Penwortham, Lancashire Genealogy

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

Parish History
PENWORTHAM (St Mary), a parish, in the union of Preston, hundred of Leyland, N. division of Lancashire; containing, with the chapelry of Longton, and the townships of Farington, Howick, and Hutton, 1¾ mile southwest of Preston. Penwortham was listed in the Domesday Book as "Penverdent" and Penwortham Priory was built in the west of the town. A simple motte-and-bailey castle was built during the post-Norman conquest period overlooking the Ribble and its ford. Some evidence of this castle is still evident in St Mary's Churchyard. The present church was built on the site after the loss through fire in 1856 of the ancient St Mary. At Farington and Longton are separate chapels laying within the this parish. In Penwortham is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists.

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. The place of Marriage is listed on this website.

Lancashire Online Parish Clerks
An extremely useful resource for research in Lancashire Parishes Website

Due to the loss of early parish registers from 1538 in the 1856 fire which destroyed the church the Online Parish Clerk Index is recommended.

See Online Parish Clerk page for missing years.

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

Penwortham St Mary's parish registers and those registers of its smaller chapelries lying within its boundaries have been mostly transcribed and are displayed online at the websites below and for the following ranges of years:

Original Records

The original parish registers of Penwortham and its chapelries are held at the Lancashire Record Office, Bow Lane, Preston, PR1 2RE. Bishop's transcripts for Penwortham Microfilm of originals at the Lancashire Record Office, Preston. Parts are illegible due to torn pages, dark spots, faded ink. Longton and Farrington are chapelries in the parish of Penwortham. DRB 2/157-162

Copies of the Penwortham St Mary's parish registers are also available on microfilm at the Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT, U.S.A. and its satellite FamilySearch Centers worldwide. These films can be ordered for and searched these facilities, serving the public.

Early records for this parish were lost in the fire of 1856 which also destroyed the church. Lancashire Online Parish Clerks have transcript derived from Bishop's Trancripts which were originally held at Chester Record Office.

Microfilmed Church Records at the Family History Library for this parish (see the catalog online for chapelry registers):

Penwortham baptisms, marriages, burials, 1608, 1616, 1623, 1627, 1629-1634, 1637, 1639-1641, 1650, 1658-1660, 1662-1665, 1668-1670, 1672, 1674-1676, 1678-1682, 1690-1706, 1708-1740. Included with Penwortham: Longton baptisms, 1733-1735, 1737. FHL BRITISH Film 1502456 Item 1 Penwortham baptisms, marriages, burials, 1741-1793. Included with Penwortham: Longton baptisms, 1754-1766, 1771-1772, 1774, 1776-1777. Longton baptisms, 1779-1793. FHL BRITISH Film 1502456 Item 2 Penwortham baptisms, marriages, burials, 1794-1813, 1815-1816. Included with Penwortham: Longton baptisms, 1812-1813, 1815-1816. Longton baptisms, 1794-1811. FHL BRITISH Film 1502456 Item 3 Penwortham baptisms, marriages, burials, 1817-1834. Longton baptisms, burials, 1817-1834. FHL BRITISH Film 1502457 Items 1 - 2 Penwortham baptisms, marriages, burials, 1835-1837, 1870; baptism, burials, 1838-1855, 1857-1869, 1871-1873. Included with Penwortham: Farrington baptisms, 1842. Longton baptisms, burials, 1848-1852. Farrington baptisms, burials, 1840-1845. FHL BRITISH Film 1502458 Items 1 - 2

Parish registers for Penwortham Microfilm of original records at the Lancashire Record Office, Preston. Lancashire Record Office no.: PR 3005/1/1-3, 7; 3005/2/1-3

Baptisms 1857-1900 Marriages 1857-1885 FHL BRITISH Film 1526058 Items 17-18 Marriages 1885-1900 Burials 1857-1900 Register of services 1872-1900 FHL BRITISH Film 1526059 Items 1-5

Marriages 1 July1837 and later can be obtained through Civil Registration either through www.LancashireBMD.org.uk or www.gro.gov.uk references can be found at www.freeBMD.org.uk. The actual place of marriage is list at www.LancashireBMD.org.uk. These marriage records are exactly what the parish register would contain.

Birth and Death certificates can also be obtained for people who were born and died in Penwortham parish post 1-July 1837. This is another type of document to compensate for the loss of Church Records

Non Conformist Records

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

Catholic

 * 1628 - 1628 List of Recusants in Penwortham and Hutton (p. 180)
 * 1628 - 1628 List of Recusants in Farrington and Houghwicke (p. 180)

Poor Law Unions
Preston 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 Penworthame and Hutton (p. 168)
 * 1628 - 1628 Subsidy of Farrington and Houghwicke (p. 169). Di
 * 1665 - Lancashire Hearth Tax: Leyland Hundred, Penwortham. E 179/132/351, The National Archives. Microfilm:.
 * 1665 - Lancashire Hearth Tax: Leyland Hundred, Farrington. E 179/132/351, The National Archives. Microfilm:.
 * 1665 - Lancashire Hearth Tax: Leyland Hundred, Howick. E 179/132/351, The National Archives. Microfilm:.
 * 1665 - Lancashire Hearth Tax: Leyland Hundred, Hutton. 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