Denton, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes



Chapelry History
DENTON, [St Lawrence]a chapelry, in the parish of Manchester, union of Ashton-under-Lyne, hundred of Salford, S. division of the county of Lancaster, 3¾ miles northeast by north of Stockport and about 5 miles from Manchester Town. The chapel originally was dedicated to St James, was erected about 1530 [chapel registers commence in 1696].

Also another church district, comprising part of the township of Denton, and part of that of Haughton, and called Christ-Church, was formed in April, 1846.

The Wesleyans and others have places of worship."

Th'Owd Peg as it is known locally due to the timber frame construction St Lawrence Denton was founded in 1468.

Originally the timber-framed structure was neither a parish church nor dedicated to St. Lawrence. It began as a chapel of ease for the medieval manor of Denton within the Parish of Manchester, dedicated to St. James. It became a parish church under the name St. Lawrence in 1839.

The Church was dedicated to St. Lawrence as a result of the discovery within the structure of fragments of glass depicting the martyrdom of St. Lawrence. These fragments are now incorporated into a window on the south side of the sanctuary.

St Lawrence is a timber framed church and a Grade II* listed building; it is one of only 29 surviving timber framed churches and chapels in England. The chapelry of Denton was established in 1531 with the construction of the chapel of ease, then Roman Catholic in the Diocese of Lichfield and dedicated to St James.

The church was rededicated to St Lawrence in 1839 and became a parish church in 1854. In 1872, the church was expanded and remodelled by J Medland Taylor and Henry Taylor. The church features sixteenth stained century glass. The church was restored between 1993 and 2003.

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

Church records
Online transcriptions exist for Denton St Lawrence Chapelry and its other (two) chapelries that comprise this township--all of which stand within the ancient parish boundary of Manchester Our Lady, St George and St Denys Cathedral. Haughton's two chapelries were contiguous to these chapelry and are included here (see below--St Ann and St Mary's).

To access these online transcriptions of baptisms, marriages and burials you can view them at the web sites indicated below; note the range of years:

To view a full list of (over 150) chapelries and district churches comprising the ancient parish of Manchester (Cathedral), and to see a list of links to each one, visit the MANCHESTER (CATHEDRAL) OUR LADY, ST GEORGE &amp; ST DENYS page.

Original Records Original parish (chapelry) registers are housed at the Manchester Central Library archives. FamilySearch has microfilmed the original registers and they are available to be searched at any of its 4,600 FamilySearch Centers worldwide (see FamilySearch.org for address locations). Denton- St Lawrence Baptisms-1696-1758- MFPR 2182 Baptisms-1758-1837- MFPR 107 or MFPR 2182 Baptisms-1837-1922- MFPR 1341 Baptisms Transcript-1696-1757- 929.3272 G1 Burials-1695-1756- MFPR 2182 Burials-1757-1757- MFPR 107 Burials-1758-1812- MFPR 107 or MFPR 2182 Burials-1813-1842- MFPR 107 or MFPR 2183 Burials-1842-1893- MFPR 1343 or MFPR 2183 Burials Transcript-1695-1756- 929.3272 G1 Marriages-1698-1700- MFPR 2182 Marriages-1700-1711- Archives L204 Marriages-1711-1723- MFPR 2182 Marriages-1723-1725- Archives L204 Marriages-1725-1754- MFPR 2182 Marriages-1854-1902- MFPR 1342 Marriages-1902-1939- MFPR 1342 or MFPR 2183 Marriages Transcript-1698-1754- 929.3272 G1

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

The Manchester Room@City Library (Local Studies)

Parish registers for St. Lawrence chapelry, Denton, 1758-1950 Microfilm of original records formerly held in the Manchester Central Library, Manchester, and the church of St. Lawrence, Denton, England. Denton is a chapelry in the parish of Manchester. This chapelry is known as St. Lawrence. Manchester Archives Central Library call no.: L204.

Bishop's transcripts for St. Lawrence Chapelry, Denton, 1700-1855 Microreproduction of original manuscripts housed at the Lancashire Record Office, Preston. The chapelries of St. Lawrence and Christ Church are in the township of Denton, parish of Manchester.Lancashire Record Office: DRM/2/208a-208b

Lancashire Online Parish Clerks
An extremely useful resource for the parish:

http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/Denton/stlawrence/index.html baptism transcripts including surname index

http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/Denton/stlawrence/index.html burial transcripts including surname index

Poor Law Unions
Ashton under Lyne, Lancashire, Poor Law Union

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
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
http://www.stlawrencedenton.org.uk/ for information about the parish

http://www.manchester2002-uk.com/buildings/churches3.html for history and information about the church.