Penrith Cumberland Family History Guide

Penrith is an Ancient Parish and a market town in the county of Cumberland.

Other places in the parish include: Inglewood Forest, Sendgate, Plumpton Head, Netherend, Middlegate, Townend, Eamont Bridge, Dockray, Carleton, and Burrows.

Parish church:

Parish registers begin:

Parish registers: 1556
Bishop’s Transcripts: 1664

Nonconformists include: Independent/Congregational, Primitive Methodist, Roman Catholic, Society of Friends/Quaker, United Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and Wesleyan Methodist.

Table of Contents

Adjacent Parishes

Parish History

Penrith

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

PENRITH, a town, a parish, a sub-district, and a district, in Cumberland. The town stands on Watling-street, and on the Lancaster and Carlisle railway, at the junction of the Cockermouth and Penrith railway, 1 mile N of the river Eamont at the boundary with Westmoreland, and 17½ SSE of Carlisle. It dates from remote times; was early a place of military strength, and long a chief post in the hotly debated tract of Inglewood forest; was given to Alexander III. of Scotland with his wife Margaret, and again given by Edward I. of England to the military bishop Beck.

It passed to the Nevilles, who built a castle at it; suffered devastation in 1342, 1345, and 1386 by the Scots; had so large a population in the time of Elizabeth as to lose 2,260 inhabitants by a pestilence; was taken in 1648 by General Lambert; was occupied in 1715 by Foster for the Chevalier; was occupied again in 1745, both on the advance to Derby and on the return, by the army of the Pretender.

It consists now of one long street and several smaller ones, well built, of red sand-stone, but generally plastered and white-washed; is supposed to have got its name of Penrith, signifying “the red hill,” from the colour of the building material; was much improved by removal of old edifices, and by reconstructions, in 1807 and in subsequent years.

It is a seat of petty sessions and county courts, and a polling place; publishes two weekly newspapers; and has a head post-office, a railway station with telegraph, three banking offices, two chief inns, remains of the ancient castle, assembly and news-rooms, two churches, four dissenting chapels, a Roman Catholic chapel, a grammar school, an endowed girls school, a workhouse, and charities £261.

The ancient castle stood on the W side of the town; was inhabited for some time by the Duke of Gloucester, afterwards Richard III.; remained long in the possession of the Crown; was seized and dismantled by the parliamentarians, in the civil wars of Charles I.; went, at the Revolution, to the first Earl of Portland; was sold, in 1783, to the Duke of Devonshire; passed, at a recent period, to other parties; appears to have been a quadrangle, with towers at the corners, and with a moat; and is now a fragmentary, ivy-clad, picturesque ruin, interiorly occupied as a farm-yard.

The parish church was rebuilt in 1722; has an ancient tower; and was greatly enlarged in 1863. The previous church was given by Henry I. to the Bishop of Carlisle; and had a chantry, founded by Bishop Strickland. The churchyard contains a curious monument, called the Giant’s Grave, supposed by many antiquaries to commemorate Owen Cæsarins, a regulus of Cumberland in the Saxon times; and contains also a stone pillar, 4 feet high, called the Giant’s Thumb. Christ Church is a modern edifice, in the later English style; and serves for a section of the parish, with about 2,000 inhabitants. The Independent chapel was built in 1866.

The grammar school was founded, in 1340, by Bishop Strickland; was re-founded by Queen Elizabeth; and has an endowed income of £44. The girls’ endowed school has £34. The workhouse has accommodation for 250 persons; and, at the census of 1861, had 153 inmates. A weekly market is held on Tuesdays; fairs are held on 1 March, 23 April, Whit-Tuesday, 27 Sept., and 26 Oct.; and some manufacture is carried on in ginghams, checks, calicoes, and fancy waistcoats.

A race-course is on the N side of the town, with a grand-stand built in 1814; and horse-races and stag-hunts were held in Autumn. Beacon hill is in the N E vicinity; rises to an altitude of 1,020 feet above sea-level; was used in old times, as a post for beacon-fires; and commands a magnificent and extensive panoramic view. The environs, for several miles, abound in curious antiquities, splendid parks, and picturesque scenes. Pop. of the town, in 1851, 6,668; in 1861, 7,189. Houses, 1,596.

The parish contains also the hamlets of Carleton, Plumpton-Head, and Eamont-Bridge; and comprises 7,664 acres. Real property, £29,012; of which £237 are in gas-works. Pop. in 1851, 7,387; in 1861, 7,948. Houses, 1,721. The head living is a vicarage, and that of Christchurch is a p. curacy, in the diocese of Carlisle. Value of the former, £300; of the latter, £300. Patron of both, the Bishop of Carlisle.

The sub-district contains also the parishes of Melmerby, Ousby, Langwathby, Edenhall, Dacre, and Newton-Regny, and the township of Plumpton-Wall. Acres, 49,291. Pop., 11,532. Houses, 2,396. The district comprehends also the sub-district of Greystoke, containing the parishes of Grey-stoke, Hutton-in-the-Forest, Castle-Sowerby, and Skelton, the township of Mosedale, and the hamlet of Middlesceugh-with-Braithwaite; and the sub-district of Kirkoswald, containing the parishes of Kirkoswald, Ainstable, Croglin, Renwick, Addingham, Great Salkeld, and Hesket-in-the-Forest, and the township of Lazonby. Acres of the district, 181,236. Poor-rates in 1863, £8,752. Pop. in 1851, 22,307; in 1861, 22,322. Houses, 4,548.

Marriages in 1863, 175; births, 759, of which 104 were illegitimate; deaths, 375, of which 135 were at ages under 5 years, and 22 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 1,243; births, 6,596; deaths, 4,239. The places of worship, in 1851, were 29 of the Church of England, with 9,278 sittings; 4 of United Presbyterians, with 490 s.; 3 of Independents, with 740 s.; 2 of Quakers, with 620 s.; 30 of Wesleyans, with 3,115 s.; 4 of Primitive Methodists, with 560 s.; 2 undefined, with 174 s.; and 1 of Roman Catholics, with 98 s. The schools were 44 public day-schools, with 2,098 scholars; 37 private day-schools, with 768 s.; and 40 Sunday schools, with 2, 210 s.

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

Plumpton Head

A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848

PLUMPTON-HEAD, a hamlet, in the parish and union of Penrith, Leath ward, E. division of Cumberland; containing 87 inhabitants.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848

Parish Records

FamilySearch

Cumberland Historical Directories

Directory Transcriptions

Kelly’s Directory of the Leather Trades 1880

PENRITH
Market day Tuesday

Boot & Shoe Makers Warehouses & Dealers
Alcock Joseph 1 West lane
Bewley William 5 Princes st
Birbeck Jonadab 34 Rowcliffe la
Bird James 13 Middlegate
Gorrill Mrs Sarah Ann 12a Burrowgate
Graham Thomas 11 Castlegate
Hallewell Bartholomew King street
Harrison William 6 St Andrew’s view
Long Edward 34 King street
Lowthian George 81 Burrowgate
Olivant Matthew 8 Devonshire st
Peacock Thomas 4 Sandgate
Penrith Boot & Shoe Company 5 Castlegate
Sarginson John & Son King street
Sinkinson James 17 Middlegate
Sinkinson Rd 4a Market square
Stalker William 10 Middlegate
Taylor Robert 12 Brougham st
Watterson John 28 Burrowgate
Wood Mrs Mary 4 Corn market

Clog & Patten Makers
Bewley William 5 Princes st
Burrell John 95 Scotland road
Flint Charles 6 Scotland road
Harrrison William 6 St Andrew’s view
Hunter Richard 12 Burrowgate
Lowthian Geo 31 Burrowgate
Watterson John 28 Burrowgate
Woods Mrs Mary 4 Corn market

Coach & Carriage Builders
Pears Brothers Little Dockray
Proud Wm & Joseph Friar st
Sisson Benjamin Victoria road

Curriers
Clark Mrs Jane 23 Corn
Simpson John 14 King street
Westmorland Brothers 38 London road
Wilson John Great Dockray

Fellmonger
Westmorland Wm Old London rd

Furriers – Retail
Bird & Furnace 24 Devonshire
Turner John 23 Devonshire st

Horse Clothing Manufacturers
Nanson Robt & Son 10 Market sq

Leather Merchant
Simpson John 14 King street

Saddlers & Harness Makers
Douglas & Son 8 Corn market
Nanson Robt & Son 10 Market
Rennie & Wilkinson 3 Middlegate
Roper Benjamin A Corn market
Wharton Anthony 27 Little Dockray

Skinners
Harrison John Duke street
Westmorland Wm Old London rd

Tanners
Harrison John Duke street
Westmorland Brothers 38 Ola London road
Westmorland Wm Old London

Maps

Vision of Britain historical maps

Administration

County: Cumberland
Civil Registration District: Penrith
Probate Court: Court of the Bishop of Carlisle (Episcopal Consistory)
Diocese: Carlisle
Rural Deanery: Allerdale
Poor Law Union: Penrith
Hundred: Leath Ward
Province: York