Whitehaven St Nicholas, Cumberland Genealogy

England Cumberland

Parish History
1642 – First evidence of the existence of a chapel of St. Bees at Whitehaven. Shown in the 1642 print of Whitehaven, it is 45 feet x 15 feet with five small windows on north side, bell turret on the west and an east gable.

1693 – March - original chapel demolished

1693 – New church built, under leadership of Mr. Ebenezer Gale, and dedicated by Rt. Rev. Nicholas Stratford, Bishop of Chester.

1694/6/8 – When do registers actually begin? Discrepancies.

1745-6 – Church enlarged by two wings. South wing later used as a choir vestry, and north side later used as a baptistry.

1756 – Organ installed and replaced in 1901

1835 – 11 August – St Nicholas, along with Holy Trinity and St James were carved out of the mother parish of St Bees.

1883 – 31 August – New church built of red sandstone from Beggarghyll Quarry, near Egremont, and dedicated by Rt. Rev. Harvey Goodwin, Bishop of Carlisle. 1693 Doorway retained as inner doorway of tower.

1971 – 31 August – Fire destroys nave and sanctuary. Church not rebuilt. Tower was fitted out as an auxiliary chapel.

1974 – Following the fire the parishioners worship with Christ Church. Now united as the new parish of Christ Church St. Nicholas

1977 – 24 February – Unification of parishes of Holy Trinity with Christ Church, St James and St Nicholas. - 30 June 1977 - Rev. Alan J. Postlethwaite installed as first vicar of Whitehaven.

Source: Hay, Daniel. Whitehaven: An Illustrated History. Whitehaven, Cumbria: Michael Moon. Revised and enlarged edition 1979 p. 102-103

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
Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection

Census records
Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Cumberland 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
Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.