31st July 2026 - The latest addition to the Great Database is 8,804 records of admissions to the Blair Convalescent Hospital at Bromley Cross, Bolton from its opening in 1889 up to its conversion into a Military Convalescent Hospital at the beginning of the Great War.
While the index is limited to the names, ages and dates of admission, the original registers at Bolton History Centre also include addresses, details of illnesses and dates of discharge, plus the unusual details of weights on admission and discharge.
26th July 2026 - Today sees the milestone of the addition of a further 4,215 persons admitted to the Bolton Workhouse between 1908 and 1930 (though predominantly between 1920 and 1930).
These records are taken from the final volumes of the creed registers to be indexed under this project bringing the final total number of admissions between 1869 and 1930 to 144,979 persons (though, as is the nature of workhouses, many of those in the index will have been admitted several times).
A big thank you to Graham Holt and his team of volunteers on the completion of this very substantial project which started back in 2018.
22nd April 2026 - Another slightly unusual data set for the Bolton area. This contains details of 3,979 admissions between 1896 and 1924 to Farnworth, Little Hulton and Little Lever Councils Infectious Disease Hospital.
Details include name, address, age and date of admission. No clinical details, unfortunately. Includes many examples of several family members admitted at the same time.
15th April 2026 - 1,449 baptisms for St Andrew Presbyterian Church, Bowker Row, Bolton 1837-1979 have been added to Great Database.
Records of baptisms 1837 to 1925 will be searchable. Records after 1925 will be redacted on a rolling 100 year basis. Records will open progressively each year.
11th April 2026 - Another addition to the Godfrey Maps Index at: https://mlfhs.uk/databases/godfrey-map-index
282 street and building references from Bolton Sheet 8 Bolton: Deansgate & Brinks Brow 1847 36" to one mile.
This very detailed map covers a major area of central Bolton, including Deansgate, the New Market Place, Exchange, the River Croal, St George's Church, Temperance Hall, Unitarian Chapel, Vernon House, Bridge House, and extending to Brinks Brow. Industry includes Globe Mill, gas works, Union Foundry, Great Bridge Mill, Spa Lane Mill, flax mills, etc.
On the reverse is included the 10 foot to the mile sheet 87.13.9 covering the Town Hall area in 1890 together with a 2,000 word introduction to the history of the area.
This is not available from the MLFHS online shop - see Alan Godfrey's site: https://www.alangodfreymaps.co.uk/bolton08.htm
7th April 2026 - The project to transcribe the Bolton Workhouse Creed Books as nearing its end, with just one register to complete. This latest addition covers admissions 1922-1926, a total of 3,778 records.
For those who don't know the background, there are no surviving admission records for the Workhouse but there is an extensive series of creed books. Details of the new arrivals' religious affiliation were recorded, amongst other reasons, so that should they die while in the workhouse, the appropriate rite could be observed for their burial.
Despite the limited intention of the registers, they can contain a lot of additional information about the individual including date of admission, age, whether married or single and occupation. The details recorded vary somewhat with each of the 25 volumes in the series. Needless to say, the same names can recur several times as the individual left the workhouse at times when employment opportunities were good, but was forced to return when work, which could be seasonal, dried up
5th August 2025 - The latest data added to the Great Database consists of 1,240 announcements relating to local servicemen published in the Bolton Journal & Guardian between Jul 1918 and Dec 1918. This final batch concludes this project which totals an impressive 8,562 (sometimes very detailed) references.
27th July 2025 - Something a little different this time.
This is a set of 1,033 records for Farnworth Francis Street Congregational Chapel Attendance. It is useful in that it provides addresses for members, often at several different times.
26th July 2025 - Another small, but very useful, addition of 385 baptisms for Bolton, Melbourne Road Methodist New Connexion Chapel 1879-1966 transcribed by Bolton FHS. These are subject to 100 year closure.
3rd June 2025 - Another addition of particular interest to those with family interests in Bolton.
This consists of a further 1,381 announcements published in the Bolton Journal and Guardian covering Jan-Jun 1918 relating to soldiers who died in the Great War. These announcements can include a wealth of both service and personal detail.
19th May 2025 - A small but interesting new data set has been added to the Great Database. This contains transcripts of 98 baptisms performed at Ringley, Top o'th' Brow Swedenborgian Meeting House 1812-1831, transcribed by members of Bolton FHS.
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
