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Lancashire was a centre of the Industrial Revolution in Britain. Its principal towns Manchester ("Cottonopolis") and Liverpool boomed from the end of the eighteenth century, drawing their workforce from the surrounding countryside, and from Ireland. Manchester had a reputation for non-conformism, and its liberal traditions (in conjunction with the 1819 Peterloo Massacre) led to the founding of the world-renowned Manchester Guardian newspaper in 1821. Liverpool became a major trading port and the gateway for millions of emigrants to America and Australasia.
Unless stated otherwise, the location details of the following indexes refer to the location of the item in the Family History Collection, Heritage Floor, Central City Library.
Use the links below to get started.
Some useful guides
- Rita Hirst's Basic facts about family history research in Lancashire (FFHS,1997) located at 4 ENG AID LNC
- the National index of parish registers vol.10 pt 2 Lancashire (London, SOG, 1999) locatedat4 ENG BDM LNC has a very useful introduction to genealogy in Lancashire, as does
- Finding folk: a handlist of basic sources for family history in the Lancashire Record Office (2nd ed, Preston, LRO, 1997) at 4 ENG AID LNC
- a very useful publication is Stuart Raymond's Lancashire: a genealogical bibliography (FFHS, 1996-7): volume 1 - Lancashire Genealogical Sources; volume 2 - Registers, Inscriptions & Wills; volume 3 - Lancashire Family Histories & Pedigrees. Located at 4 ENG BIB LNC.
The gateway to online genealogical information for the county is through the GENUKI Lancashire web pages. The site includes links to maps and items on Lancashire history.
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Births, marriages and deaths
From 1837
Civil registration in England and Wales began on 1 July 1837 and every birth, marriage or death in Lancashire from that date should have been registered and would appear in the General Register Office (GRO) indexes. These indexes for 1837-2001 are available on microfiche and/or microfilm in the Family History Collection.
Before 1837
Parish registers began in 1538 (although few have survived from this date), and are the main source for baptisms, marriages and burials before 1837. The National index of parish registers vol.10 pt 2 Lancashire lists surviving registers. The Lancashire Parish Register Society began publishing transcripts of parish registers in 1898. A selection of these can be found at 4 ENG BDM LNC.
The International Genealogical Index (IGI) is an index of baptisms and marriages extracted from parish registers. It has a 90%+ coverage for pre-1837 Lancashire. Available in the Auckland Research Centre on microfiche and on CDROM database, or through the internet as FamilySearch.
Baptisms
The Lancashire Baptisms Index is an index to numerous baptismal registers. The index is on microfiche at 4 ENG BDM LNC.
Marriages
Boyd's Marriage Index for Lancashire is an index to around 48% of the county's marriage registers. It is indexed by bride and groom and covers the period 1538-1837. The Lancashire Marriage Index, compiled by the Lancashire Family History and Heraldry Society, is complementary to Boyd's Index. Both are available on the shelves at 4 ENG BDM LNC.
Burials and Monumental Inscriptions
A large number of Lancashire tombstone and burial registers transcriptions (including non-conformist and Catholic records) is also located on the shelves at 4 ENG BDM LNC.
Roman Catholicism
After the Reformation Lancashire remained strongly Catholic, with particular allegiance to Rome among the gentry and Irish immigrants. For information on surviving Catholic records for the county, see Michael Gandy's Catholic Missions & registers 1700-1880: 5. North West England (1993) at 4 GBR CHR.
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Probate records
From 1858
Wills and administrations were the responsibility of the state from 12 January 1858. If your Lancashire ancestor died after that date and left a will, or died intestate and letters of administration were granted, then he/she will appear in the National Probate Calendars. The Calendars for 1858-1943 are on microfiche in the same cabinets as the GRO indexes.
Before 1858
Prior to 1858 wills and probates were the responsibility of ecclesiastical courts. Finding folk: a handlist of basic sources for family history in the Lancashire Record Office (2nd ed, Preston, LRO, 1997) located at 4 ENG AID LNC has a section on which church courts had jurisdiction in Lancashire. An Index to West Craven & Lancashire Wills proved at York covering the period 1688 to (Feb) 1858 is on the shelves at 4 GBR WIL.
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Census records
A census was taken in England every ten years from 1801, but (with some exceptions) only those from 1841 have survived.
1851
The first census to contain really useful genealogical information was the 1851 census, and this is the census that family history societies have concentrated on indexing. There is good coverage for Manchester and Liverpool in particular. Most indexes will give just a surname and a folio number, and the next step is to order the appropriate census film, using the Family History Library Catalog, at an LDS (Mormon) Family History Centre. It is possible to order these films from the Auckland Research Centre. Some indexes (such as those for Liverpool) are virtual transcriptions. Census records for Lancashire are on the shelves at 4 ENG CEN LNC.
1881
The whole of the 1881 census for England & Wales has been transcribed and is available on microfiche. The 1881 census is also available in the library on computer, which allows a search within Lancashire or for Lancashire-born ancestors anywhere in England, Wales & Scotland.
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Directories
Trade directories can be a good way of locating family movements outside the census years. There are some very early directories for Liverpool (1766-1823) on microfilm in the GRO index cabinets. Elizabeth Raffald's Directory of Manchester and Salford 1772 and the Manchester and Salford directory 1788 are on the shelves at 4 ENG DIR LNC. Holden's annual London and country directory 1811 (Norwich, 1996) has listings for several Lancashire towns in volumes 2 and 3. Located at 4 GBR DIR. Pigot & Co's national commercial directory of Lancashire 1834 and Kelly's Directory of Lancashire 1864 can be found at4 ENG DIR.
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Land and landowners
The return of owners of land 1873 (Lancashire) on microfiche at 4 ENG LAN LNC lists all landowners (and their landholdings) including clergymen, gentry and gentleman farmers. More detailed information on members of the gentry can be found in Burke's Landed Gentry (located at4 GBR PRG), and Jessica Lofthouse's Lancashire's Old Families (Plymouth, 1972). James Croston's County families of Lancashire and Cheshire (London, 1887) is located on the Ground Floor of the Central City Library at 920.04272 C95.
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Names
Richard McKinley's book The surnames of Lancashire (London, 1981) discusses the origin, meaning, history and geographical dispersal of Lancashire surnames. Located at 4 ENG NAM LNC.
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Maps and gazetteers
By knowing exactly where an ancestor lived, it is often possible to judge which churches he/she may have used, and where family baptisms, marriages and burials are likely have taken place. It may also be possible to guess which cities (or even countries) family members may have migrated to, simply on the basis of the family's location to a road, railway or canal.
Reproduction nineteenth century Ordnance Survey (Old Series) 1 inch maps for England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland are in the map drawers in the Auckland Research Centre. Lancashire is covered by sheets 11, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27.
The Phillimore atlas and index of parish registers (Chichester, 1995) is a good guide to parish locations. Located at 4 GBR MAP.
David Mills' The place names of Lancashire (London, 1976) is also useful. Located at 4 GBR GAZ.
There are early nineteenth century maps of Manchester, Salford and Liverpool in A Baynton-Williams' Town and city maps of the British Isles: 1800-1855 (London, 1992) with other maps and atlases at 4 GBR MAP.
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Military
Lancashire has a strong military heritage in such regiments as the Manchesters and Accrington Pals. General information on British regiments can be found in John M Kitzmiller's In search of the forlorn hope : a comprehensive guide to locating British regiments and their records, 1640-WWI(Salt Lake City, Utah; c1988) at 4 GBR MIL/A. Christopher Chant's The handbook of British regiments (London, 1988) is available on the First Floor, Central City Library, at 355.31 C45.
Available at Auckland City Libraries and specific to Lancashire are
- George Ashurst's My bit: a Lancashire fusilier at war 1914-1918 (Marlborough, 1987) [at Mt Wellington Community Library] 940.481 ASH
- William Turne's Accrington pals (London, 1998) First floor, Central City Library, 355.31 T94
- The 21st Battalion: the Manchester regiment: a history (Manchester, c1990; first published 1934) First floor, Central City Library, 355.31 T97
- Liverpool volunteers 1759-1803 miscellaneous muster lists of volunteers and militia men on microfiche in the Family History Collection at 4 ENG MIL LNC.
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Criminal records
Stuart Tamblin has extracted information about criminals from Public Record Office (PRO) records. This is an on-going project. Currently the Lancashire records indexed cover the period 1805-1816. See HO 27 Criminal register indexes in the microfiche folder at 4 GBR CIV.
A good, general guide to tracing criminal ancestors in England and Wales is David T Hawkings' Criminal ancestors: a guide to historical criminal records in England and Wales (Shaftesbury, Dorset; 1992) on the shelves at 4 GBR CIV.
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Poor Law Union
From 1834 the Workhouse became the main vehicle for poor relief. We have a list of inmates of the Culcheth Workhouse (Warrington) for 1834 to 1836 on microfiche at 4 ENG CIV LNC. Surviving poor law union records for Lancashire are detailed in Jeremy Gibson & Colin Rogers' Poor Law Union Records: 2. The Midlands and Northern England (FFHS, 1993) at 4 GBR CHR.
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Schools
The Admission Register of the Manchester School with some notices of the more distinguished scholars (Chetham Society, 1866-74) covers 1730 to 1837 and is located at 4 ENG SCH.
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