West Derby St Mary, Lancashire Family History Guide

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West Derby St Mary an Ecclesiastical and Ancient Parish in the county of Lancashire, created in 1810 from a chapelry in Walton on the Hill St Mary Ancient Parish. West Derby St Mary Ecclesiastical Parish was created in 1810 and became a separate Ancient Parish in 1843 by Statutory Authority and ecclesiastically refounded in 1847.

The ecclesiastical boundary of West Derby St Mary was altered in 1852 with the creation of Edge Hill St Stephen Ecclesiastical Parish, in 1854 with the creation of Fairfield Ecclesiastical Parish, in 1863 with the creation of Edge Hill St Catherine Ecclesiastical Parish, in 1872 with the creation of West Derby St John the Baptist Ecclesiastical Parish, in 1872 with the creation of Liverpool Christ Church, Kensington Ecclesiastical Parish, in 1874 with the creation of Walton on the Hill St Margaret, Belmont Road Ecclesiastical Parish, in 1875 with the creation of Stoneycroft Ecclesiastical Parish, in 1876 with the creation of Edge Hill St Jude Ecclesiastical Parish, in 1881 with the creation of Edge Hill St Cyprian Ecclesiastical Parish, in 1886 with the creation of Stanley St Ann Ecclesiastical Parish, in 1888 with the creation of Edge Hill St Dunstan, Earle Road Ecclesiastical Parish, in 1905 with the creation of Edge Hill St Mary Ecclesiastical Parish, in 1909 with the creation of Fazakerley Ecclesiastical Parish, in 1927 with the creation of Clubmoor Ecclesiastical Parish, in 1930 with the creation of West Derby The Good Shepherd Ecclesiastical Parish, Liverpool Norris Green St Christopher Ecclesiastical Parish and Liverpool Norris Green Christ Church Ecclesiastical Parish, in 1933 with the creation of Knotty Ash Holy Spirit Ecclesiastical Parish and in 1951 with the creation of West Derby St Luke Ecclesiastical Parish.

Other places in the parish include: Stanley and Kensington.

Alternative names: West Derby

Parish registers begin:

Derby, West St Mary

  • Parish registers: 1688
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: 1599

Stanley

  • Parish registers: 1832
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: None

Nonconformists include: Baptist, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Roman Catholic, and Wesleyan Methodist.

Adjacent Parishes

West Derby St Mary Parish Registers

Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials

These records include images of Church of England parish registers of baptism, marriage, and burial records.

West Derby St Mary, Church of England Baptisms Marriages and Burials 1688-1744

West Derby St Mary, Church of England Baptisms 1813-1919

Marriages and Banns

These records include images of Church of England parish registers of marriages and banns records.

West Derby St Mary, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1837-1935

West Derby St Jude or Liverpool St Jude, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1849-1935

West Derby St Mary Parish Records

An index of parish records of people from West Derby. The index includes information from Marriage Licences granted within The Archdeaconry of Chester in the Diocese of Chester V.8 1691-1700

Marriage Licences and Allegations

Marriage Licences granted within The Archdeaconry of Chester in the Diocese of Chester V.8

The following have been extracted from Marriage Licences granted within The Archdeaconry of Chester in the Diocese of Chester V.8 1691-1700.

1696 Nov. 14 Joseph Naylor, of West Derby, co. Lanc., Weaver, and Deborah Hallshall, of West Derby aforesaid, Spinster. Bondsman, Jonathan Naylor, of Leverpool, co. Lane, Taylor. At Walton,

1698 June 9 Alexander Langshaw, of Grapnall [Grappenhall], co. Chester, and Sarah Banner, of West Derby,
Parish of Walton. Bondsman Alexander Langshaw, of Grapnal aforesaid.

1699 May 7 Joseph Hitchen, of Darby [West Derby], Parish of Walton, co. Lanc., Husbandman, and Ellen
Hamlett, of Roby, Parish of High-Town, [Hayton], co. aforesaid. Spinster. Bondsman, Andrew Ashton, of Roby aforesaid, Husbandman, and Job Ashton, of Newton, Parish of Winwick.

1699 Oct. 8 Ralph Shaw, and Jane Crutchley, both of West Derby, co. Lanc., Parish of Walton. Bondsmen, Ralph Shaw, of West Derby aforesaid, and John Huddleston, Parish of Childwall, co. Lanc. At Childwall aforesaid.

1699 Oct. 8 John Huddleston, of Thingwall. Parish of Childwal, co. Lanc., and Mary Chrutchley, of West Derby. Bondsman, John Huddleston, of Childwal aforesaid, and Ralph Shaw, Parish of Walton, in said co. At Childwal aforesaid.

Parish History

A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848

DERBY, WEST (St. Mary), a district parish, and the head of a union, in the parish of Walton-on-the-Hill, hundred of West Derby, S. division of the county of Lancaster, 4 miles (N. E.) from Liverpool; containing 16,864 inhabitants.

The “Wood of Derby” is described in the Perambulation of the Forests, 12th Henry III., when it was exempted from being disafforested. In the 50th of the same reign, the honour of Derby, with the manor and lands of West Derby, and other places, that belonged to Robert de Ferrers, one of the rebellious barons, was bestowed upon Edmund, Earl of Lancaster: and in 1320, Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, gave the manor of “Westder by juxta Leverpole” to Robert de Holland. On Henry de Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, becoming king, this, with other manors, went to the crown, with which it remained until the time of Charles I.

The manor afterwards passed to various families, among whom were the Stanleys, Legays, and more recently the Greens. The heiress of the last was married to Bamber Gascoyne, Esq., of Childwall; and his daughter, by marriage with the Marquess of Salisbury, conveyed the estate to that noble family. In the Saxon era West Derby was probably the capital of the hundred; and a mound of earth, removed some years ago by Mr. Gascoyne, indicated by its name, Castle Hill, the site of the ancient castle.

The parish is seven miles long and five broad, and includes two of the principal suburbs of Liverpool, with portions of the parliamentary borough; it stands on rising ground, commanding beautiful views of the surrounding country.

The Zoological gardens of Liverpool are here; they occupy a pleasant site, encompassed by elevated land, and the natural features of the spot have been judiciously improved by art. The only house of early date is that, not appropriately, called New Hall, the residence for many generations of a branch of the Molyneux family; but the district abounds in elegant modern mansions and villas. Yew-Tree House, with 60 acres, is the property and seat of Lawrence Heyworth, Esq., who also owns Rice House, with 40 acres, occupied by Joshua Heap, Esq. Deysbrook, the seat of R. B. B. H. Blundell, Esq., was rebuilt in 1847, from the designs of Mr. Smirke. The Elms is the seat of Mrs. Mary Thornton and daughters; Staplands, that of the Misses Molyneux; and Ashfield House, that of Mrs. John Clarke. Croxteth Hall is noticed under its own head.

Tue-Brook Villa, situated three miles from Liverpool, a private asylum for insane persons in the higher ranks of society, under the management of Mr. and Mrs. Owen, is a handsome building in the Italian style, and admirably adapted for the comfort and classification of the inmates. The court-house for the barony and manor is a dark stone edifice, in which are frequently held courts leet for portions of the hundred.

The living is a rectory, in the patronage of John Stewart, Esq., of Liverpool; income, £1300. The parish church is a plain structure, in the centre of the village.

St. James’ church was built at a cost of £8000, in 1847, and is in the early English style, with a tower, and a very beautiful interior; it was erected at the sole expense of Mrs. Thornton, of The Elms, in whom the patronage is vested: the living is a perpetual curacy, with an income of £150.

St. Jude’s church, in Hardwick-street, built in 1841, on ground given by the Marquess of Salisbury, is in the style of the 13th century, and is of brick, with stone pinnacles and ornaments; the cost of its erection was £9000: the living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of five Trustees.

Two full services are performed every Sunday, and a lecture is delivered every Wednesday, at the Union-Workhouse chapel, in Mill-road, Everton. There are also churches at Stanley (or Old Swan), Knotty-Ash, and Edge-Hill, which places are separately described.

A Roman Catholic chapel, called Gillmoss chapel, is situated in West Derby, about a mile from Croxteth Hall; it was built in 1823, at a cost of £2500, on a site given by the late Earl of Sefton, and is a plain but neat edifice of brick, in the Grecian style, 75 feet in length and 40 in breadth, accommodating between 400 and 500 persons.

Among the schools is one endowed with lands and money in the funds, producing together £34 per annum; and attached to the Roman Catholic chapel is a spacious school for boys and girls, completed in 1840, on a piece of ground the gift of the present Earl of Sefton.

The poor law union of West Derby comprises 23 parishes or places, and contains a population of 66,032.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848

Maps

National Library of Scotland Maps – includes OS 25 inch 1892-1918 maps, a vast range of other historical OS maps and land use maps

Vision of Britain Historical Maps – includes topographic maps, boundary maps and land use maps

Administration

  • County: Lancashire
  • Civil Registration District: West Derby
  • Probate Court: Court of the Bishop of Chester (Episcopal Consistory)
  • Diocese: Chester
  • Rural Deanery: Prescot
  • Poor Law Union: West Derby
  • Hundred: West Derby
  • Province: York