Astbury St Mary Cheshire Family History Guide

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Astbury St Mary is an Ancient Parish in the county of Cheshire.

Other places in the parish include: Mosley, Somerford Booths, Somerford, Radnor, Odd Rode, Newbold Astbury, Mossley, Somerford Radnor, Moreton cum Alcumlow, Hulmewalfield, Hulme Walfield, Holy Trinity, Eaton, and Davenport.

Ecclesiastical Parishes created from Astbury Ancient Parish:

Parish registers begin:

Astbury

  • Parish registers: 1572
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: 1593

Somerford:

  • Parish registers: 1691
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: None

Nonconformists include: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Primitive Methodist, Society of Friends/Quaker, and Wesleyan Methodist.

Adjacent Parishes

Little Moreton Hall
Cheshire; Moreton Old Hall, View From Gardens 1927
Little Moreton Hall

Astbury St Mary Parish Registers

Search online registers of baptisms, marriages, banns and burials including digitised images of original records and registers and indexed transcriptions.

Baptism, Marriage and Burial Records

These records include images of Church of England parish registers of baptism, marriage, and burial records.

Astbury St Mary, Cheshire Church of England Bishop’s Transcripts – Baptisms, Marriages and Burials – 1593-1820

Astbury St Mary, Cheshire Church of England Bishop’s Transcripts – Baptisms – 1801-1898

Marriage and Banns Records

These records include images of Church of England parish registers of marriages and banns records.

Astbury St Mary, Cheshire Church of England Bishop’s Transcripts – Marriages and Banns – 1801-1840

Death and Burial Records

These records include images of Church of England parish registers of deaths and burial records.

Astbury St Mary, Cheshire Church of England Bishop’s Transcripts – Burials, 1801-1898

Astbury Parish Records

An index of parish records of people from Astbury. The index includes information from An Index to the Wills and Administrations (including the “Infra” Wills) now preserved in the Probate Registry at Chester for the years 1801-1810 Part 1 A to L.

An Index to the Wills and Administrations Preserved in the Probate Registry at Chester 1801-1810 Part 1 A to L.

The following names have been extracted from the book An Index to the Wills and Administrations (including the “Infra” Wills) now preserved in the Probate Registry at Chester for the years 1801-1810 Part 1 A to L.

The “Infra” Wills are in italics. A.W. signifies an Administration with the Will annexed. A.W.C. signifies an Administration with the Will and Codicil annexed. C. signifies Will and Codicil. C.C. signifies Will and two Codicils, and so on. T. or Tuit. signifies Tuition. “P.R. 1866” signifies that a subsequent grant was made in 1866 (or whatever date is given) out of the Principal Registry at Somerset House after the Will had been originally proved in the Consistory Court at Chester. “D.R. 1866” signifies that a subsequent grant was made in 1866 (or whatever date is given) out of the District Registry at Chester after the Will had been originally proved in the Consistory Court at Chester.

Bayley, John, of Astbury, yeoman Ad. 12 Jan. 1807

Beech, Thomas, of Smallwood, Astbury, victualer 12 Jul. 1806

Booth, Charlotte, of Astbury, spinster Ad. 20 May 1809

Booth, Sarah, of Somerford Booths C. 17 Mar. 1807

Buckley, John, of Newbold Astbury 28 Oct. 1808

Carter, Jonathan, of Smallwood, p. of Astbury 2 Mar. 1802

Cartwright, Thomas, of Oldhouse Green, p. of Astbury — Jan. 1802

Clark, William, of Smallwood, p. of Astbury 7 Nov. 1806

Colclough, Thomas, of Odd Rode, p. of Astbury Ad. 14 Jan. 1804

Daines, John, of Odd Rode, p. of Astbury Ad. 27 Mar. 1805

Dean, Joseph, of Dairybrook, p. of Astbury, yeoman 4 Feb. 1801

Dean, Peter, of Astbury, victualler 23 Sep. 1805

Evans, John, of Odd-Rode, p. of Astbury, yeoman 29 Dec. 1803

Gibson, Joseph, of Somerford Booths, Prestbury 26 Feb. 1808

Gidman, Joshua, of Newbould, Astbury 20 Feb. 1805

Hall, Matthew, of Odd Rode, p. of Astbury Ad. 24 Jun. 1809

Hilditch, Martha, of Astbury, widow 14 Jun. 1808

Hobson, John, of Old Road, p. of Astbury, yeoman 6 Feb. 1802

Parish History

Astbury

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

ASTBURY, a village and a parish in Congleton district, Cheshire. The village stands on an affluent of the river Dane, adjacent to the North Staffordshire railway, near the Macclesfield canal, 1½ mile SW of Congleton; and has a post office under Congleton, and fairs on 30 April and 30 Oct.

The parish includes the townships of Davenport, Somerford-Booths, Hulme-Walfield, Radnor, Buglawton, Congleton, Newbold-Astbury, Moreton-cum-Alcumlow, Smallwood, and Odd-Rode. Acres, 19,602. Real property, £66,903. Pop. in 1841, 14,519; in 1861, 19,351. Houses, 4,009. There are six chief proprietors. Coal, limestone, and building-stone are worked. Very many of the inhabitants are employed in silk factories, and some in cotton mills.

The living is a rectory, united with the curacy of Hulme-Walfield, in the diocese of Chester. Value, £2,040. Patron, Lord Crewe. The church is early English, with a good spire; and contains chancel stalls, a rood-loft, some fine screen-work, stained windows, and carved oaken ceilings. Two very ancient monuments, with insignia of knighthood, are in the churchyard. The chapelries of Buglawton, Congleton, Congleton St. James’, Congleton St. Stephen’s, Eaton, Mossley, Odd-Rode, and Smallwood, and the donative of Somerford, are separate charges. Charities, exclusive of Congleton, £63. See Congleton.

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

A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848

ASTBURY (St. Mary), a parish, chiefly in the union of Congleton, consisting of the townships of Eaton and Somerford-Booths in the hundred of Macclesfield, and the market-town of Congleton, and the townships of Astbury-Newbold, Buglawton, Davenport, Hulme-Walfield, Moreton with Alcumlow, Odd Rode, Radnor, Smallwood, and Somerford, in the hundred of Northwich, county of Chester; and containing 14,890 inhabitants, of whom 641 are in Astbury-Newbold.

This parish comprises by computation 20,000 acres, and contains a bed of limestone, from twenty-five to thirty yards in thickness, of which considerable quantities are procured and burnt; it is based on a species of gritstone, excellent for building. The Macclesfield canal passes at a short distance to the east of the village. The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s books at £68, and in the patronage of the Trustees of Lord Crewe; net income, upwards of £1500.

The church is a spacious and beautiful structure, in every style of architecture from the early English to the later English, but chiefly the latter: the interior contains several stalls, a rood-loft, and some fine screen-work; the roofs are of oak, richly carved; the east window is highly enriched, and there are some fine specimens of stained glass. The tower, which stands at the north-west angle of the church, and is surmounted by an elegant spire, appears to have belonged to a former edifice. There are also churches or chapels at Congleton, Buglawton, Mossley, Rode, Smallwood, and Somerford; together with several places of worship for dissenters, in the parish.

The sum of £50 per annum, the bequest of John Holford in 1714, is partly distributed among the poor, and partly applied in apprenticing children. The parish contains some petrifying springs.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848

Eaton

A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848

EATON, a township, in the parish of Astbury, union and hundred of Macclesfield, N. division of the county of Chester, 2 miles (N. N. E.) from Congleton; containing 535 inhabitants. This place is said to have had no manor, and no mention of one occurs in ancient records. It comprises 1167 acres, of a sandy and clayey soil; and lies on the west side of the river Dane, and on the road from Congleton to Macclesfield. A short distance from the village is Eaton Hall, long a seat of the Antrobus family.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848

Somerford

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

SOMERFORD, a township in Astbury parish, Cheshire; 3 miles NW by W of Congleton. Acres, 1,203. Real property, £1,821. Pop., 82. Houses, 14. S. Park is the seat of Sir W. Shakerley, Bart.

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

Historical Maps

Vision of Britain Historical Maps – includes topographic maps, boundary maps and land use maps

Alan Godfrey Old Ordnance Survey Maps

Chester and Central Cheshire 1905 One Inch Sheet 109

The full range of Cheshire maps produced by Alan Godfrey are available in the Cheshire Maps section of the Books & Maps area. There you can search by principal villages and parishes, by key features for town and city plans, and sort the maps by type and scale. Coverage is taken from the places listed in Alan Godfrey’s own map descriptions, although smaller parishes may not be explicitly named. View all the Cheshire & District Alan Godfrey Maps.

Administration

  • County: Cheshire
  • Civil Registration District: Congleton
  • Probate Court: Pre-1541 – Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory), Post-1540 – Court of the Bishop of Chester (Episcopal Consistory)
  • Diocese: Pre-1541 – Lichfield and Coventry, Post-1540 – Chester
  • Rural Deanery: Middlewich
  • Poor Law Union: Congleton
  • Hundred: Macclesfield; Northwich
  • Province: York

Sources

The following sources have been used to compile this article.

  • F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991)
  • FamilySearch Research Wiki – Cheshire, England Genealogy
  • Cheshire Archives and Local Studies Catalogue
  • Ancestry.co.uk

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