Beetham, Westmorland Family History Guide

BEETHAM VILLAGE

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.

Alternative names:

Parish church:

Parish registers begin:

Parish registers: 1604
Bishop’s Transcripts: 1689

Nonconformists include:

Adjacent Parishes

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 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

Westmorland Historical Directories

Maps

OS Grid Reference: SD4945879435 (all-numeric format: 349458 479436); 54.208°N 2.775°W

Vision of Britain historical maps
OS maps

Ordnance Survey
OS maps

National Library of Scotland
OS maps

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