WARNING: The correct use of any parish data from this project requires initial reading of the GENERAL NOTES as well as of the specific PARISH NOTES.
Because of the gap in the registers from 1618 to 1678 for burials, and from 1618 to 1697 for baptisms and marriages, a separate file of transcripts from the bishops’ transcripts (BTs) covering these years is coded under WEVA in this database.
Volume 1 1576-1618
baptisms, marriages, and burials. The register is in poor condition,
occasionally illegible and hard to decipher.
Dates are frequently misordered.
The register has been re-bound and entries in 1601 put in the wrong place.
There are gaps within these dates, including no marriages for 1583-87,
1598 and 1602.
Volume 2 1697-1799
Baptisms 1697-1799
Marriages 1697-1754
Volume 3 1678-1759
Burials 1678-1759
Births 1699-1707
Between 1713 and 1727 details of affidavits of burials in wool
(date & name(s) of maker) are given for the majority of entries
(query, less as time passes), but are not noted here.
Baptisms in 5 volumes: 1800-1807; 1808-1812; 1813-1835; 1835-1856; 1856-1891
Marriages in 4 volumes:
1754-1788, 1788-1812, 1813-1837; 1837-1873
Marriages in 1785-1787 damaged and out of order.
Burials in 3 volumes: 1759-1812, 1813-1846, 1846-1925
Latin
In Latin to 1711, but in 1700-1702 PR entries are in English,
BT in Latin.
BTs Lacking
BTs are reported missing as follows
Baptisms: none until 1597, save for 1579, none for 1611, 1613, 1615, 1616. Parish register then missing until 1697. Then none for 1704, 1705. Illegible in part from 1751-1753
Marriages: none until 1597, save for 1579, then 1610, 1612. Parish register missing 1618-1697. Then none 1751, illegible Feb - May 1752, 1755, 1787-1805, 1823 onwards.
Burials: none until 1597, save for 1579, then 1611, 1613, 1615, 1616. Parish register then missing until 1678. Then none for 1686, 1688, 1689, 1691 damaged, 1740, 1790
Baptism records from 1600/04/22 (Woodfen) to 1602/11/23 (Gardner)
also appear with variants bound in the register out of order after
1611/08/11 (Hay).
Ba 1700/02/06 (Williamson * Williams) Memorandum that
Edward the son of Edward Williamson was born in Crowton before an
order came for the removal of them into Weaverham.
After burial 1728/06/20 (Parker) is a note that ’The Visitation was held June the 21st 1728’.
Burials from 1740/03017 to 1740/05/04 are out of order, noted as burials omitted, and are without equivalent entries in the BTs.
BTs only
Baptisms
Ba 1610/07/13 (Brookes) BT only
Ba 1611/02/20 (Bancroft) BT only
Ba 1611/02/24 (Till) BT only
Ba 1611/02/24 (Merricke) BT only
Ba 1612/09/24 (Okil) BT only
Ba 1715/08/21 (Gerrard) BT only
Ba 1783/12/25 (Mountfield) BT only
Ba 1787/03/11 (Walworth) BT only
Ba 1789/10/29 (Parson) BT only
Ba 1793/09/29 (Harrison) Bt only
Ba 1801/03/21 (Bull) BT only
Ba 1838/09/23 (Maddock) BT only
Ba 1838/10/28 (Conchie John Haddock ??) BT only
Marriages
Ma 1579/11/07 (Locker/Asmore) BT only
Ma 1597/11/11 (Carington/Pickere) BT only
Ma 1602/11/26 (Amrie/zzzalle) BT only
Ma 1611/02/22 (Hamoke/Heyvill) BT only
Ma 1743/08/14 (Barker/Burgess) BT only
Burials
Bu 1579/07/08 (Lowe) BT only
Bu 1579/07/30 (Cooke) BT only
Bu 1579/04/12 (Boult) BT only
Bu 1579/07/28 (Gerrard) BT only
Bu 1579/04/12 (Frier) BT only
Bu 1579/06/22 (Millington) BT only
Bu 1781/03/02 (Williams) BT only
Bu 1785/02/09 (Davies) BT only?
Bu 1786/zz/zz (Whittlow) BT only?
Bu 1793/03/27 (Hinton) BT only?
Clergy (In [ ] supplied from Ormerod)
Vicars to 1830
1705 Stephan Morhall [Morrall]
1712-1735 James Duckworth
[1735-1755 Edward Mainwaring]
1755 [1777] Thos Hunter
[1777-1796] Thos Hunter Junior
1798-[1803] Thos Blackburne
1803-1822 T. Armitstead
1823-1835 R. V. Law
Curates
1735 Hu Lowndes
1757-1759 James Richardson
1760-1767 Math Hartley
1762-1765 Henry G Mayer, J Jones
1768 John Cautly
1769 Thomas Hunter Jun ordained
1774-1777 Revd Mr Hunter junior
1796 John Tench was appointed curate Aug 1st.
1799-1806 Mr Willan
1808-1816 E Clementson
1819-1823 Thomas Clarke
1823-1827 Robert Holmes
1827 R Holmes
1828-1833 Geo Gibbons
Visiting clergy or assistant curates
1705-1709 clandestine marriages were performed by
Ricardus Woodward de Tarvin, Thomas Vigatt
(Vogall in BT) and Guliomus Dennis.
1725 Stephen Hignett, Mr Husband
1728 Joseph Malton
1728-1755 Nathaniel Ward
1755 H Baines
1755 Wm Kaye, T Blackburn Minister of Daresbury
1759 John Gleave, Robt Markham
1769 Revd Mr Kent Minister
1771 Mr Hatfield of Northwich, Mr Hewson Curate of Frodsham, Revd Mr W M Hunter one of the ministers of St Pauls Liverpool Lancs, Mr Adfield of Northwich
1774 Revd Mr Stanley junior
1774 Feb - 1794 Philip [or P.H.] Egerton
1783-1793 Thos Jeffes
1787-1800 G. Okell
1792-1794 P. H. Antrobus
1793 Thos Williamson
1794 R Littler
1794 The Revd Rd Massie came here Sept 28th, Mr Gervas Powell
1801 Josh Dickin
1813 Mr Harrison
1813 Mr B. Worthington
1818 William Stewart
N.B. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries many other clergy signed as 'Officiating Minister', but these are presumed to be locums, not curates, and are not listed.
Churchwardens/'Guardians'
1716 Richard Pickering, Peter Dutton;
1717 Saml Bancroft, Jonathan Pickering;
1718 Thomas Done (mark of), Charles Done;
1720 John Bancroft, Jonathan Lowe[s]; [names confused 1722- 1728; no wardens' call books for this period in the CRO]
1722 Jos Booth, John Thomas;
1723 Thomas Lowe, John Barker;
1724 Confusion) John Baguley, Charles Gerrard;
1725 John Boulton, Joseph Woodier;
1726 Caleb Ward [Wood]?, Thomas Burges [Gowge?]; Saml Cooke, William Smith, Samuel Weston.
1727 Tho Done; William Sandbach;
1728 W Donbavand, John Green
1730 John Gerrard, Thomas Hewitt;
1731 Peter Bancroft, William Smith;
1732 Charles Ollyer, William Worrall;
1733 John Andrews;
1734 Andrew Barker, Wm Swain;
1771 Samuel Hornby, Joseph Mason;
1772 J.Walker, J Rigby;
1773 Joseph Rigby Sen, John Witter;
1776 Mr Rd Weston, John Gibson;
1778 Thomas Edwards, Thomas Pickering;
1781 William Robinson, Samuel Hignett; Robert Whitley, William Cliffe;
1779 James Walker. Thomas Plumb;
1782 Robert Whittley, William Cliffe;
1799 Richd Garrat, Jno Hornby, Jos Rigby clerk;
Churchwardens’ accounts survive from 1630 to 1849 but are not used here.
The parish archive includes an undated alphabetical list of churchwardens.
Note:
"Jan 1st 1808 -
Fees to be paid to the Vicar, Clerk and Sexton of Weaverham for burials
brought from other parishes. (shillings/pence)
Vicar fee for a man or woman 5/-
Clerks fee for a man or woman 3/6
Sexton fee for a man or woman 3/6
Vicars fee for a child under 4 years of age 4/-
Clerks fee ditto 2/6
Sextons fee ditto 2/6
Thomas Armitstead Vicar"
Nov, Dec 1871 there are 7 entries of baptisms at Crowton Church by the Revd C.W Spencer Stanhope, vicar of Weaverham. These are also in Crowton parish register
Seating rolls for 1775 and 1841 are not transcribed here.
The ancient parish of Weaverham lay in central Cheshire, close to Northwhich. Essentially, it comprised the townships of Acton, Crowton, Cuddington, Onston, Wallerscote, and Weaverham cum Milton. However, this simple list of townships hides a number of complexities. Crowton contained a small detached portion of Frodsham parish, while a small detached portion of Crowton was in Norley township in Frodsham parish; part of Weaverham cum Milton was in the parish of Whitegate; there were two detached portions of Weaverham cum Milton inside Hartford township in the parish of Great Budworth; and there were three detached portions of Whitegate parish in Weaverham cum Milton.
The ancient parishes surrounding Weaverham were, clockwise from the north, Great Budworth, Whitegate, then came Delamere Forest only enclosed in 1819, then Frodsham, and finally Runcorn. The new ecclesiastical parish of Crowton was established in 1872 according to Youngs (but see Oddities above); Williams says Crowton’s registers begin 1871. No other new ecclesiastical parishes were created from the main body of Weaverham ancient parish in our period.
The population of Weaverham ancient parish can be estimated by the number of households in ecclesiastical ’censuses’ of 1563 (246 households or families), c.1720 (242), and in 1778 (329 houses). The sum of the households in the parish in the hearth tax of 1664 was 220. The population of the ancient parish in 1801 was 1,819 people, and 3,013 in 1871.
P. M. Littler, ’Weaverham marriages 1577-1837’ (1983). Copies in church and at Cheshire Record Office.
Colin Phillips compiled these notes, using a digest made by Susan George of the information collected by transcribers and recorded with each transcription pad. Further information about the make-up of the register volumes came from the list in the Cheshire Record Office.
Details of the evolution of the ancient parish came from Guide to the local administrative units of England, Vol. II Northern England, ed. F.A. Youngs, Jr (1991), pp. 16, 20, 40 and from C. M. Williams, Guide to the Cheshire Record Office ([Chester], 1991), p. 81. Extra detail on vicars came from G. Ormerod, The history of the County Palatine and City of Chester, ed. T. Helsby (3 vols; London, 1882), II, p. 117.
The population estimates were gathered as follows 1563: The diocesan population returns for 1563 and 1603, ed. A. D. Dyer and D. M. Palliser (British Academy: records of social and economic history, new series, vol. XXXI, 2005), p. 82; count of households 1664: The National Archives, Exchequer, E. 179/86/145 (on microfilm), hearth tax returns; c. 1720 F. Gastrell, Notitia Cestriensis, ed. F. R .Raines, vol. I (Chetham Society, old series, VIII, 1845), p. 360; and 1778: Cheshire RO, Diocese of Chester, EDV/7/1 (on microfilm). For 1801 and 1871 see VCH Cheshire, vol. II, p. 237.)
For the complicated geography of the parish see the base map in A.D.M. Phillips and C. B. Phillips, A new historical atlas of Cheshire (Chester, 2002).