Wreay, Cumberland Family History Guide

Wreay is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Cumberland, created in 1738 from a chapelry in Carlisle St Mary Ancient Parish.

Alternative names:

Parish church: St. Mary

Parish registers begin:

  • Parish registers: 1750
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: 1776

Nonconformists include:

Adjacent Parishes

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

WREAY, a chapelry in Carlisle St. Mary parish, Cumberland; on the Lancaster and Carlisle railway, 5½ miles SSE of Carlisle. It has a post-office under Carlisle, and a r. station.

Acres, 1,088. Real property, £1,967. Pop., 166. Houses, 31. The property is divided among a few.

The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Carlisle. Value, £86. The church was built in 1739.

There is a partially endowed 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

WREAY, a chapelry, in the parish of St. Mary, union of Carlisle, Cumberland ward, E. division of the county of Cumberland, 5¾ miles (S. E. by S.) from Carlisle; containing 151 inhabitants.

The Lancaster railway passes here, and has some heavy cuttings between the village of Wreay and the house of Woodside, the residence of Miss Losh.

The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £86; patrons and appropriators, the Dean aud Chapter of Carlisle.

The chapel, dedicated to St. Mary, has been rebuilt, at the expense (with the exception of a small donation from the Dean and Chapter) of Miss Losh, who has had it profusely decorated with stained glass. The reading-desk is formed of an eagle, on whose spread-out wings the chesnut-bound Bible and prayer-book are retained by chains; the sermon is preached from the butt of a black oak, cut in imitation of the sigilaria or antediluvian palm-tree; and the clerk’s desk, on the opposite side, is the figure of a pelican; all very boldly carved. There are numerous figures and ornaments in and about the communion table, and other parts of the chapel.

A school, erected by subscription in 1760, was endowed by John Brown in 1763 with £200, which were laid out in land now producing £15 a year.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848

Parish Records

FamilySearch

Census returns for Wreay, 1841-1891

Bishop’s transcripts Wreay, 1776-1872

Parish registers for Wreay, 1750-1960

Computer printout of Wreay by Carlisle, Cumb., Eng

Administration

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