Here are some sites
for England. Please remember that these links will take you out of our
site so please use your BACK browser button to return. Also, we do not
guarantee the authenticity of information on those sites.
[TOP]
A Palatine and
maritime county, is bounded on the north by Cumberland and Westmoreland, on the
east by Yorkshire, on the south by Cheshire and Derbyshire, and on the west by
the Irish Sea.
The first Earl of
Lancashire was Edmund Crouchback, youngest son of Henry lll. In the time
of the valiant John of Gaunt, fourth son of Edward, the county of
Lancaster was advanced to the dignity of a palatinate, by a Royal patent.
It confers the title of Duke of Lancaster on the King, and many other high
titles are derived by nobility from this county.
Lancashire has been,
at a great variety of periods in history, the scene of contention and theatre of
strife. The sanguinary conflicts between the Houses of York and Lancaster,
and the Royal forces of Charles l, and those of Parliament under Cromwell, as
well as the support which the Pretender received from the disaffected, have
stained the fields of this county with blood. The Battle of Flodden Field, of
more early date, gave testimony to the prowess of the men of Lancashire and the
achievements of the heroic bowmen and billmen from the districts of Warrington,
Wigan, Rochdale, Preston, Blackburn, Bolton etc.
A very extraordinary
page in Lancashire history must not be omitted - The Lancashire Witches. In
1594, Ferdinand the fifth Earl of Derby was seized with mortal sickness,
produced probably by poison secretly administered. After much suffering, he died
days later. In his chamber was found an image of wax with hair the same colour
as that of the Earl, stuffed into the belly! In the 1600s, many notorious
witches were tried at Lancaster assizes.
(
Pigot and Co.'s National Commercial Directory, 1828)
[TOP]
[TOP]
|
Bolton
Parish Church Look-Ups |
I have come across a book titled:
"The Registers of the Parish Church of Bolton;
Baptisms, 1573-4, 1590-1660
Weddings, 1537, 1587-1660
Burials, 1573-4, 1587-1660"
This book was published in 1913 by the Lancashire Parish Register Society.
There is a good picture on the flyleaf of the old parish church before it was demolished in 1866. The table of contents contains: a preface which contains
information on the history of the parish, descriptions of the old and new
churches and how the book came to be found, baptisms, weddings, burials,
appendices (List of excommunicated persons and list of churchwardens) and
indexes (Christian names and surnames, place names and trades and miscellaneous
matters). It is quite a big book with lots of information. I am
willing to do lookups in this book for anyone who asks. The place name
spellings include ancient spellings of names also. Please send the names
and dates (if possible) to Linda Wampach.
[TOP]
GENUKI for Derbyshire
Derbyshire
England GenWeb
|
Derbyshire's
Parishes, 1811 ~ The parishes and chapelries as they were
in that year by Ann Andrews |
|
Derbyshire Record
Society ~ The Society was established in 1977 "to
publish edited texts, monographs and pamphlets relating to the history of
the county". Since then it has issued 26 hardback volumes and seven
Occasional Papers. |
|
Derbyshire Place Name Index
~ This Index covers the WHOLE of the county of Derbyshire,
and lists Wapentakes, Hundreds, Parishes, Towns, Villages, Hamlets,
Homesteads, Farms, Woods, Moors, Rivers and Brooks. Each Placename has the
Parish and Hundred it lies in. The Ordnance Survey reference of each Parish
is given. A Map of Derbyshire helps locate each parish. Computer searches to
discover complete from partial names contact John Palmer ([email protected]). Attempted
location of place-names now lost contact John Palmer. If you find any
Errors, or would like to see any Additions, contact John Palmer.
|
From:
'History of
Derbyshire' by David Peter Davies (Makeney - April 10th, 1811)
-
DUFFIELD
Duuelle in Domesday. In former times it was a place of great
consequence - the residence of the Ferrers, Earls of Derby. There was a
castle, destroyed late 13th/early 14th century. 'Not a stone remains'.
A very extensive parish in the Deanery of Derby, containing the chapelries
of Heage, Belper, Holbrooke and Turnditch; and the hamlets of Makeney,
Millford, Windley, Shottle and Postern.
Church dedicated to St. Alkmund (formerly belonged to college of Newark in
Leicestershire) is a little outside the village. The Unitarians, the General
Baptists and the Methodists have places of worship here.
'Duffield is a place of no trade; its population is chiefly made up of that
class of society which is termed the middle'.
[TOP]
Belper Genealogy Links
GENUKI for Belper
-
BELPER is a market town and chapelry, in the parish of Duffield, and
hundred of Appletree; 134 miles from London, 54 S.E. from Manchester, 16 S.
from Chesterfield, 8 N. from Derby, and the like distance S.S.E. from
Matlock. Beaurep'd and Beaureper, were modes of spelling, by
which this town was designated in ancient documents; it was then an
inconsiderable village, but has now become one of the most flourishing
market towns in Derbyshire.
-
The prosperity of
Belper has been mainly owing to the extensive cotton works of Messrs.
Srtutt; the manufactories for silk and cotton hosiery, and those for nails,
all of which are conducted upon a large scale (especially the factories of
Messrs. Brettle & Co. and B. B. Ward) and give employment to a
considerable portion of the population, both male and female. The potteries,
bleaching-grounds, and coal-works which also exist in the neighbourhood,
contribute their share to the prosperity of the town. The Cromford canal
passes within two miles of the town, and the High Peak railway within six.
The town is situate in a valley through which the river Derwent flows, and
the view of the town from the hills on the east and west sides of the river
is singularly picturesque. At the northern end of the town, a stone bridge
of three arches bestrides the Derwent, near which is a beautiful wear for
working the mills of Messrs. Strutt. The cascade near the bridge, combined
with the surrounding seenery, form a delightful picture, & the
plantations around the mansions of Messrs. George & Jedediah Strutt,
called 'Bridge Hill' and 'Green Hall' are highly ornamental to the site of
Belper.
-
The principal inns
are the 'Red Lion', and the 'George', both in Bridge-street, in each of
which is found excellent accommodation for commercial travellers. Sir
Richard Paul Jodrell, Bart. is lord of the manor, and holds courts-leet at
Easter and Michaelmas, when the constable, head-borough and other public
officers are elected and sworn. Belper is one of the stations named in the
new Boundary Act, for taking votes at the election of knights of the shire,
to represent the southern division of the county.
-
A new church,
dedicated to St. Peter, has supplanted the old chapel, now used for secular
purposes; the situation of this church is fine, and the edifice is a
graceful object from the western hills, but the tower is rather too slender
for just proportion. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of
the vicar of Duffield. The other places of worship comprise chapels for
Wesleyan and primitive methodists, independents, baptists and unitarians.
Here are also alms-houses, and Sunday and infant school rooms; the latter is
a neat and commodious building, recently erected by public subscription, and
is conducted on the principles of the celebrated Mr. Wilderspin; the
management being by a committee, annually chosen. The market-place is
situate on an elevated part of the town, at the top of King-street, and is
surrounded by handsome shops - the market day is Saturday; and there are
fairs for sheep, cattle, &c. on May 12th and October 31st. The
population, in 1831, was 7,890, but it is now computed at little short of
9000.
-
[Description from Pigot and
Co's Commercial Directory for Derbyshire, 1835]
From:
'History of
Derbyshire' by David Peter Davies (Makeney - April 10th, 1811)
-
BELPER
Formerly written Beaupoire, 'was not noticed in Domesday'. A chapelry
in the parish of Duffield and the Deanery of Derby. Chapel - dedicated to St
John.
'The Unitarians, the Independents and the Methodists
have also their respective meeting houses. Four hundred children are taught
at the Sunday School ... the Independents and Methodists also have Sunday
schools, where about 700 more are instructed'.
'Its present flourishing state is discernible to all'. In 1801 the
population was 4500 and by 1809 was 5365, the increase 'owing to the Cotton
Mills erected here by Messrs. Strutts; where between 1200 and 1300 persons
find daily employment. These mills are four in number'.
'Another branch of business carried on at Belper ... is the manufacture of
nails; but within the last few years it is supposed that the trade has been
on the decline'. Before 1776, Belper was as 'low in population as it was
backward in civility: and considered as the insignificant residence of a few
uncivilized nailers'.
A market town - Saturday market.
The mansion of Jedediah Strutt Esq is about the town centre and 'above the
bridge is the seat of G.B. Strutt Esq.'.
Miscellany
[TOP]
|
Textile Industry
~ Go here to learn about the textile industry that so many of
my ancestors had labored in. It is a wonderful source of information
about the industry; the equipment, the people who invented the machines and
articles on the people who actually had to work in the places. |
|
Victorian
Occupations: Life and Labor in the Victorian Period as
Seen by Artists, Writers, and Modern Historians |
|
Textilehttp://www.rmplc.co.uk/orgs/quarrybankmill/frame.html |
[TOP]
[TOP]
|