Skelmersdale, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes

Chapelry History
SKELMERSDALE, a chapelry, in the parish and union of Ormskirk, hundred of West Derby, S. division of Lancashire, 4 miles (E. S. E.) from Ormskirk, on the road to Wigan; containing 691 inhabitants. At the time of the Domesday survey, this place was held by Uctred; and William Dacre subsequently held the manor under Thomas, Earl of Lancaster. In the reign of Henry VIII., Skelmersdale had become the property of the Gerards of Brynne. Sir Thomas Bootle, in 1751, purchased the estate and manor of Henry Ashurst, Esq.; and the place now gives the title of Baron to the family of Bootle-Wilbraham. The chapelry comprises 1774 acres, whereof 108 are common. Coal is abundant, and there is a quarry of stone. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar of Ormskirk; net income, £142. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £220. The chapel, dedicated to St. Paul, was built in 1776, and enlarged in 1822, and is a neat structure with a campanile tower. A parochial school has an income of £45, arising partly from an endowment by Evan Swift, Esq., in 1720.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis (1848), pp. 113-115. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51280 Date accessed: 21 July 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
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Census records
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http://www.1881pubs.com/ for details of public houses in the 1881 census

Poor Law Unions
Ormskirk_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.

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
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