Penley, Wrexham, Wales Genealogy

A guide to genealogy in Penley, with information on where to find birth, baptism, marriage, death and burial records; census records; wills; cemeteries; maps; etc.

Penley (Welsh: Llannerch Banna) is a village and ecclesiastical parish in the County Borough of Wrexham, Wales, close to the border with Shropshire, England. Penley is in the community of Maelor South.

Before 1974 the village was in the historic county of Flintshire and, between 1974 and 1996 in the County of Clwyd. In 1996 it became part of the modern County Borough of Wrexham.



History
The village was until 1974 in an exclave of the historic county of Flintshire known as Maelor Saesneg (English: English-speaking Maelor), sometimes called "Flintshire Detached"

Penley was originally part of the neighbouring English parish of Ellesmere in Shropshire, but it became a separate parish towards the end of the Commonwealth period. In early 1661 it reverted to being part of the parish of Ellesmere until 1860, when it again became a separate parish.

The parish church of St. Mary Magdalene was originally built around 1538 as a chapel of ease to Ellesmere. The original timber structure was replaced by a brick one in 1793 but this was demolished in 1893. The current church was completed in 1899.

Penley remained part of the English Diocese of Lichfield until 1920 when, following the disestablishment of the Church in Wales, it was transferred to the Welsh Diocese of St Asaph.

Civil Records
Births, marriages and deaths in Penley are recorded in the GRO indexes as:

Church Records
The following Penley Parish Registers have been deposited at the Flintshire Records Office in Hawarden:

However, the registers are not complete!

The following records are available on the IGI:


 * Bishop's Transcripts of the Penley registers are held at the Lichfield Record Office, Staffordshire, England: Bap 1663; 1752-1896 / Mar 1752-1812 / Bur 1752-1896 (but missing all events: 1850; 1864-1872.)


 * The Clwyd Family History Society have published several volumes the Penley parish registers

Census Records
The parish of Overton formed part of the Ellesmere Registrar's District.

Poor Law Union Records
Penley was part of the Ellesmere Union, which was created on 14 November 1836. The workhouse was built in Haughton, Ellesmere. The records for the Ellesmere Union are held at Shropshire Record Office in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England.

Cemeteries

 * St. Mary Magdalene Church

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Penley at Vision of Britain
 * Ordnance Survey map of Penley

Websites

 * Penley Parish Church at CPAT
 * Penley War Memorial at Clwyd FHS
 * Penley Parish Church at Clwyd FHS
 * A Penley Register of the Interregnum - Part 1 by Derrick Pratt at Clwyd FHS
 * A Penley Register of the Interregnum - Part 2 by Derrick Pratt at Clwyd FHS
 * Penley Parish Church at the Open Church Network
 * Penley Parish Church at Sacred Spaces