Chesterfield, Derbyshire Family History Guide

Chesterfield comprises the following parishes:

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History

Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales Circa 1870

Chesterfield, a town, a parish, a sub-district, and a district, in Derby.

The town stands on sloping ground, between the rivulets Rother and Hipper, in the vale of Scarsdale, on the Roman road from Derby to York, at the end of the Chesterfield canal, adjacent to the Midland railway, 11 miles by road, but 17½ by railway, S by E of Sheffield.

It probably occupies the site of a Roman station; but, at Domesday, was only a bailiwick to Newbold. Two battles were fought at it; the one in 1261, between the Earl of Derby and Henry III.’s nephew; the other in 1648, between the royalists and the parliamentarians.

The manor was given by William the Conqueror to William Peveril; annexed to the Crown by Henry II.; given by King John to William de Bruere; and passed to the Wakes, the Plantagenets, and others.

The town is irregularly built; and has narrow streets, but a spacious market-place. The townhall, with market-house and covered market, is an extensive and commodious suite of buildings, erected in 1857.

The parish church is cruciform, and of various dates from early English onwards; has a central spire, 230 feet high, inclining considerably from the perpendicular; and contains a beautiful screen and some fine ancient monuments. Three chantries were formerly in the church; and three ancient chapels were in other parts of the town, one of them eventually used as a school, and another still partly extant in a barn and stable. Trinity church is a plain, substantial, Gothic edifice of 1838, with a western tower.

There are chapels for Independents, Baptists, Quakers, Unitarians, Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, and Roman Catholics; a free grammar school; national, infant, and other schools; a mechanics’ institute, a dispensary and hospital, and a large convenient workhouse.

The grammar-school was founded by Queen Elizabeth, and rebuilt in 1710; and is a picturesque edifice, situated behind Trinity church. The endowed charities include alms-houses and apprenticing funds; and amount to £1,364.

The town has a head post-office, a railway station with telegraph, three banking-offices, and two chief inns; is a seat of petty sessions and a polling-place; and publishes three weekly newspapers. A weekly market is held on Saturday; and fairs on 27 Jan., 28 Feb., the first Saturday of April, 4 May, 5 July, 25 Sept., and 25 Nov.

Manufactures of lace, hosiery, silk, carpets, iron, and pottery are carried on; and much traffic exists in connexion with neighbouring foundries, collieries, and lead mines. Races are run in September, on a course nearly 2 miles long.

The town was made a municipal borough by Queen Elizabeth; and is governed by a mayor, four aldermen, and twelve councillors. It gives the title of Earl to the family of Stanhope; and numbers, among its eminent natives or residents, Ince the poet, Lucas the mathematician, Wood, Oldfield, Charles, and Billingsley the nonconformists, Jewitt the author of “Wanderings of Memory,” Pegge the antiquary, Halifax the Bishop of St. Asaph, Stokes the botanist, Bromley and Mrs. Blore the poets, Mrs. Stokes the novelist, and Stephenson the father of railways. Real property, £22,155. Pop. in 1841, 6,212; in 1861, 9,836. Houses, 1,909.

The parish includes also the townships of Walton, Newbold and Dunston, Tapton, Calow, Hasland, and Normanton-Temple; and it formerly included the chapelry, now the parish, of Brimington. Acres, with Brimington, 11,451. Real property, £64,174; of which £3,378 are in mines, £6,156 in iron-works, and £1,600 in gas-works. Pop., 18,970. Houses, 3,792. The property is much subdivided.

The living is a vicarage, with the p. curacy of Calow, in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £357. Patron, the Bishop of Lichfield. The p. curacies of Trinity-Church, Hasland, and Newbold are separate benefices. Value of Trinity-Church, £120. Patrons, Three Trustees.

The sub-district contains also the parishes of Wingerworth, Brampton, and Whittington, and two townships of North Wingfield. Acres, 27,966. Pop., 28,983. Houses, 5,810.

The district comprehends also the sub-district of Bolsover, containing the parishes of Heath, Sutton-cum-Duckmanton, and part of Bolsover, Derbyshire; the sub-district of Eckington, containing the parishes of Eckington, Killamarch, and part of Staveley; the sub-district of Dronfield, containing five townships of Dronfield parish, and Great-Barlow chapelry; and the sub-district of Ashover, containing the parishes of Shirland and Morton, four townships of North Wingfield, one of Crich, and one of Ashover. Acres, 94,825. Poor-rates, in 1862, £19,082. Pop. in 1841, 39,380; in 1861, 61,779. Houses, 12,248.

Marriages in 1860, 444; births, 2,362, of which 161 were illegitimate; deaths, 1,374, of which 576 were at ages under 5 years, and 21 at ages above 85 years. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 3,818; births, 20,412; deaths, 11,877.

The places of worship in 1851 were 29 of the Church of England, with 12,899 sittings; 7 of Independents, with 1,574 s.; 3 of Baptists, with 250 s.; 2 of Quakers, with 257 s.; 1 of Unitarians, with 300 s.; 31 of Wesleyan Methodists, with 4,436 s.; 3 of New Connexion Methodists, with 646 s.; 23 of Primitive Methodists, with 3,061 s.; 1 of the Wesleyan Association, with 180 s.; 4 of Wesleyan Reformers, with 970 s.; 1 of Latter Day Saints, with 120 s.; and 2 of Roman Catholics, with 312 s.

The schools were 39 public day schools, with 3,316 scholars; 94 private day schools, with 2,269 s.; 70 Sunday schools, with 6,076 s.; and 3 evening schools for adults, with 120 s.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72]

Parish Registers

England, Derbyshire, Church of England Parish Registers, 1537-1918

Marriage Licences

London Marriage Licences and Allegations 1521 to 1869

The following have been extracted from London Marriage Licences 1521 to 1869.

Abbreviations. — B. Bishop of London’s Office; D. Dean and Chapter of Westminster; F. Faculty Office of Archbishop of Canterbury; V. Registry of the Vicar-General of Canterbury.

Bernard, Benjamin (Bernerd), clerk, rector of East Horndon, co. Essex, and Alice Hollis, spinster, of St. Mildred, Bread Street, London, daughter of Ralph Hollis, late of Chesterfield, co. Derby, locksmith, deceased — at East Horndon aforesaid. 6 May, 1608. B.

Source: London Marriage Licences 1521 to 1869; Edited by Joseph Foster; London 1887

Lincoln Marriage Licences

Lincoln Marriage Licences. An Abstract of the Allegation Books preserved in The Registry of the Bishop of Lincoln 1598 to 1628. Edited by A Gibbons. London: Mitchell & Hughes, 140 Wardour Street, W. 1888.

The name in brackets at the end of each entry is the church where the marriage was to be solemnized; where a saint’s name only is given, the church was at Lincoln. “Ditto ” in brackets signifies the same church as in the preceding entry; and where both parties reside in the same parish, and the marriage was to be solemnized at their parish church, the name is not repeated in brackets. In order to economize space, “aged” is abbreviated “æt.,” “yeoman” “yeom.,” “husbandman” “husb.,” “widow” “wid., “application” “appln.;” besides a few other obvious abbreviations. Places situate in other counties than Lincoln are generally so specified.

1619 Aug. 23 James Webster, of Upper Wiston, co. Yorke, gent., æt. 23, & Barbara Southaicke, of Stevenbie, spr, æt. 22. His father & her parents are dead. Sureties : Rob. Savill, of Lenton on Ouse, co. York, gent., & Ralph Clarke, of Chesterfeild, co. Derby, gent. [ Stevenbie.]

Parish Records

FamilySearch

Bankrupts

Below is a list of people that were declared bankrupt between 1820 and 1843 extracted from The Bankrupt Directory; George Elwick; London; Simpkin, Marshall and Co.; 1843.

Adlington Jonathan, Chesterfield, Derbysh., mercer and draper. March 26, 1830.

Bainbridge Robt., Chesterfield, grocer and earthenware manufr., July 21, 1829.

Beardmore Joseph; and John Walker Waterhouse; Chesterfield, lace manufacturers, Nov. 28, 1837.

Bee Joseph, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, butcher, Nov. 27, 1827.

Bridge Jacob, sen., Chesterfield ; Jacob Bridge, jun., Whittington ; George Smith, Chesterfield ; and Joseph Smith, Sheffield ; excavators, Feb. 20, 1838.

Burnand John, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, coach proprietor, Dec. 7, 1827.

Burrows Emanuel, Chesterfield & Warsop, maltster and miller Nov 25 1836

Chesterfield, Derbyshire Family History Guide

History

Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales Circa 1870

Parish Registers

Marriage Licences

London Marriage Licences and Allegations 1521 to 1869

Lincoln Marriage Licences

Parish Records

FamilySearch

Census

Church History

Church Records

Church Records – Indexes

Cemeteries

Poorhouses & Poor Law

Probate Records

Directories

Genealogy – Periodicals

History

Schools

Vital Records

Bankrupts

History Topography and Directory of Westmorland Mannex & Co 1851

The Registers of Thornford Co. Dorset 1677 to 1812

The Parish Registers of St. Oswald’s, Durham, containing the Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials from 1538 to 1751

Bedfordshire Parish Registers V.38