Oxton, Cheshire Genealogy

England Cheshire  Cheshire Parishes Oxton 

Guide to Oxton, Cheshire family history and genealogy: parish registers (baptism, christening, marriage, and burial records), civil registration (birth, marriage, and death records), census records, history, wills, cemetery, online transcriptions and indexes, an interactive map and websites.

Introduction
Oxton is a suburb of Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside, England. Administratively it is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Originally a village in its own right, it became part of the Municipal Borough of Birkenhead upon its creation in 1877. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of the County Borough of Birkenhead, within the county of Cheshire.

Parish History
The name Oxa-tún derives from Old Norse, meaning "a farm or enclosure where oxen are kept". By 1278, the name had been adapted into Old English as Oxeton and was recorded as Oxon in 1549.[2]

Oxton was once one of the most affluent areas in England mainly due to its proximity to Liverpool and the fact that along with various other Merseyside locations, it was a favourite residential area for wealthy Liverpool merchants and tradesmen of the time. Oxton Village is a mainly early Victorian era settlement with fine sandstone and brick built houses, many of which now form part of a conservation area designated in April 1979 and administered by the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Some of these buildings have been designated by English Heritage as Grade II listed.

A significant part of the land on which Oxton is situated was part of the Estate of the Earl of Shrewsbury - this has been commemorated over the years in many of the road names, which bear the family names and titles of the various Earls; Alton Road, Beresford Road, Chetwynd Road, Ingestre Road, Shrewsbury Road, Talbot Road, Waterford Road and Wexford Road.

Oxton was a township in Bidston Parish, Wirral Hundred which became a civil parish in 1866. In 1898 the whole of Oxton was added to Birkenhead. Including the hamlets of Arno Hill and Lingdale. Oxton was within the Ancient parish of Woodchurch, Cheshire

Church Records
Oxton Parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials have online indexes by the following groups:

Formerly a chapelry in Woodchurch parish, made a parish in 1865.

Here is a list of parish registers on microfilm at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The parish church of S. Savior, Oxton

Bishop's transcripts for St. Saviour's Church, Oxton, 1851-1896

Non-Conformist Churches

 * Wesleyan Methodist
 * Roman Catholic

Non-Conformists Church Records:

Palm Grove Chapel (Oxton Wesleyan Methodist) Church Records 1858-1887; Cheshire Record Office: EMS 139/13.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from 1 July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. Here are two excellent Internet sites with birth, marriage and death indexes available:


 * FreeBMD
 * Cheshire BMD

Registration Districts

 * Wirral (1837-61)
 * Birkenhead (1861-98)

Poor Law Unions

 * Wirral (1836-1861)
 * Birkenhead (1861-98)

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.

see also England Cheshire Probate Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Maps and Gazetteers
See a gazetteer description of Adlington at Vision of Britain.