Moresby, Cumberland Family History Guide

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Moresby is an Ancient Parish in the county of Cumberland.

Other places in the parish include: Parton.

Alternative names:

Parish church: St. Bridget

Parish registers begin:

  • Parish registers: 1717
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: 1676

Nonconformists include: Baptist and Methodist.

Adjacent Parishes

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

MORESBY, a village, a township, and a parish, in Whitehaven district, Cumberland. The village stands on the coast, near Parton r. station, 2 miles NNE of Whitehaven; occupies the site of the Roman station Arbeia; and has yielded a number of Roman relics, including structures and inscriptions.

The township includes the village, and extends into the country. Real property, £3,246. Pop. in 1851, 533; in 1861, 463. Houses, 101. The parish contains also the township of Parton, which has a post-office under Whitehaven. Acres, 2,187; of which 52 are water. Real property, £4,346. Pop. in 1851, 1, 311; in 1861, 1,222. Houses, 268. The property is divided among a few. The manor belongs to the Earl of Lonsdale. Moresby Hall is a mansion after a design by Inigo Jones. There is an iron foundry.

The living is a rectory in the diocese of Carlisle. Value, £105. Patron, the Earl of Lonsdale. The church stands on an eminence, within an ancient camp 330 feet square; and is a modern edifice, with a tower. There is an endowed school, with £42 a year.

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

A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848

Moresby (St. Bridget), a parish, in the union of Whitehaven, Allerdale ward about Derwent, W. division of Cumberland; containing, with the township of Parton, 1175 inhabitants, of whom 93 are in the township of Moresby, 2 miles (N. by E.) from Whitehaven. It is evident this was the site of a Roman station, from the numerous foundations of buildings, the caverns, and Roman inscriptions, which have been discovered. Horsley thinks that it was Arbeia, where, according to the Notitia, the Numerus Barcariorum Tigritensium was in garrison.

The parish is bounded on the west by the Irish Sea. There is an iron-foundry. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king’s books at £6. 2. 3½.; net income, £105; patron, the Earl of Lonsdale. The church has been rebuilt. A school was endowed by Joseph Williamson, Esq., with lands now producing about £42 per annum.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848

Parish Registers

Moresby Marriages 1676 – 1837 Cumberland Parish Registers: Marriages, Edited by W.P.W. Phillimore, M.A., B.C.L., and C. W. Ruston-Harrison, Vol. 1; London 1910. – This book is a free download from Parishmouse

Administration

  • County: Cumberland
  • Civil Registration District: Whitehaven
  • Probate Court: Court of the Archdeaconry of Richmond Western Deaneries – Copeland
  • Diocese: Carlisle
  • Rural Deanery: Copeland
  • Poor Law Union: Whitehaven
  • Hundred: Allerdale above Derwent Ward
  • Province: York