Lorton, Cumberland Family History Guide
Lorton is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Cumberland, created in 1744 from a chapelry in Brigham Ancient Parish.
Other places in the parish include: Brachenthwaite and Brakenthwaite.
Alternative names:
Parish church: St. Cuthbert
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1538
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1616
Nonconformists include: Wesleyan Methodist
Table of Contents
Adjacent Parishes
View Location on UK Great Britain, Ordnance Survey (1:1 million-1:10,560), 1900s – Full Screen
Parish History
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
LORTON, a village, a township, and a parish in Cockermouth district, Cumberland. The village stands on the Cocker river, in Lorton vale, 4 miles SSE of Cockermouth r. station; and has a post office under Cockermouth.
The township comprises 5,264 acres. Real property, £3,288. Pop., 456. Houses, 90. The parish contains also the townships of Brackeuthwaite and Wythop; and comprises 10,755 acres. Real property, £5,728. Pop., 658. Houses, 131. The property is much subdivided. Lorton Hall, Lorton House, Fairfield, Oakhill, and Kirkfell House are chief residences.
Lorton vale extends from Crummock-water to the N boundary of the parish; is flanked on the W by Low fell and Whin fell, on the E, by Whiteside, Whinlatter, and Wythop fells; is well-wooded and beautifully picturesque; and contained, till recently, a famous old yew tree, sung as follows by Wordsworth:-
There is a yew-tree, pride of Lorton vale,
Which to this day stands single, in the midst
Of its own darkness, as it stood of yore.
Of vast circumference and gloom profound
This solitary tree ! a living thing,
Produced too slowly ever to decay;
Of form and aspect too magnificent
To be destroyed.
The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Carlisle. Value, £100. Patron, the Earl of Lonsdale. The church was, in 1867, about to be restored and beautified. There is a parochial school.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848
LORTON (St. Cuthbert), a parish, in the union of Cockermouth, Allerdale ward above Derwent, W. division of Cumberland; containing, with the townships of Brackenthwaite and Wythop, 635 inhabitants, of whom 394 are in the township of Lorton, 3¾ miles (S. E. by S.) from Cockermouth. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £76; patron, the Earl of Lonsdale. At Wythop is a second incumbency.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848
Parish Registers
Marriage Licences and Allegations
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.
Tyldesley, Robert, of St. Lawrence, Old Jewry, grocer, and Jane Hudson, spinster, of St. Edmunds, Lombard Street, daughter of Barnard Hudson, of Lorton, co. Cumberland, yeoman, gen. lic., 21 Oct. 1587. B.
Source: London Marriage Licences 1521 to 1869; Edited by Joseph Foster; London 1887
Parish Records
FamilySearch
Census returns for Lorton, 1841-1891
Bishop’s transcripts for Lorton, 1616-1871
Parish registers for Lorton, 1538-1978
Parish registers for Wythop, 1792-1812 Author: Church of England. Chapelry of Wythop (Cumberland)
Computer printout of Lorton, Cumb., Eng
Computer printout of Wythop, Cumb., Eng
Parish register printouts of Lorton, Cumberland, England ; christenings, 1616, 1689-1795
Parish register printouts of Lorton, Cumberland, England ; christenings, 1796-1871
Parish register printouts of Lorton, Cumberland, England ; marriages, 1796-1863
The Vale of Lorton : a history Author: Winter, Horace E.
Administration
- County: Cumberland
- Civil Registration District: Cockermouth
- Probate Court: Court of the Archdeaconry of Richmond Western Deaneries – Copeland
- Diocese: Carlisle
- Rural Deanery: Copeland
- Poor Law Union: Cockermouth
- Hundred: Allerdale above Derwent Ward
- Province: York