Accrington, Lancashire Family History Guide

Accrington is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Lancashire, created in 1732 from chapelry in Whalley Ancient Parish.

Alternative names: Accrington St James

Other places in the parish include: New Accrington, Old Accrington

Status: Ecclesiastical Parish

Churches:

• Accrington St James
• Accrington Christ Church Ecclesiastical Parish created 1855
• Accrington St John the Evangelist Ecclesiastical Parish created 1871
• Accrington St Peter Ecclesiastical Parish created 1890
• Accrington St Andrew Ecclesiastical Parish created 1898
• Accrington St Paul Ecclesiastical Parish created 1913

Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerks also list St Clement, St John the Baptist, St Mary Magdalen - See their Churches pages for more information.

Parish registers begin:

• Parish registers: 1766
• Bishop’s Transcripts: 1614

Nonconformists include: Baptist, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Independent/Congregational, Particular Baptist, Swedenborgian/New Jerusalem/New Church, and Wesleyan Methodist.

Parishes adjacent to Accrington

• Henheads
• Church Kirk
• Altham
• Padiham
• Haslingden

Historical Descriptions

Accrington

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

ACCRINGTON, a town, two townships, two chapelries, and a subdistrict, in Whalley parish, Lancashire. The town adjoins the E Lancashire railway, near the Leeds and Liverpool canal, 4 miles by road and 5¼ by railway E of Blackburn. It is large and thriving; has sprung up within the present century; is a seat of petty sessions and county courts; publishes a weekly newspaper; carries on industry in twenty cotton factories, three print works, extensive turkey-red dye-work, several large chemical works, foundries, steel-works, and a brewery; is well supplied with water from reservoirs; and has a head post office, a r. station with telegraph, a banking office, four hotels, a market house of 1868, public rooms of 1857 in the Italian style at a cost of £8,000, a mechanics' institution, a museum and pleasure gardens, a church enlarged in 1826, a church of 1841 in the early English style at a cost of £8,000, a church of 1866, two fine Wesleyan chapels of 1845 and 1866, nine other dissenting chapels, a Roman Catholic chapel, seven public schools, and two annual fairs. Pop. in 1851, 7,481; in 1861, 13,872. Houses, 2,579. The townships are New A. and Old A. Acres, 2,480 and 740. Real property, £52,634; of which £8,409 are in mines. Pop., 11,853 and 5,835. The chapelries are St. James and Christchurch; and both are p. curacies in the diocese of Manchester. Value of each, £300. Patrons of St. J., Hulme's Trustees; of C., Trustees. The subdistrict is conterminate with the two townships.

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

New Accrington

Leonard's Gazetteer of England and Wales 1850

Accrington (New), 3¾ miles E.S.E. Blackburn. P. 6908.

Source: Leonard's Gazetteer of England and Wales; Second Edition; C. W. Leonard, London; 1850.

The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales 1840

Accrington (New), a township in the parish of Whalley, hund. of Blackburn, union of Haslingden, county-palatine of Lancaster; 4 miles east from Blackburn, on the road to Burnley, and 224 from London. A National school was established here in 1806; and a new church in the early English style, with tower and spire, and capable of seating 1,600 persons, was built in 1838. There are also places of worship for Baptists, Wesleyan Methodists, and Swedenborgians. Pop., in 1801, 2,246; in 1831, 4,960. The increase in population is attributed to the extension of cotton manufactories. The Leeds and Liverpool canal passes on the north within a mile of the town. Houses 861. Acres 2,480. A. P. £4,097. Poor rates, in 1837, £599.

Source: The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales; A Fullarton & Co. Glasgow; 1840.

Topographical Dictionary of the United Kingdom Capper 1808

Acrington New, a hamlet in the township of Old Acrington, parish of Whalley, Lancaster; containing 149 houses and 831 inhabitants, 2 miles from Old Acrington.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of the United Kingdom. Benjamin Pitts Capper. 1808.

Old Accrington

Leonard's Gazetteer of England and Wales 1850

Accrington (Old), 5 m. E. Blackburn. P. 1811.

Source: Leonard's Gazetteer of England and Wales; Second Edition; C. W. Leonard, London; 1850.

The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales 1840

Accrington (Old), a parochial chapelry usually included with New Accrington, under the general denomination of Accrington. Living, a perpetual curacy in the archd. and dio. of Chester; of the certified value of 15s., but returned to parliament at £120; gross income £178. Patron, the vicar of Whalley. The town is governed by a resident magistrate and two constables. It is chiefly inhabited by persons employed in the different spinning and calico-printing establishments. Pop., in 1801, 831; in 1831, 1,323. Houses 252. Acres 740. A. P. £1,511. Poor rates, in 1837, £170.

Source: The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales; A Fullarton & Co. Glasgow; 1840.

Topographical Dictionary of the United Kingdom Capper 1808

Acrington Old, a chapelry and township in the parish of Whalley, hundred of Blackburn, Lancashire, 4 miles from Haslingdon, and 206 from London; containing 353 houses and 2246 inhabitants, of whom 1352 were returned employed in trade and manufacture.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of the United Kingdom. Benjamin Pitts Capper. 1808.

Parish Records

FamilySearch Historical Records

Parish Registers

Registers - Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerks

Maps

Vision of Britain historical maps

Administration

County: Lancashire
Civil Registration District: Haslingden
Probate Court: Court of the Bishop of Chester (Episcopal Consistory)
Diocese: Manchester
Rural Deanery: Whalley
Poor Law Union: Haslingden
Hundred: Blackburn
Province: York