Croston, Lancashire Genealogy

Guide to Croston, Lancashire ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish register transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records. See a List of Chapelries in Croston Parish

Parish History
CROSTON (St. Michael and All Angels), a parish, and formerly a market-town, in the unions of Chorley and Wigan, hundred of Leyland, N. division of the county of Lancaster; containing, the townships of Bispham,Bretherton, Mawdesley, and Ulnes-Walton.

Croston began in the 7th century when St. Aidan arrived at the riverside settlements. In the absence of a church, a cross erected as a place of worship. Croston gets its name from 'cross' derived from the Irish and the Scandinavian word 'tun' which means town (cross-town). It is unique as there are no other Crostons in the UK.

Centuries ago the parish of Croston was far larger than it is today[citation needed]. It included Chorley, Much Hoole, Rufford, Bretherton, Mawdesley, Tarleton, Hesketh Bank, Bispham, Walmer Bridge and Ulnes Walton. A charter granted by Edward I in 1283 permitted an annual medieval fair and market to be held on the village green. Ancient maps also depict a castle which is believed to have been of a wooden construction because there is no evidence of a stone structure.

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
Online Records
 * 1538 - 1910 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1603 - 1910 at FamilySearch — index and images.

Croston Parish registers and those chapelry registers of its 4 chapels of ease have mostly been transcribed and posted online at the following web sites:

Other important considerations:

Prior to the year 1821 Hesketh with Becconsall served as a chapelry only (a small subdivision of the parish of Croston). It became a full-fledged parish by act of Parliament in 1821. Searches for ancestry prior to this year, must include searches in the Hesketh with Becconsall Chapelry registers which began in 1745, and Croston parish registers and those of its attached chapelries. The baptisms, marriages and burials for Croston Parish and its smaller chapelries are online for the following range of years:

Catholic

 * 1628 - 1628 List of Recusants in Croston (p. 173)
 * 1628 - 1628 List of Recusants in Vlvrswalton (Ulneswalton) (p. 175)

Non-Conformist Churches

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

Poor Law Unions
Chorley 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

 * 1628 - 1628 Subsidy of Croston (p. 165)


 * 1628 - 1628 Subsidy of Vlvswalton (Ulneswalton) (p. 166)


 * 1665 - Lancashire Hearth Tax: Leyland Hundred, Croston. E 179/132/351, The National Archives. Microfilm:.


 * 1665 - Lancashire Hearth Tax: Leyland Hundred, Cuerden. E 179/132/351, The National Archives. Microfilm:.


 * 1665 - Lancashire Hearth Tax: Leyland Hundred, Ulnes Walton. E 179/132/351, 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
Croston on GENUKI