after 1837 provide the same information as the civil registration certificates of marriages provide. However, the marriages in these online offerings are marriage transcriptions only.

Indexes

FamilySearch's Family History Library from July, 1837 to 1983 in microform media.

Church Records

 * 1538 - 1910 at FamilySearch — index

Aldingham parish registers and Dendron (its chapelry) registers of christenings, marriages and burials have been indexed for numerous years and by the following groups:

The Family History Library at FamilySearch has on microfilm the registers to both the parish of Aldingham and its chapelry Dendron. These are available on the following microfilm--which can be ordered for and searched at any of its 4,600 satellite FamilySearch Centers worldwide:

Aldingham Parish registers--

Baptisms, 1638, 1663, 1676, 1689-1877

Marriages, 1638, 1663, 1676, 1689-1848

Burials, 1638, 1663, 1676, 1689-1877. FHL BRITISH Film 1040315 Items 1 - 4

Dendron Chapel registers FHL BRITISH Film 1472012 Items 6-11 1788-1930+ CMBs

Non-Conformist Churches

 * 1647-1996 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index (dates may vary by parish)

Poor Law Unions
Ulverston 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.

Taxation

 * 1665-1667 - Lancashire Hearth Tax: Lonsdale Hundred, Leece. E 179/132/352, The National Archives. Microfilm:.
 * 1665-1667 - Lancashire Hearth Tax: Lonsdale Hundred, Baycliff. E 179/132/352, The National Archives. Microfilm:.

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

Websites
Aldingham on GENUKI

For detailed history of the church

Diocese of Carlisle website