Altham, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes

Chapelry History
ALTHAM, a township and parochial chapelry, in the parish of Whalley, union of Burnley, Higher division of the hundred of Blackburn, N. division of the county of Lancaster, 5 miles (W.) from Burnley; the township containing 349 inhabitants. Under the name of Elvetham, the manor was granted by the first Henry de Lacy to Hugo, a Saxon: John de Alvetham, Hugo's descendant, left an heiress who married into the Banastre family, and thus sprang the Banastres of Altham, who occupied the manor-house for five centuries. The parochial chapelry comprises the townships of Altham (in which are 868 acres), Clayton-le-Moors, and New and Old Accrington. The river Calder forms the northern boundary of Altham township: on the east it is increased by a nameless brook from Huncoat; and the Hyndburne, after flowing as the western boundary of the chapelry, forms its confluence with the Calder at the northwest extremity of Clayton-le-Moors. Coal is obtained in the vicinity. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £117; patron, R. T. W. Walton, Esq. The chapel is dedicated to St. James. The Wesleyans have a place of worship; and there is a Roman Catholic chapel, erected in 1825.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis (1848), pp. 44-49. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50753 Date accessed: 25 June 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.

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

Altham- St James Baptisms Transcript-1596-1696- 929.3272 A3 Burials Transcript-1596-1696- 929.3272 A3 Marriage Index-1813-1837- Rossendale Fiche A3 Marriages Transcript-1596-1696- 929.3272 A3

For original registers of above please enquire at Lancashire Record Office.

The Manchester Room and Greater Manchester County Record Office Email: archiveslocalstudies@manchester.gov.uk

The Manchester Room@City Library (Local Studies)

Census records
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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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