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Projects

Bolton FHS has a long history of undertaking Project Work and this has resulted in more than 40 Bolton specific documents/databases in the Online Data area of the MLFHS webpages. A list of all the completed Bolton projects can be found in the Members Area / Document Collection. There is usually transcribing work available, the size of which varies, and it normally involves use of an Excel worksheet specifically designed for that job.

A long-running project to transcribe the Creed Registers of the Bolton Workhouse has been completed. These registers recorded the name, religion, age, dates of arrival and departure, and other details of the inmates. The records were photographed and then transcribed into Excel worksheets. The photographs were of pages ranging in size from A4 to A3.

On 6th April 2024, the final 6,444 names were added from the Turton Workhouse for the years 1837 to 1861. This project has now been completed, bringing the total number of workhouse records to over 130,000.

The results can now be viewed in the Great Database, which is available to all members.

Bolton Workhouse, Creed Registers

A project is curently in progess to add nonconformist records for Pikes Lane Methodist Chapel (includes the chapels at Green Street and Moss Street, later renamed Fern Street), Edgworth Independant Chapel and the Westhoughton Bethel independent Chapel. Some of these records have already been uploaded as detailed below.

A project has also recently been started to add the records for St. Mary's of the Assumption, a.k.a. St. Maria's, which was on Palace Street Bolton. This is part of the work being done by the MLFHS Catholic Recording Group

Latest Additions to Bolton Projects

18th April 2025 - Added to the Great Database: 154 baptisms for Bolton, Lostock, Chew Moor Methodist Church 1915-1992 (entries closed for 100 years).

16th April 2025 - Added to the Great Database: 380 baptisms for Bolton Delph Hill Wesleyan Methodist Church 1881-1915.

4th April 2025 - Added to the Great Database: Transcripts of 384 baptisms at Farnworth, New Bury WM Chapel 1860-1909. These add to the batch announced two ago bringing coverage up to 1860-1924 (with further entries as they pass the 100 year closure limit).

1st April 2025 - Added 1,535 announcements from the Bolton Journal and Guardian covering Jul-Dec 1917 and relating to local servicemen to the Great Database.

This brings the total number of announcements to 5,093. The work continues...

20th March 2025 - One more map added to the Godfrey Map Index. This one is 46 entries for the Plodder Lane map.

18th March 2025 - The latest addition to the Great Database is a collection of 361 records of officers who served with the Bolton Police 1894-1921 (including a number in the Police reserve 1911-1921).

These include images of the original records, which provide some details of milestones in the officer's service.

18th March 2025 - A further 217 records have been added to the Great Database for baptisms at Farnworth, New Bury, Wesleyan Methodist Chapel 1910-1942.

These are closed for 100 years so can only be searched to 1924 currently.

24th February 2025 - Another addition to the Great Database. This consists of 388 Baptisms 1895 - 1930 (subject to 100 year closure) for Farnworth, Moses Gate, Wesleyam Methodist Chapel.

10th January 2025 - Two datasets for nonconformist baptisms added to the Great Database:

Bolton, Cable Street Wesleyan Methodist Chapel Baptisms 1882-1969 (subject to 100 year closure) (578 records)

Farnworth, Halshaw Moor Wesleyan Methodist Chapel Baptisms 1838-1861 (399 records)

12th December - An interesting addition. This time it is the admission register of service personnel and air raid casualties to Bolton Royal Infirmary 1939-1948 (5,765 records).

These records are useful since they give names, ages, addresses and the military unit in which the person served as well as a brief description of the reason they were treated and the admission and discharge dates
(in most cases).

There are records in the database which will remain closed until the individual named reaches the calculated age of 100, at which time they will automatically be released. For this reason, images of the register pages are not presently provided

7th December - A further 897 records have been added to the Great Database. This data consists of transcribed details from the Bolton Journal for Jan-Jun 1917 relating to local servicemen reported as killed. These can be very information-rich.

4th October - 996 baptisms for Bolton, Park Street Wesleyan Methodist Church 1863-1925 have been added to the Great Database.

28th September - A small (22 records) file of baptisms at Bolton United Methodists, St. Georges Rd./Duke St. has been added to the Great Database.

9th September - Added a further 1,945 announcements of the deaths of local servicemen taken from the Bolton Journal and other local newspapers for Jul-Dec 1916 to the Great Database. This is considerably more than the 716 which appeared in the issues for the first half of 1916 and almost certainly reflects the high mortality of the Somme campaign which started at the beginning of this period

22nd August - Added 235 new records to the Great Database. These are baptisms at Queen Street Mission, Bolton for 1919-1924 but are part of a register up to 1965 - later records are closed until 100 years old and
will open automatically at each year end.

15th August - Added 2,446 records to the Great Database of Bolton Coroners' Inquests oenened between 2018-2024. Although by definition the persons concerned are deceased, to avoid the (albeit low) possibility of inadvertently causing distress to family members, we have applied a nominal 3 year closure to these records. They will become searchable automatically once this has expired.

The records are, however, fully available at https://www.bolton.gov.uk/directory/9/a-to-z/A

13th August - Added 397 records to the Great Database for Bolton Halliwell (later Halliwell Road) Methodist Chapel Baptisms 1844-1875. Halliwell Chapel moved to a new building on Halliwell Road in 1869.

12th August - Another small, but valuable data set added to the Great Database. Bolton, Harvey Street Primitive Methodist Chapel Baptisms 1898-1924.

27th July 2024 - Added 2,039 records to the Great Database taken from a "burial" register for Bolton, Bridge St. Methodist Church covering 1810-1883.

26th July 2024 - Added 323 baptisms for St Georges Road Congregational Chapel, Bolton, 1863-1877 to the Great Database.

18th June 2024 - The latest batch of Bolton area nonconformist records added to the Great Database is 1,024 baptisms at Independent Chapel, Horrocks Road, Edgworth, 1807-1837.

18th June 2024 - A small collection (41) baptisms for Westhoughton Bethel Independent Chapel 1826-1837 have been added to the Great Database

17th June 2024 - A collection of 755 baptisms from Pikes Lane Methodist Chapel (includes the chapels at Green Street and Moss Street, later renamed Fern Street) have been added to the Great Database

6th April 2024 - The final 6,444 names were added from the Turton Workhouse for the years 1837 to 1861. This project has now been completed, bringing the total number of workhouse records to over 130,000.

22nd March 2024 - Another addition to the Great Database. This is a list of 1,183 persons present in the Bolton, Fletcher Street Workhouse 1820-1833, originally transcribed by Julie Lamara. The records give age, occupation or condition, and the date on which they were recorded as present.

6th February 2024 - Added an impressive 33,154 records to the Great Database. These consist of the admission and discharge registers of the Fletcher Street Workhouse in Bolton 1837-1861 (when it was replaced by the Fishpool Workhouse). They marry up well with the much larger transcript of the Fishpool Workhouse Creed Books to provide a (mostly) continuous record of Bolton's poor from 1837 to 1911, a total in excess of approaching 130,000 records

Volunteering Opportunities

The Bolton FHS is run by a happy band of volunteers and we are extremely grateful to all of them for their contributions, be they individually small or substantial. 

Our volunteers make the society what it is. Highlighting local collections values the work done by our volunteers and the difference they have made, whether working in teams or individually, to transcribe large and small archives for the benefit of both members and non-members

You too can contribute to the running of the Society by becoming a Volunteer. To discover more, contact any Committee Member at any Bolton FHS meeting, or the Secretary at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

If you are interested in helping with transcribing, please contact the Project Officer at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Bolton's Heritage

Hall i' th' Wood

Image reproduced with permission from David Whenlock

Hall i' th' Wood is an early 16th-century manor house in Bolton. It is a Grade I listed building and is currently used as a museum by Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council.

Originally built as a half-timbered hall in the 16th century and owned by wealthy yeomen and merchants, after 1697 the Hall was rented out to various tenants.

It was during this period that a young Samuel Crompton came to live there with his parents. In 1779 he invented his Spinning Mule, which revolutionised the cotton industry.

Further reading: Wikipedia & Bolton Library and Museum Services