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.
Mixed 1565-1736: the letters b/m/+ in margin indicate baptisms, marriages, burials. [In a new book from 1736 are baptisms and burials and marriages separately to 1753, then baptisms and burials to 1812. There is a separate marriage register from 1753, and baptisms and burials are in separate books after 1812.]
Register Gap: 1649/03/29-1651/03/22. Note that apart from odd entries found only in the BT and signalled as such, a series of entries between 1740 and 1773 appear only in the BT, and these are separately noted in Anomalous Entries below.
Latin: None in PR, Latin in BT 1600-1639.
Date Style: New Style (1 January) begins 1753.
before 1600 all except 1576/7, 1601-3, 1605-6, 1610, 1616, 1621, 1624, 1627, 1631-2, 1638, 1640, 1642-1657, 1661-3, 1667, 1678,, 1686-7, 1691, 1739, 1751, 1854-1871
Ba 1634/03/22 (Darlington) Cf. 1634/04/09, apparently the same, perhaps the first a private baptism
Ba 1642/04/17 (Ffryer) partly illegible, ‘Memorandum that the 17th of Aprill Margaret Ffryer alias Amery dau of George Ffryer was bapt being borne in Little Budworth pish from which child and from all troubles that may any way arise and redound to the pish of Whitegate John Ffryer and George Ffryer doe promise that hereby ... whereof they have hereto sett their hands the day and year above written. The mark of John Ffryer The mark of Georg Ffryer’
Ba 1642/07/24 (Bradshaw) partly illegible, ‘Memo that Thomas Harrison of the Cavill ... to these and ... from the sd Ellen Bradshaw alias Ormes as witness the Church wards’
1670-1783 BT only entries occur, and were inputted in two different ways: (a) Bu each relevant cell starred, or (b) Ba as indicated individually below.
Bu 1672/01/17 ‘A poore woman A traveller who died at Randle Frodsham’, and BT adds ‘constable and wee could not learn her name’
Bu 1675/12/27 (Denston) ‘John Denston of Hodnett foote boy at Valroyall who dyed accedentally by a fiere which was supposed to be his death was buried and noe body with him when he dyed being found afterwards’
Ma 1683/08/12 (Young/Hickson) ‘by license at Backford by Mr John Horton’
Ma 1684/02/12 (Carter/Mimshull) ‘both of the parish of Tarvin by licence’
Ba 1683/12/15 and 1683/12/27 (Goulding) ‘These two I did not know of in time when they were baptized’
Ba 1684/09/14 (Piggott) the date written above ‘The same date’ crossed out, and added ‘being a mistake in it right now’
Bu 1690/12/17 (Betwisel) ‘Spiner’ entered as an alternative name in BT might be the occupation ‘spinner’
Ba 1700-1730 occasional entries in wrong chronological order noted as ‘not known in time’
Ba 1703/10/12 (Hoose) this entry written on a thin loose slip of parchment
Ba 1709/01/01 the surname Chesterton is crossed out and written over by Johnson in the PR but appears in the BT
Ba 1725/03/00 (Davenham) added separately at page bottom, without exact month, lacks indicator and might be a burial
Ba 1740/12/25 (Ollier) BT only
Ba 1742/01/31 (Edwards) BT only
Ba 1747/06/14 (Thomas -) BT only
Ba 1748/09/04 (Mary -) BT only
Ba 1748/09/04 (Sarah) BT only
Ba 1751/02/17 (Coupar) BT only
Ba 1753/10/28 (Bradshaw) BT only
Ba 1757/01/02 (Arthern) BT only
Ba 1757/01/16 (Worral) BT only
Ba 1758/05/08 (Carter) BT only
Ba 1760/09/29 (Dutton) BT only
Ba 1765/05/26 (Saunders) BT only
Ba 1768/03/27 (Kenerley) BT only
Ba 1770/01/21 (Lamb) BT only
Ba 1770/02/11 (Kenerley) BT only
Ba 1773/04/18 (Minshall) BT only
Bu 1826/08/02 (Lally) ‘Curate of this parish from 1770 to 1772. Vicar from 1772 to 1825 when he resigned’
Bu 1870/01/09 (Robinson) note at page foot ‘real age of the woman was 86 but the registrar’s copy is put down here’
1600-1638 Hamlet Percevall
1639-43 John Frogge
1644- John Pemberton
1647- Miles Pemberton
1654- Richard Boyer
1656- Wm Furney
1657- Will Bridges
1659- Will Bride
1665-6 Thos Tudman
1667-8 Thomas Branker
1669-91 John Oakes/Okes
1692- Master Dean
1693- Garrit Dean
1697-8 Mr Right
1699-1701 Matthew Right
1702-7 Stephen Hignett
1709-13, 1715 Ralph Markham
1713-15 John Rode
1721-4, 1726 Hen Husband
1727-9 Randle Darwall
1729- Wm Sawrey
1730-48 John Eaton (Curate/Minister)
1749-62 Robert Markham
1761-9 Theophilus Meredith
1770-2 Edmund Lally curate
1772-1825 Edmund Lally
1813 J.K. Winstanley curate
1813-36 W.M. Lally curate
1814-21 J. Satherwaite curate
1815-18 J. Satherwaite
1820-5 Wm Whitley curate
1825-72 Wm Whitley.
The names of churchwardens/guardians occur annually from c.1600 to c.1750, but were regrettably not collected by an early transcriber.
Bu 1595/08/19 (Elizabeth Holcroft) ‘at 4 of the clocke in the morninge it pleased god to take to his mercie the Right Worshipll Elizabeth Holcroft wyfe of the Right Worshipll Mr Thomas Holcroft of Vale Royall’, ? burial at Whitegate
Bu 1595/08/25 (Julian Holcroft) ‘beinge sondaye betwixt the houres of one and twoo of the clocke aftr midnight of the same day it pleased god to take to his mercye the right worshipll ladye the Ladie Julian Holcroft of the Vale royall 1595 the 37 yere of her Matie Rayne that nowe is’, ? burial at Whitegate
Ba 1607/09/14 (Millington) partly illegible, ‘The child the said Ellen by vertue of a filiacon out of the consistorie court did upon her oath whch ... women her ...gatore, further upon the said ... 25th October in priv’
Bu 1611/06/20 ‘at night Mr Hughe Starkie of knights grannge depte this lyfe and was buried at Over the 22 daye of this said June’
Bu 1612/01/28 ‘beinge One day betweene 6 and 7 of the clocke in the after noone the Right Worshipfull Ladye Dame Elizabeth Holcroft wyfe of Sr Thoms Holcroft knight depted out of this transitory lyfe and upon the 6th daye of March next after her corpes were caried to this church of Whitegate with great solemnitie and the 10th daye of March next after her corpes were removed heare and caried to the church of Caton Loncarvile in Huntingdon shire there to be interred’
Ba 1613/03/18 ‘The same day being Thursday between the hours of seven and eight of the clock in the fore noone there was a verie great earthquake’
Ba 1617/08/21 ‘The same day being thursday kinge James came to Valeroyall and there kept his court until monday next after’
Bu 1625/08/15 ‘The 15th of August the Lady Marye Colmondley depted out of this life at Vale Royall’, ? burial at Whitegate
Bu 1635/10/30 ‘The 30th of October at night Ffrances Mynshall wiffe of John Mynshall of ... departed of this lyfe at Valeroyall and upon the 2nd day of November was buried at Mynshall’
Ba 1651. After the entries for this year, an illegible memorandum followed by a list of Lee family baptisms, presumably not at Whitegate, as follows.
‘The 4th day of March Elizabeth Lee daughter of Tho Lee of Darnall Esqr by Ffrances his wife was baptised in 1655’
The 2nd day of December Nathaniell Lee sonne of Thomas Lee of Darnall Esqr by Ffrancis his wife was baptised 1660
The 27th day of January Thomas Lee sonne of Thomas Lee of Darnall Esqr by ffrancis his wife was baptised in 1661
The 10th day of Aprill Robert Lee sonne of Thomas Lee of Darnall Esqr by Ffrances his wife in 1664’
Ma 1657-1669 banns replaced by a declaration as follows (example 1658/02/04):
‘These are to certifye whom it may concerne that an intention of marriage Agreed upon betweene Charles Manwaring of the pish of Ightfield in the Countie of Salop Esqr. and Mrs Catherine Cholmondely of the pish of Whitegate sister of Thomas Cholmondely of vale royall Esqr. was published in the p.ish church of Whitegate three severall Lords dayes in Three severall weekes that is the 17th the 24th and the 31 dayes of January in the yeare aforesaid with in the houres limited by the acte of the late parlyment Instituted an acte touching marriage and the Registing thereof and that noe cause was showed against the said marriage att any of the said publications and on the fourth day of February were married’
Bu 1666/04/14 ‘Jane Cholmondely wife of Tho Cholmondely of Valeroyall Esqr. dyed the 19th day was buried at Minshull Church’
Ba Note on last page of register, refers to commission for examination of witnesses, in Chancery suit of Edmund Lally, Clerk, and Thomas Corbet Esqr, dated 1778/10/29
The divided ancient parish of Whitegate lay in central Cheshire. Its northern section comprised the township of Marton, and parts of the townships of Over, and of Weaverham cum Milton. There were detached bits of Whitegate in the parishes of Weaverham and of Over, and detached bits of Over in the township of Marton. The southern section of the parish of Whitegate comprised the township of Darnall. The contiguous ancient parishes were, clockwise from the north, Weaverham, Great Budworth, Davenham, Middlewich, Church Minshull, Over, and Little Budworth. The extra-parochial area of Delamere Forest lay to the west of the northern section of Whitegate. In our period to 1871, the new parish of Over St John the Evangelist was created in part from Whitegate (Youngs, below) in 1863. Pevsner and Hubbard (below) date the church building to 1860-1863. The registers start in 1863.
The population of Whitegate ancient parish can be estimated by the number of households in ecclesiastical ‘censuses’ of 1563 (26 households or families), and in 1778 (120 houses). The population of the ancient parish in 1801 was 628 people excluding Over and Weaverham cum Milton, and 1,721 in 1871, of whom 883 lived in Over and Weaverham cum Milton townships.
The late Professor Paul Hair compiled these notes using information collected by transcribers and recorded with each transcription pad, apart from the section within [ ]. Colin Phillips wrote the editorial contribution. Further information about the make-up of the register volumes came from the list in the Cheshire Record Office, which also provided some details of the evolution of the ancient parish. 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. 31, 2005), p. 81; count of households; and 1778: Cheshire RO, Diocese of Chester, EDV/7/1 (on microfilm). For 1801 and 1871 see VCH Cheshire, vol. II, p. 237.) Further details on the evolution of the parish came from C. Williams, Guide to the Cheshire Record Office ([Chester], 1991), p. 85; Guide to the local administrative units of England, Vol. II Northern England, ed. F.A. Youngs, Jr (1991), pp. 40-1; and N. Pevsner and E. Hubbard, The buildings of England: Cheshire (Harmondsworth, 1971), p. 389. The very complex geography of Whitegate can be followed in the base map in A.D.M. Phillips and C.B. Phillips, A new historical atlas of Cheshire (Chester, 2001).