Beetham, Westmorland Family History Guide

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Beetham is an Ancient Parish in the county of Westmorland.

Other places in the parish include: Tarleton, Methop with Ulpha, Methop and Ulpha, Holme Island, Haverbrack, Farleton, and Arnside.

Parish registers begin:

  • Parish registers: 1604
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: 1689

Nonconformists include:

Adjacent Parishes

BEETHAM VILLAGE
BEETHAM BRIDGE RIVER BELA
BEETHAM

Parish History

Beetham

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

BEETHAM, a township and a parish in Kendal district, Westmoreland. The township lies on the river Beetha, 1½ mile S of Milnthorpe. Acres, 7,101; of which 1,885 are water. Real property, with Tarleton, £6,095. Pop., 776. Houses, 160.

The parish extends down both sides of the river Kent to Morecambe bay; includes the townships of Tarleton, Haverbrack, Witherslack, and Methop-with-Ulpha; is traversed by the Lancaster and Carlisle and the Lancaster and Ulverston railways; and contains the village of Arnside, with a station on the latter railway and a post-office under Milnthorpe. Acres, 17,449; of which 4,177 are water. Real property, £11,449. Pop;, 1,510. Houses, 289. The property is much subdivided.

The surface is diversified, hilly, and picturesque. Slate and limestone occur; and paper-making is carried on. Beetham Hall, formerly the seat of the Betham family, now the property of the Earl of Derby, was a fine castellated mansion, but is now in ruins. Cappleside House also was a great mansion, with 117 feet of frontage; but is likewise in ruins. The towers of Arnside and Helslack, supposed to have been erected to guard the bay of Morecambe, make a conspicuous figure, but are also in ruins.

The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Carlisle. Value £159. Patron, the Duchy of Lancaster. The church is a neat edifice; and contains monuments of the Betham and Wilson families, and a manuscript history of the parish, written by the vicar Hutton. The p. curacy of Witherslack is a separate benefice. A grammar school, founded by Dean Barwick, has an endowed income of about £40; and other charities have about £472.

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

Farleton

A Topographical Dictionary of England 1845

Farleton, a township, in the parish of Beetham, union and ward of Kendal, county of Westmorland, 3 miles (N.) from Burton-in-Kendal; containing 118 inhabitants. It comprises 1083 acres, of which 200 are waste land or common. The Kendal and Lancaster canal passes on the western side of the village. Farleton Knot, a lofty rock of limestone, has on its summit several springs. The tithes have been commuted for £105. 7 , of which £3. 4. 9. are payable to the vicar, £7. 2. 3. to impropriators, and £95 to the Free Grammar school, Kirkby-Lonsdale. There are some remains of a castle, supposed to be of Roman origin.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis Fifth Edition Published London; by S. Lewis and Co., 13, Finsbury Place, South. M. DCCC. XLV.

Parish Records

FamilySearch

The records listed below are part of the FamilySearch Catalog Collection. The records may be Free to view and/or search online or can be ordered from your Local Family History Library.

The memorial inscriptions of St Michael & All Angels Church Beetham and St. James Church Arnside

Census returns for Beetham, 1841-1891

The Beetham repository, 1770 Author: Hutton, William, 1723-1815

Bishop’s transcripts for Beetham, 1689-1870

Bishop’s transcripts for Witherslack, 1801-1887

Parish register transcripts for Witherslack, 1629-1812

Parish register transcripts, Killington, Westmorland, England … and Witherslack, Westmorland, England : christenings, marriages and burials, 1689-1800 [Killington] and christenings, marriages and burials, 1694-1800 [Witherslack]

Parish registers for Beetham

Parish registers for St. James’ Church, Arnside, 1866-1917

Parish register printouts of Beetham, Westmorland, England ; christenings, 1813-1870

Maps

View detailed 19th-century Ordnance Survey maps from the National Library of Scotland Maps – includes OS 25 inch 1892-1918 maps, a vast range of other historical OS maps and land use maps. These maps reveal old street layouts, parish boundaries, and landmarks long since vanished.

Administration

  • County: Westmorland
  • Civil Registration District: Kendal
  • Probate Court: Court of the Bishop (Consistory) of the Commissary of the Archdeaconry of Richmond Western Deaneries – Kendal
  • Diocese: Chester
  • Rural Deanery: Kendal
  • Poor Law Union: Kendal
  • Hundred: Kendal
  • Province: York