Harwood, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes

Chapelry History
HARWOOD, a township, in the parish and union of Bolton, hundred of Salford, S. division of the county of Lancaster, 2½ miles (N. E.) from Bolton-Cross; containing 1996 inhabitants. Sir Edmund Trafford, Knt., was a proprietor of "Harewood" (the ancient name) in the reign of Edward VI. During the civil wars, the place is said to have been a military station. Lomax Fold, in the township, has long been the inheritance of the Lomax family; but the principal part of the land here belongs to Brasenose College, Oxford, being a portion of the bequest of William Hulme for exhibitions from certain public schools in Lancashire. The affix of Fold or Gate, to the names of mansions, meaning "the inclosure of the homestead," prevails much in this district. The township lies northward of the new road between Bolton and Bury, and is separated from Tonge by Bradshaw Brook; it comprises about 1100 acres, chiefly pasture land. The situation is high and exposed, and the soil, a cold clay, is not very fertile; the substratum is sandstone and shale, and seams of coal underlie the whole township, the dip being from north-east to south-west. The coal, however, is not of the best quality, and is worked only in the north-west part of the township, at Side-o'-th'-Moor and Top-o'-Raikes; pits at Riding Gate and Top-o'-th'-Greeves are exhausted. The stone is quarried for building and for flagging. The inhabitants are chiefly hand-loom weavers, small farmers, crofters, and colliers. A church was consecrated in Oct. 1841, and an ecclesiastical district, called Christ Church, has been formed of parts of the townships of Harwood and Breightmet: the living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of three Trustees, and endowed with £1000; total income, about £100. The Primitive Methodists have a place of worship; and the Wesleyans a school at Longsight. Miss Lomax supports an infant school, containing nearly 100 children, in a neat cottage at Lomax Fold; and the Earl of Derby having bestowed a piece of land near the church, an appropriate school to accommodate 150 children is being built by subscription, through the exertions of Mr. Lomax and the clergyman. A portion of an ancient Roman road crosses a considerable eminence in the north-east part of the township, in the direction of Tottington.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis(1848), pp. 431-435. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51012 Date accessed: 01 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
Bolton,_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
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
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