Added 144 references for the map of Moses Gate, 1908. Thanks to Graham Holt for these entries.

Added 285 references for the map covering Tyldesley and Atherton (SE), 1905. Thanks to Mike Halliday for these latest additions.

Added 772 references for Whitefield 1907, Little Lever 1907, Cleworth Hall 1907, Kearsley 1907, Clifton North & Wet Earth Colliery 1907, Partricroft & Monton 1906.

Thanks to Valerie Poole, Chris Willis and Mike Halliday for these valuable additions which close up one of the last substantial gaps in the coverage.

Added 138 references to the map for Walkden North, 1907.

These have been iindexed by Mike Halliday, to whom many thanks.

A further addition of 261 names to the index (with images) of staff record cards for Horwich Locomotive Works. These cover  surnames EDEN-THOMAS.

Thanks to Jim Chadwick and his team for these.

Added 113 references for Little Hulton, 1907.

Thanks to Mike Halliday for these.

Added 69 references for Worsley Hall, 1904.

Thanks to Mike Halliday for these.

These have been transcribed by our Bolton Branch. Thanks are due to Graham Holt.

This addition of a further 720 records covers surnames COATES to DODD.

Thanks again to Jim Chadwick and his team for these.

Thanks to Linda Bailey, Laura Lewis, Chris Norcross and Chris Hall for this latest substantial batch which brings the total number of newspaper index entries to 65,320.

Thanks are due to James Fieldhouse and Lynne Wilkinson for these latest additions which begin to close the gap between Manchestr/Salford and Bolton/Bury.

One of our most recently started projects is to index the staff record cards of the Horwich Locomotive Works. This is a large undertaking  so it will continue at least to the end of 2023.

I am pleased to announce that the first 1,322 records have been added to the Great Database. These relate to employees surnames ABBOTT to BWYE (no not a typo!). Further additions will appear in roughly alphabetical order.

The results are linked to scans of the cards and generally provide, in addition to names, date of birth and/or age on joining, nature and department of employment, career progression and date of leaving with reason.

Thanks are due to Jim Chadwick for scanning this collection and to his team for compiling the index.

These consist of a transcript the register entries for burials 1808-1972 with images of the register 1808-1899 and 1941-1958.

Thanks are due to Cheyvonne Bower for these latest additions.

These were originally transcribed in 1982-5 by pupils of Crab Lane Primary School, Blackley. The manuscript/typescript copy was donated to MLFHS by by Margaret Sloand and was transcribed for online publication by Susan Fielding.

Another addition to the Great Database. This is a continuation of the entries extracted from the Manchester Cathedral Sexton's books and consists of entries for 1812 copied from the John Owen MSS vol 58 and entries for 1803-1811 extracted from the original register book. The first set are, like earlier data from this source, incomplete since Owen extracted entries selectively, however those for the second set represent a complete extract. This second set is accompanied by images of the relevant register page.

Thanks to Geoff Edge for this latest addition which comprises 2,341 records making the total from this source 8,123 records relating to burials 1772-1792 and 1803-1812.

Another 1,037 names of streets and buildings have been added to the Godfrey Maps Index. These are all for the Bolton area and include:

Bolton East 1908
Bolton South 1927
Farnworth 1908
Horwich South 1908
Lostock Junction 1907
Rumworth & Daubhill 1907

Thanks to Graham Holt for this substantial addition to the indexes for the Bolton Area.

This timeline covers social events, such as the whitholding of evidence in a criminal trial from female jurors because it would be 'too revolting for women to hear' and first experiments in the use of insulin to the registration of dentists in the UK and Albert Einstein receiving the Nobel prize for his services to Theoretical Physics.

Another excellent addition to the Great Database. This time it is Risley Chapel and Croft Unitarian Baptisms and Marriages.
Images and index to the register entries for baptisms 1774-1900 and the single marriage recorded in 1947. Transcribed by Cheyvonne Bower (362 baptisms and one marriage record). Burials will follow once transcription is completed.

Thanks to Cheyvonne for transcribing these entries from what was a "lost" register. If you want to know more about the backgtound to this transcription, see Croft History .

Added 15,131 records of persons admitted to Bolton workhouse taken from the creed registers. These cover 1897-1908 and bring the total coverage to 95,531 entries between 1869 and 1911.

Thanks to Graham Holt and his volunteers at Bolton Branch for this magnificent collection of records.

Another excellent addition to the Great Database. Geoff Edge has added a further 2,338 transcripts of entries from the Manchester Collegiate Church (Cathedral) Sexton's Books originally transcribed by the antiquary John Owen.

These relate to the period 1772-1781 and, unlike the burial registers) include in many cases the cause of death. Owen was 'selective' in what he transcribed, so these entries do not necessarily include all of the burials during this period. Thanks to Geoff (who is continuing this work) for this valuable contribution.

Added a further 4,833 BMD announcements from the Manchester Courier for 1846 to the Great Database.

Thanks to Linda Bailey, Laura Lewis, Chris Norcross and Chris Hall for this substantial addition.

Added a further 4,833 BMD announcements from the Manchester Courier for 1846 to the Great Database.

Thanks to Linda Bailey, Laura Lewis, Chris Norcross and Chris Hall for this substantial addition.

Although we had believed that this project was finished, a volume of admission documents for admissions 1849-1853 thought to be missing was found. These 53 admissions have been added to the Great Database. 

Thanks to Jim Chadwick and his team for this work.

Essential information on the workings of the Coroners' Courts, followed by links to Coroners' Courts at Bolton, Blackpool, Greater Manchester (covers Manchester City), Greater Manchester South (covers Stockport, Trafford and Tameside), Lancashire and Rochdale.

Another substantial addition to the Great Database:

Added 2,636 BMD announcements from Manchester Courier for 1845. Transcribed by Linda Bailey, Laura Lewis, Chris Norcross and Chris Hall.

This impressive dataset now contains just over 55,000 entries. Well done to all concerned.

Beginning in 1538 when Thomas Cromwell mandated all parishes to record every baptism, marriage and death, through 1644 when it was a requirement that date of birth should be recorded with baptism (though often ignored), to the introduction of the modern system in 1837 and the 1979 ruling that parish registers must be deposited with the diocesan record office unless exemption had been allowed.

Another addition to the Great Database and Document Collection.

These rolls list all pupils admitted to the school 1825-1922. They provide some information not always included in the admission documents or admission registers.

Thanks to Jim Chadwick and his team: Marie Collier, Karen Hugill, Janet Moores and Chris Norcross.

Added 3,444 entries from the Manchester Collegiate Church Sexton's Books which were copied by John Owen (Owen MSS vol 58). The entries for 1782-1792 have been transcribed by Geoff Edge.

While these parallel the burial registers, during this period, the sexton's books recorded the cause of death.

Please note that Owen was selective in what he recorded and at the very least, he did not record child burials. Beyond this, the parameters for his selection are unknown, so the absence to find a person mentioned in the burial register does not necessarily mean that the burial was not recorded in the original sexton's records.

Another 616 records added to the Great Database. These are stray entries relating to Lancashire people who appear outside the county in records as follows:

6 Source: Norwood Cemetery Burials, West Norwood, (Metropolitan) Surrey
469 Source: Surrey History Centre, Recruitment registers, Ref 2496
141 Source: West Surrey FHS, West SRY 1851 census)

Thanks to Chris Willis for these.

A brief reminder to members that anyone can submit strays for inclusion in this collection. Simply go to https://mlfhs.uk/research/find-out-more/strays and then to the submission form.

Just added to the Great Database are the admission registers for the Royal Manchester School for the Deaf & Dumb for 1885-1908 and 1908-1922. These 1,667 records mirror the existing collection of admission documents, but can contain differing information. Many entries, for example, contain the date of leaving and the reason for leaving. A few names may be included for which no documents survive.

Thanks to Jim Chadwick and his team (Marie Collier, Karen Hugill, Janet Moores and Chris Norcross.) for these.

A further collection of pupil rolls for the school will be added presently.

'Census Details' lists the dates of each of the decennial censuses from 1801 to 1931 and a summary of the details which were requested for each. Following this, on consecutive pages, are descriptions of the questions asked on each census and notes about how each census question was answered - such as relationships, abbreviations, housing and disabilities. 

An index to the 60 inch to one mile Ordnance Survey maps for Manchester and the surrounding district. Clicking on any street name will link to the area of the appropriate map on the National Library of Scotland web site, with the selected place at the centre of the page. Created by Chris Willis.

Chris's street index is particularly interesting. It parallels the information for the 60" maps in the Godfrey Map index but covers a wider area around central Manchester. Also, it links to the NLS online maps so you don't have to buy a map to make use of it.

Civil Registration Key Dates
A list of key dates for civil registration including dates at which the Manchester Registration District was reorganised.

A collection of reference documents useful to beginners and more advanced researchers alike.

Another 2,774 records added to the Great Database. This time BMD announcements from the Manchester Courier for 1844.

Thanks to Linda Bailey, Laura Lewis, Chris Norcross and Chris Hall for these.

Another large addition to the Great Database. This consists of 15,778 records of inmates of Bolton Workhouse from the Creed registers 1902-1911.

Thanks to Graham Holt's team at our Bolton Branch for these.

The latest volume of Roman Catholic baptism registers covering St. Mary, Eccles 1879-1923 has now been published as a downloadable file with index, transcription and scanned images of the original register at:

https://www.mlfhs-shop.co.uk/collections/registers-roman-catholic/products/dl1632

All MLFHS publications previously issued as CDs/DVDs have now been converted into downloadable files with consequent reductions in price and saving the ever-increasing costs of postage - particularly to purchasers outside the UK.

The full catalogue can be found at https://www.mlfhs-shop.co.uk/collections/downloads

A further 1,468 references for maps as follows:

Leigh North 1892 and Leigh South 1892 Indexed by Chris Willis.

Blackley & Lower Crumpsall 1915; Moston 1933; Trafford Park South 1937; Broughton Park & Crumpsall 1907 and Barlow Moor & West Didsbury 1905 indexed by John Marsden.

The index now covers 104 maps and contains a total of 28,963 references to streets and buildings.

The number of maps not yet indexed is reducing steadily, but there are still more to be completed. If you have any of the maps still shown uncoloured at https://mlfhs.uk/?view=article&id=346&catid=9 and are prepared to spend a few hours creating an index, I'll be happy to let you know how to go about it.

There are particular gaps between Bury and Manchester/Salford and around Bolton, but any contributions will be welcomed.

Added 357 references for the Stalybridge & Ashton 1892 map to the godfrey Map Index at

https://mlfhs.uk/databases/godfrey-map-index

Thanks are due to John Gartside.

The Clarion Cafés, with their beautiful dining rooms, might look as if they were retreats for the wealthy, but this was 1909 when the class system was changing and socialism was popular. Read about the cafés and the extraordinary find of a visitor's register, signed by Keir Hardie, apparently on a visit to Manchester from Scotland.

John Marsden

Another volume of these valuable records of persons admitted to Bolton Workhouse has been added to the Great Database.

This latest batch of 7,935 records relates to admissions 1908-1911 and thanks are due to Graham Holt and hs team.

This addition, incidentally, brings the number of name records in the society's databases to a total of 3,305,794.

Added 414 street and location references for the Alan Godfrey maps of Rainsough, Kersal & Hilton Park 1907, Wardley 1904 and Worsley 1904 to the Godfrey Map Index.

Thanks to Chris Willis for these latest entries.

Indexes with 231 new references for two more maps have been added to the Godfrey Map Index at:

https://www.mlfhs.uk/databases/godfrey-map-index

These are for Westhoughton 1907 and Wingates & Chew Moor 1927.

Thanks to John Gartside for these.

Added to The Great Database are 719 reports from the Manchester Courier relating to bigamy cases 1825-1860

Thanks are due to  Linda Bailey, Laura Lewis, Chris Norcross and Chris Hall for this collection of 719 reports of bigamy and the 5,773 BMD announcements.

Another substantial addition to The Great Database.

This consists of 5,773 BMD announcements from the Manchester Courier for 1842-43

Thanks are due to  Linda Bailey, Laura Lewis, Chris Norcross and Chris Hall for this collection and for the 79 bigamy reports.

Getting the new year off to a flying start, 41,872 names have been added to the Catholic Records Index at

https://www.mlfhs.uk/databases/catholic-records

The names are from the baptism registers of:

Our Lady of Grace, Prestwich 1889-1923
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Ordsall 1877-1912

Downloads of both registers with images, transcripts and indexes are available as downloads from the MLFHS shop.

Thanks are due to Madeline Best and her team for this latest addition.

Added a further 848 street and establishment references to the Godfrey Map Index at https://www.mlfhs.uk/databases/godfrey-map-index This brings the total number of references to 25,834 relating to 89 maps.

These additions relate to the maps for:

Northenden 1916
Withington 1892
Withington (Ladybarn & Burnage) 1934
Didsbury (Palatine Road) 1904
Didsbury (Palatine Road) 1916
Fallowfield & South Rusholme 1933

Thanks to Martin Sullivan for this valuable work, which largely fills the previous gap to the south of Manchester.

Another small addition to the Great Database:

Details of Salford children indentured as apprentices 1810-1821. Previously published in Manchester Genealogist Vol. 8 Issue 4 (1972). (29 records)

Thanks to Mark Campbell for transcribing these records.

Added a small collection of records to The Great Database.

Details of persons admitted to the Dukinfield Moravian church 1720-1755 from Manchester Genealogist 9/2&3 (1973) (45 records)

Thanks to Mark Campbellfor transcribing these for the online index.

Added 85 records for admissions to the Royal Manchester School for the Deaf & Dumb to the Great Database for 1921-22. This is the final batch to complete the project as originally planned. The project has added the records for 2,600 pupils admitted to the school up to 1922.

Thanks are due to Jim Chadwick and his team (Marie Collier, Susan Hilton-Brooks, Karen Hugill, Janet Moores and Chris Norcross) for their work on this very important project.

We have extended the project to include the admission registers which provide the names of some pupils for whom the admission papers have been lost and also add some details which are missiong from the surviving records. These will be added to the Great Database when completed.

Adaded a further 181 records of admission documents for children entering the school 1872-7; 1895-6 and 1922.

As always, thanks are due to Jim Chadwick and his team (Marie Collier, Susan Hilton-Brooks, Karen Hugill, Janet Moores and Chris Norcross).

Added 6,127 BMD announcements from the Manchester Courier for 1840-41 to the Great Database.

Thanks to Linda Bailey, Laura Lewis, Chris Norcross and Chris Hall for these latest additions.

Added a further 357 records to the Great Database. These are details from a register of children sent to Canada and some other countries by the Chorlton-on-Medlock Poor Law Union. Images of the register are attached to each record. There is a copy of the full index in the Document Collection - Workhuse & Poor Law section.

Thanks to Mark Campbell for indexing these entries.

Added a new memorial to the War Memorial database. This is from the Deansgate Depot of the LNER and has 38 names from the First and Second World Wars. The image was supploied by David Ingleby of the Great Northern Railway Society.

See https://www.mlfhs.uk/databases/war-memorials/details/1124

The memorial seems to be lost and this photo, from an unknown publication, seems to be the only record. If anyone has any information as to its location, we would like to hear from you.

Another 200 streets and buildings added to the Godfrey Map Index. These cover the map for Middleton in 1891, the coloured edition.

This map has been kindly indexed by Paul Thomas.

Added another volume of admission documents to the Royal Manchester School for the deaf and Dumb. This is a particularly interesting one as it covers 35 of the first admissions 1825-35.

As always, thanks go to Jim Chadwick and his team (Marie Collier, Susan Hilton-Brooks, Karen Hugill,  Janet Moores, Chris Norcross)

We are now getting close to the end of this lengthy project and hope that the final few volumes covering admissions up to 1922 will be completed by the end of the year.

Updated the descriptions in the MI (Memorial Inscriptions) database of several graveyards in the Bolton area to include listings of the memorials. Thanks to Cheyvonne Bower for this latest batch of listings and for her substantial work on many earlier ones.

Most, if not all of the descriptions now have MI listings with the exception of those derived from the Owen Manuscripts, which will, I hope, be the subject of a future exercise.

Another two volumes of admission documents for pupils at the Royal Manchester School for the Deaf & Dumb have been indexed and added to The Great Database. These cover dates between 1879 and 1890. The names of those admitted are listed below.

Thanks, as always, to Jim Chadwick and his team (Marie Collier, Susan Hilton-Brooks, Karen Hugill, Janet Moores and Chris Norcross).

And its very early days in Trafford Park - in makeshift conditions, but this was experimental and they made it work.

Hilary Hartigan

Another small index added to The Great Database.

This index was created by Greater Manchester Police Museum as a finding aid for their archive of Police Officers' records.  Search results link to the appropriate page of the GMP Museum web site for the individual officer.

From here, further information can be by contacting the GMP Museum.

A further 5,112 records have been added to the Great Database. These are entries from the Creed Books for Bolton Workhouse 1892-1899.

Thanks to Graham Holt and his team for the above.

Another substantial addition to The Great Database. This time it is a file of 2,408 burials at St. Mary's, Radcliffe, Bury from 1841 to 1865. These are also available as a listing in the Document Collection in the member area under the Death & Burial section.

Thanks to John Gartside for these.

Another substantial addition to the Great Database. This time a further 224 sets of admission documents for children admitted to the Royal Manchester School for the Deaf & Dumb. They cover admissions at various dates between 1859 and 1881.

These are added thanks to Jim Chadwick and his team (Marie Collier, Susan Hilton-Brooks, Karen Hugill, Janet Moores and Chris Norcross). 

Added a further 1,081 records to the Great Database. These are for burials at St. Andrew, Ancoats 1831-1855. The listing can also be accessed via the Document Collection (Death & Burial).

Thanks to Mark Harrey for these.

A further addition to The Great Database. This time it is a further 132 sets of admission documents for the Royal Manchester School for the Deaf & Dumb for admissions taken from three volumes of documents covering between 1851 and 1868.

Thanks are due to Jim Chadwick and his team (Marie Collier, Karen Hugill, Janet Moores, Chris Norcross. and Susan Hilron-Brooks).

Another substantial addition to the Great Database, 3,478 BMD announcements from the Manchester Courier for 1838-9.

Thanks are due to Linda Bailey Laura Lewis and Chris Hall for these additions, which bring the newspaper announcements to a total of 37,055

Indexes to three more Alan Godfrey Maps have been added to the Godfrey map Index. The 264 new references cover the largely rural areas of:

Bury South 1907
Bradley Fold 1910 and 1930 (double sided map)
Unsworth & SE Radcliffe 1932

Thanks to John Gartside for this latest addition.

Another substantial addition to the great Database. This time a further 5,467 names from the Bolton Workhouse Creed Books covering 1888-1891.

Thanks to Graham Holt and his team for this addition to an alraady large record set.

Another addition to The Great Database. This time 1,600 burials for St. Stephen, Audenshaw 1898-1901.

Thanks to Mark Harrey for this substantial addition.

Another substantial addition to the Great database:

Added 806 inquests etc. from the Manchester Courier 1830, 1832, 1834, 1835.

Thanks to Linda Bailey, Chris Hall and Chris Norcross for these.

Another substantial addition to the Great database:

Added 1,062 BMD references from the Manchester Mercury 1825 1830, 1832, 1834, 1835.

Thanks to Linda Bailey, Chris Hall and Chris Norcross for these.

Three more books of admission papers for pupils at the school have been completed, providing details of 157 further admissions during periods 1855-1860 and 1870-1874.

Thanks, as ever, to Jim Chadwick and his team (Marie Collier, Karen Hugill, Shirley King, Janet Moores, Chris Norcross) for the above.

Indexes to seven more maps (827 street and building references) have now been added covering:

Whalley Range 1916
Urmston 1926
Flixton 1904
Trafford Park 1905
Eccles 1905
Walkden South 1908
Chorlton cum Hardy South 1905

Thanks to Hilary Hartigan for these.

Added street and building index entries for the Bolton (NE) 1908 Alan Godfrey Map to the online index.

This area generates only 106 index entries. Although today, densely built-up, in 1908 this area largely consisted of farmland.

Thanks to Graham Holt for this latest addition.

Uploaded a further volume of 68 admissions covering 1881-1893.

Thanks to Jim Chadwick and his team (Marie Collier, Karen Hugill, Shirley King, Janet Moores, Chris Norcross) for this latest addition.

I have just added 2,026 of nemes and addresses of those on the 1966-7 electoral register for Openshaw (currently Districts A-C with more to come). These have been transcribed from the originals at Manchester Archives.

Thanks to Joe Hilditch for these.

Added 1,860 burials for Ardwick, St. Thomas 1786-1801.

Thanks to Susan Mayall for this addition.

Added another 1,591 burials to the Great Database. These are for Audenshaw, St. Stephen's 1884-1898.

Thanks to Mark Harrey for this addition.

Added a small data set to The Great Database: An index to names appearing in the account book of the Turton Overseers of the Poor. Transcribed by Stephen Tonge of Bolton & District FHS. (288 records)

The index does not contain a lot of information, but may help those with ancestors in Turton.

Thanks to Stephen Tonge for this transcription.

Another volume of admission forms to the school have been completed and added to the Great Database for the period 1882-1890,

These have been indexed by Jim Chadwick and his team (Marie Collier, Shirley King, Janet Moores, Chris Norcross), to whom thanks are due.

Another addition to the Great Database of 1,194 baptisms from Bolton, Victoria Hall Wesleyan Methodist for 1897-1965 aded to the Great Databse.

These have been transcribed by members of Bolton & District FHS. Thanks are due to Graham Holt and his team.

Added 692 inquest reports from the Manchester Courier 1836-1840 to the Great Database.

Transcribed by Linda Bailey, Chris Hall and Chris Norcross.

Added  2,377 BMD notices from the Manchester Mercury for 1823 and 1824  to the Great Database. Transcribed by Linda Bailey, Chris Hall and Chris Norcross.

Added a further 1,598 burials for St. Stephen, Audenshaw 1873-1884 to the Great Database.

Thanks to Mark Harrey for this addition.

Another sizeable addition to the Great Database. This consists of 3,920 records from the Bolton Workhouse Creed Registers for 1886-1890.

Thanks to Graham Holt and his team (John Gartside,Sue Harding, Vanita Hulme, Frank Jones, Bob Winder) for the above.

Added another 575 references to the Godfrey Map Index. These cover maps:

Boothstown & Astley Green 1904
Radcliffe 1927
Radcliffe North 1908
Ainsworth 1908
Bradshaw 1908

Thanks to John Gartside for these additions, which bring the total number of streets and buildings in the index up to 23,016.

Indexes to two more maps now added to the Godfrey Map Index. These are 288 entries coveering

Didsbury & Heaton Merset 1904
Fallowfield 1904,

Thanks to Martin Sullivan for these indexes.

Added 388 baptism records from Audenshaw (Red Hall) Methodist New Connexion to the Great Database as follows:

Baptisms for 1875-1898 have been transcribed but there is a gap between 2 Dec 1877 and 17 Jul 1878 where two pages have not been scanned (388 records). I hope that we will be able to insert the two missing pages in the future.

Thanks to John Cameron for transcribing these records.

A further volume of admissions has been added to the Great Database, this time consisting of 55 admissions between 1902 and 1904.

Thanks to Jim Chadwick and his team (Marie Collier, Shirley King, Janet Moores, Chris Norcross.) for these.

Another Alan Godfrey map for Newton Heath has been indexed. These references are for Newton Heath in 1889. The same area has been referenced for 1915 but this earlier map will be helpful where street names may have changed or where earlier institutions have disappeared in the intervening 26 years.

This brings the index up to 22,153 references on 63 maps. 

Thanks to Paul Thomas for these additions.

The addition of these records completes the indexing of another volume of admission documents covering 1882-1892.  All records include a link to a scanned copy of the documents.

Thanks are due to Jim Chadwick and his team for the scans and indexing. 

Another book of admission documents for the school for 1881-1889 has been completed by Jim Chadwick and his team. These are admissions between 1881 and 1889. Thanks to Jim and his team for these.

Another small but interesting dataset has been added to The Great Database. The names and details of 191 men killed in the explosion at Wood Pit, Haydock on 7 June 1878 have been compiled and indexed.

Thanks are due to Graham Normansell for this compilation.

Joe Hilditch listed the names of 130 people fined for breaking the blackout rules during WW2 as eported in the Manchester Evening News during part of 1940. John Marsden recemtly searched through the Manchester Evening News 1939-1945 and added a further 422 names to this collection. These are now in the Great Database.

If you find a reference of interest it may be worth following up in the original newspaper as while many entries have little more than name and address, some have quite lengthy accounts of arguments and fisticuffs with wardens and police.

Thanks to Joe Hilditch and John Marsden for this collection.

Paul Thomas has completed the Alan Godfrey map for Hyde. This adds another 238 references to the index, which now covers 21,539 street and building names from 62 maps.

Thanks once more to Paul for this and his several earlier contributions.

Paul Thomas has completed the 180 street and building references for the Godfrey map for Heaton Chapel tand the records have been added to the Godfrey Maps Index.

Thanks to Paul for another nap completed, with more maps currently in progress.

I have just added a further 114 sets of admission papers 1887-1900 to the Royal Manchester School for the Deaf & Dumb to the Great Database.

Thanks as always, to Jim Chadwick and Marie Collier for these additions.

Another two maps have been indexed by Paul Thomas and added to the index:

Dukinfield South 1897
Stalybridge 1897

Thanks again to Paul for these extensions to the indexes for maps covering parts of Tameside.

NEW FEATURE!

Those familiar with the old printed indexes to the Manchester maps will know that these located streets and buildings down to one of the ten sections into which these maps are divided by the way they are folded. The indexes produced subsequently have included these references but up to now it has not been possible to include them in the online index. This is now possible and for this latest couple of maps, these references have been included.

I plan over the coming days to re-visit the earlier index entries (most of them!) and to replace the basic entries which identify only the map with full entries which include the references as above. This will, I hope, make the index a lot more helpful to those who own copies of these useful maps.

Another substantial addition to the Great database in the form of burials at Salford, Holy Trinity Church 1813-1854. Unusually, many of the burials in this register include a cause of death.

Thanks to Mark Harrey for this addition.

Indexes for another two Alan Godfrey maps have been added to the web site index:

Failsworth & Hollinwood 1932
Failsworth South 1931

Another substantial addition to the Great Database.

This consists of a further 1,999 birth, marriage and death announcements from the Manchester Mercury 1821 and 1822, kindly transcribed by Linda Bailey and Chris Hall.

These early newspaper announcements can be invaluable for that 'difficult' period shortly before the introduction of civil registration and census returns which included names.

Paul Thomas has been busy again and has indexed the 327 streets and buildings which appear on two more Godfrey Maps. These are the sheets for

North Chadderton & SW Royton 1932
Shaw & Crompton 1907

Thanks to Paul for these additions.

Added a further 198 street/building references to the Godfrey Map Index. These relate to the sheet for Royton in 1932 and come thanks to the work of Paul Thomas. More on the way!

Another addition to the Great Database: 548 soldiers' deaths at Scutari Hospital in the Crimea in 1855.

This is the final batch of Anthony Steven's long-running work on these newspaper lists of fatalities and brings the total to 5,893. These are not necessarily men from the Manchester area, but some will undoubtedly have their origins in the north west.

Thanks to Anthony for bringing this project to a successful conclusion.

Another small, but welcome, addition to The Great Database:

Little Bolton Poor Rate Book 1831-32: Transcript of Poor Rate Book giving names of payees, residences and some notes.

Transcribed by John Lippiat of Bolton and District FHS

Another addition to the Great Database: Details of 402 baptisms at Walmsley Old Chapel, Dimple, 1789-1839,

Courtesy of Bolton & District FHS.

Another addition to the Great Database. Bolton, King’s Hall Wesleyan Methodist Mission Baptisms, Details of baptisms 1932-1958.

Thanks to Joan Bridges of Bolton & District FHS for these transcriptions.

Another addition to the Great Database: 100 admissions to the Royal Manchester School for the Deaf & Dumb between 1889 and 1895. Names as below. Please note that three of the names are duplicated as a result of beoing admitted on two separate occasions.

Thanks to Jim Chadwick for these.

Another sheet added to the Godfrey Map Index. This time the sheet for Bardsley 1906, which has been indexed by Barry Birch.

A mostly rural area, but provides the locations of a number of farms as well as the street names.

Indexing of several more sheets is in progress around the Oldham area, but if you have any of the sheets for areas south of Manchester or between Bolton and Oldham, there are opportunities to contribute to this increasingly useful index.

Another and final batch of 489 burials for Pendlebury ,St. John for 1940-1945 have been added to the Great Database.

Courtesy of Mark Harrey.

Added references to the 543 streets and establishments, which appear on the Alan Godfrey reproduction OS map for Bolton (North), to the Godfrey Maps Index in the public area of the web site.

Also now added to the listing page is a schematic showing the maps which cover much of the Greater Manchester area and the sheets which have been street indexed.

Another valuable addition to the Great Database. This time a further batch of 1,586 burials at St. John's, Pendlebury between 1923 and 1940.

Thanks to Mark Harrey for these.

In one of the biggest additions to our public Catholic Records Index, I have just added 243,155 names of those baptised, parents and godparents for baptisms at the following churches:

    St. Alban, Ancoats 1863-1898
    St. Aloysius, Ardwick 1854-1903
    St. Mary, Failsworth 1849-1908
    St. Mary, Mulberry Street 1850-1922
    St. Patrick, Livesey Street 1861-1897

The index now contains 1,076,294 names.

The full details of the baptisms as well as images of the registers concerned are available on our latest DVD which is available from the MLFHS online shop

The DVD also includes images of the baptism registers for St. Casimir, Collyhurst 1904-1931 but no transcript or index owing to difficulties in finding someone who could reliably read the Polish and other eastern European names which appear in the register entries.

The DVD can be purchased from the Online Shop at https://mlfhs-online-shop.myshopify.com/products/roman-catholic-baptisms-fourth-collection

Thanks are due to Madeline Best and her dedicated team of transcribers for this, the fourth DVD of baptism registers, and the one which completes the indexing of baptisms for Catholic churches in Manchester.

In response to the recent discussions concerning Winwick Hospital, Cheyvonne Bower has supplied a copy of the hospital's report for 1948-9 which gives the names of senior staff and information about the facilities and regime. No patients' names, of course, but good background information.

It can be found in the Member Area Document Collection under General - Institutions. Thanks to Cheyvonne for this useful document.

Sheila Goodyear has indexed the streets appearing on the Alan Godfrey maps below on the same basis as was used to index the Manchester sheets for the Godfrey Map Index in the public area of the web site at https://www.mlfhs.uk/databases/godfrey-map-index

Sheila has generously agreed for this index to be added to the Godfrey Map Index so that you can now identify the map or maps on which a particular street appears for streets in Manchester, Salford and now Oldham and its environs. Thanks are due to Sheila for the addition of 3,162 new street names to the index.

Code    map    MapYear
3427    Ashton & Dukinfield    1907
3952    Ashton-under-lyne    1916
3427    Audenshaw & Droylsden    1916
3129    Chadderton    1907
3120    Denton Town Centre    1918
3122    Denton West    1916
3107    Droylsden    1906
3318    Guide Bridge    1918
3382    Lees    1906
3130    Lydgate    1906
3128    Oldham    1907
3127    Oldham East    1907
3125    Oldham South    1906
3902    Oldham South West    1916

Now all we need is someone with a set of Alan Godfrey maps for Bolton and District to index the streets on each of these.

Thanks to Sheila Goodyear for this large collection of references.

Another substantial addition to the extracts of BMD announcements from Manchester Newspapers in the Great Database. This batch consists of 1,774 announcements from The Manchester Mercury for 1816 and 1820.

Thanks to Chris Hall and Linda Bailey for this addition.

I have updated the information pages for the following Cheshire burial grounds which are included in the Memorial Inscriptions database. The updates consist of listings of the memorials, so that as well as searching for a specific name, you can browse the memorials. Thanks to Cheyvonne Bower for this work, which is ongoing. Those included are:

C172    Appleton Thorn, St. Cross
C182    Ashton-on-Mersey, St.  Martin
C181    Ashton-on-Mersey, St. Martin
C220    Bidston St.  Oswald
C240    Carrington, St.  George
C297    Compstall, Methodist Church, George St.,
C301    Congleton, St. Peter
C471C    Crew Green, St. Michael
C368    Dukinfield Old Chapel
C451    Grappenhall, St. Wilfred
C471A    Haslington, Primitive Methodist
C471B    Haslington, United Reform Church
C215    Higher Bebbington, Christ Church
C501    Holmes Chapel
C229    Macclesfield, Bosley, Methodist Chapel
C485    Macclesfield, Henbury,  St.  Thomas
C298    Stockport, Compstall (Werneth), St. Paul

The presentation of the memorial listings on the web site is not ideal, as there are 34 pages of listings (in county/location order) and no easy way to find a specific listing. I am hoping to add a new section to the member documents listings to allow for a more structured way to present this information.

Another addition to the Great Database. This is a batch of 3,915 shopkeepers' names and addresses taken from Slater's Directory for Manchester & Salford for 1911.

Thanks to Joe Hilditch for these.

Jim Chadwick and his team have completed scanning and indexing another volume of admission forms for the Royal Manchester School for the Deaf and Dumb. There are 87 new admissions (88 names as one has an alias!) admitted between 1889 and 1893. The names included are as below. All indexed in The Great Database and lnked to scanned copies of the admission documents.

A total of 1,133 admissions have now been scanned and indexed. Lots more to come. Our thanks to Jim Chadwick and his team.

Added a further 1,598 burials at St. John, Pendlebury 1907-1923 to The Great Database.

Thanks to Mark Harrey for these.

Another useful addition to the Great Database: 758 records of birth, marriage and death announcements transcribed from the Manchester Mercury for 1819 by Chris Hall and Linda Bailey.

This collection is now becoming quite extensive:.

Another useful addition of 24,868 records to the Great Database by Chris Hall and Linda Bailey.

This collection includes extracts from a variety of newspapers including inquests, BMD announcements and other miscellaneous topics. Covers Manchester Courier 1825-1830, 1832, 183-1837, 1895 and Manchester Mercury 1804-1806, 1809, 1814-1815, 1819 (24,868 records).

Another substantial addition to the Great Database - this time 866 birth, marriage and death announcements from the Manchester Mercury of 1815.

Thanks to Linda Bailey for these.

Added a further volume of admission records (with images) to the Great Database. There are 80 names of admissions during 1904-5.

Thanks to Jim Chadwick for these.

Another 1,730 records have been added to The Great Database. These are birth, marriage and death announcements from the Manchester Courier for 1836.

Thanks to Linda Bailey and Chris Hall for this latest addition.

Another useful addition to the Great Database - this time 1,586 more burials for St. John, Pendlebury 1889-1907.

Thanks to Mark Harrey for these.

I have just uploaded a further 1,787 birth, marriage and death notices transcribed from the Manchester Courier for 1835 to the Great Database.
There are approx 1788 entries.

Thanks to Chris Hall and Linda Bailey for these.

There are now 21,514 announcements from years: 1804-1806, 1809, 1825-1830, 1831, 1835, 1837, 1895

Chris Willis has spent some time improving the street index to the 1934 Lancashire Stret Atlas in the member area. This includes correction of some errors introduced when the printed index was converted to machine-readable format using OCR and some further corrections which relate to errors in the original printed index. Finally 125 new entries have been added.

I have now replaced the index with the new version.

Thanks to Chris for his work on this invaluable index, now of 44,139 streets.

Another batch of additions to the Great database in the member area. The first of these consists of 14.353 baptisms at St. Mary, Deane, Bolton for 1813-1866.

Kindly transcribed by Bolton & District FHS.

The second batch of additions to the Great database in the member area today consists of 167 transcripts of burials from Walmsley Old Chapel, Bolton for 1793-1840

Kindly transcribed by Bolton & District FHS.

The third batch of additions to the Great database in the member area today consists of 381 burials transcribed from the Burial Register of St Paul's Methodist Church, Oldham for 1817-1872.

Kindley transcribed by Linda Richardson, Gillian Melton and Joan Harrison.

The fourth batch of additions to the Great database in the member area today consists of 2,375 transcriptions of burials at St John's Church, Eccles for 1842-1889.

Kindly transcribed by Mark Harrey.

In addition to these four new data sets (above), I have now completed the adding of listings for all of the data sets in the great Database so that you should be able from the contents listing to open up a descriptive document containing an alphabetical listing of all of the records (except for Pendlebury, St John, which will be added when all of the registers have been completed).

John Marsden

Work on adding complete browsable alphabetical listings to the Great database burial datasets is moving ahead steadily. The registers completed are:

Manchester, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, St Clement
Denton, St Lawrence
Gorton, St James
Manchester, St Ann
Manchester, Hulme St George
Manchester, Didsbury, St James
Manchester, St James, George Street
Manchester, St Mary, Deansgate
Manchester, St John, Deansgate
Salford, Christ Church Bible Christian, King St
Salford, New Windsor Independent Chapel
Manchester Collegiate Church (Cathedral)
Clayton, St. Cross
Manchester, St. Peter, St. Peter's Square
Cheetham, St. Luke
Longsight, St. John
Dobcross Holy Trinity
Failsworth, Dob Lane Unitarian
Friezland, Christ Church
Heyside Friends (Quaker)
Leesfield, St. Thomas
Lydgate, St. Anne
Oldham, Hope Congregational
Oldham, St. James
Oldham, St. Mary
Oldham, St. Peter

This is approaching half of the datasets in the Great Database and more than half of the burials.

Since I started the work, I have received transcriptions for two more graveyards (plus some baptisms) so the target is ever moving!

Some time ago I posted that I had been adding listings to many of the Great Database datasets so that these can be browsed in addition to searched for specific entries. One of the big omissions at that time was the many burials datasets, all of which required the pdf files to be be alphabetically bookmarked - a daunting and tedious task.

Fortunately, Chris Willis stepped in to dramatically reduce the time needed by writing a program which not only automatically inserts A, B, C ... bookmarks at the start of each set of surnames, but also adds individual surname bookmarks every four pages within each set of surnames which start with the same letter - something I would not have even contemplated on some of the larger listings. A big thank you to Chris.

One of the benefits of this exercise (though I confess I did not see it in this light at the time!) was that it threw up some anomalies in the older datasets such as annotations to surnames e.g. "SMITH (Rev.)" and appearances of  'curly' quotes and double quotes. These anomalies could either mean that a surname entry did not appear in search results (searching for "SMITH" would not find Rev. SMITH above) and some sorting problems.

There were also some irregularities in how the names of parents of children had been entered in transcripts "John & Ann" and "John/Ann" and some entries which had truncated details with the additional text added as a note (I think a hangover from limitations of the National Burial Index data requirements as these datasets were originally created as part of NBI). These have now been reassembled into complete entries. There were also other oddities such as some ages acquiring ".00" as a result of import from spreadsheets where the age column had not been set to integer format. These mostly produced odd or inconsistent appearance in results so opportunity has been taken to tidy up the presentation.

Having now sorted out the old data (which approaches half a million burials), I am starting to add the bookmarked listings to the dataset descriptions. It will still take some time to work through the updating of the burial datasets in the Great Database and to add the listings to the descriptions, but this work has now started.

I will post updates from time to time to alert you to progress. The first two to be completed are:

St Clement, Chorlton-cum-Hardy and St. Lawrence, Denton.

Barry Henshall has been busy at Urmston Cemetery transcribing the memorial inscriptions from plots H, N and P. I have just added a further 996 names recorded on 364 memorials to the Memorial Inscription database.

Thanks, Barry, for another good contribution to this already masssive data set.

Anthony Steven passed me an interesting cuttng from the Preston Chronicle which listed soldiers of the Third Royal Lancashire Militia who had died at Gibraltar in the third quarter of 1855. Just 30 names of men from Lancashire (and a couple of Irishmen), but I have added them to the Great Database.

As far as I can see from British Newspaper Archive, this is the only published listing of this kind, though it must have been a regular military return.

Added another 229 names to the War Memorial Database. These come from the following memorials:

Astley Wesleyan Methodist Church Memorial, WW1
Bickershaw War Memorial, St. James and St. Elizabeth Church, Bickershaw,WW1
Atherton Colliers Memorial, Atherton Parish Church House, WW1
Oldham, Shaw, St Paul's Methodist Church, Memorial Window, WW1

Transcripts of the Bolton Poll Books for 1832, 1835, 1837, 1847, 1852 and 1865 have been added to the Document Collection - Bolton - Poll Books etc.

Thanks to Bolton Branch for these.

Another substantial addition to the Great Database. This time it is Bolton Poll Books for 1832, 1835, 1837, 1847, 1852 and 1865

8,660 names have been added to the Great Database and transcripts of the poll books are in the Document Collection - Bolton - Poll Books etc.

Thanks to Bolton Branch for these.

Another substantial addition to the Great Database. This time 1,046 burials for Christ Church, Bradford 1891-1943. This completes the burial registers for this church for all 6,588 burials from opening to closing, 1862-1943.

Thanks to Mark Harrey for these.

Another addition to the Great Database. This time it is baptisms 1762-1801 for St. Thomas's church, Ardwick (1,963 records).

Thanks to Susan Mayall for these.

Another substantial addition to the Great Database. This time it is birth, marriage and death announcements from Manchester Courier - 1834 (approx 1778 entries)

Thanks to Linda Bailey and Chris Hall for these.

Another substantial addition to the Great Database. This time it is birth, marriage and death announcements from Manchester Mercury - 1814 (approx 589 entries)

Thanks to Linda Bailey and Chris Hall for these.

Another batch of MI listings have been added to the descriptive documents in the Memorial Index database as follows:

Chadderton, Mills Hill Baptists
Warrington, Friends Burial Ground, Buttermarket St.
Warrington, St. Alban, Bewsey St.
Wigan, All Saints
Wigan, St. Paul, Standishgate

Thanks, as always, to Cheyvonne Bower for these.

While browsing the BNA database, I came across the Poor Law Union Gazette. I have transcribed some of the entries and added to the Great Database:

This weekly paper was circulated between poor law unions to disseminate information about those (usually but not always) men who had deserted their families leaving them chargeable to the Guardians of the Poor for support. This listing of 138 references 1857-1903 includes notices which mention Manchester, Oldham, Bolton and other nearby places as associated with the 'deserter'.

John Marsden

I have added a further 1,600 burial register entries to The Great Database. These are for Christ Church, Bradford 1882-1891.

Thanks to Mark Harrey for this contribution.

Another batch of memorials already indexed in The Great Database have now have listings of the memorials added to their descriptive documents. These are:

Hyde, Broadbottom, St. Mary Magdalene
Lumb-in-Rossendale, St. Michael
Oldham, Royton, St. Paul
Rochdale, Hope Baptist
Rochdale, Town Meadows Burial Ground
Rochdale, Union St.
Rochdale,Baptist West St.
Rossendale, St. John
Silverdale Cemetery
St. Helens, St. Mary
Stretford, Barton Road Independent
Stretford, St. Matthew (Owen Manuscripts)
Stretford, The Old Chapel Yard
Todmorden, St. Mary
Tonge, St. Michael
Tyldesley Chapel
Tylesley, St. George
Urmston, St. Clement
Warrington, St. Elphin
Windleshaw Chantry

Thanks to Cheyvonne Bower for compiling and bookmarking these listings.

Susan Mayall has transcribed a further 584 burials at St. Thomas' Church, Ardwick covering 1763-1786.

Thanks to Susam Mayall for these additions to the Great Database.

Anthony Steven has added a further 792 names to his index of those who died at Scutari Hospital during the Crimea campaign. These cover April/May 1855.

Thanks to Anthony Steven for this valuable addition to the Great Database.

After a long time with no additions, I am pleased to report the addition of two new war memorials to our public database:

1109 Oldham, Royton, Wesleyan Methodist Church and Sunday School WW1        Memorial apparently lost. Photograph of memorial only. (180 names)

1110 Atherton, Howe Bridge Mills,  WW1 and WW2.  Location now a housing estate. Memorial now located on Flapper Fold Lane, Atherton (28 Names)

Thanks to Linda Richardson and Terry pots for the photos and to Joan Secker Wlodarczyk for the transcriptions.

There is still scope to add further memorials to this database, which already covers well over 1,000 memorials and includes over 65,000 names. If you know of a local memorial in Greater Manchester and it is not in our database, we will welcome photographs (overall photo and sufficient detailed photos of panels as to enable transcription of the names). (MEM-51a)

I have added a further 3,989 records to the Great Database. These constitute a reconstruction of the lost portions of the 1851 census for Chorlton-on-Medlock. Please, however, note the following caveat:

Significant portions of the 1851 census returns were badly water damaged while in storage and in consequence were not microfilmed (or where filmed, were unreadable). Large parts of the damaged returns were transcribed as a project by MLFHS and can be searched and viewed in the 1851 Unfilmed Census database in the member area of this web site.

However, this left many households, particularly in Chorlton-on-Medlock, for which the returns were completely unreadable or which had completely disintegrated. The data in this index represents an attempt to reconstruct the missing entries using the Poor rate records for 1851 as a basis. The methodology employed is described in the article which follows below.

It must be emphasised that the data which appears in this data set represents what MIGHT have appeared in the original returns. Since the Poor rate records name the person who might be expected to have appeared as head of household in the census, these names (which will be listed first in the 'family' listing) may be considered fairly reliable. However, the presence of other family members and their ages are conjectured from data in the previous and subsequent censuses and from other sources. It is, of course, not possible to identify individuals outside the direct family (e.g. in-laws, cousins, visitors, lodgers and boarders) who might have been in the dwelling on census night.

Thanks are due to Ray Hulley who compiled this dataset.

Another addition to The Great Database. 1,539 birth, marriage and death notoices taken from the Manchester Courier for 1832.

Thanks to Linda Bailey and Chris Hall.

Added another 1,850 references to the Great database. These are the names and addresses of Manchester fish fryers taken from:

Slater's Manchester & Salford Directory, 1895
Kelly's Directory of Manchester Salford & Suburbs 1929
Kelly's Directory of Manchester Salford & Suburbs 1954

Thanks to Joe Hilditch for these.

I have just added a furthr batch of memorial inscription listings to the descriptive documents in the member area MI database. These relate to:

Oldham, Methodist New Connexion Chapel
Oldham, Regent St. Congregational Chapel
Oldham, Lees, Zion Methodist  Chapel
Oldham, Leesfield, St. Thomas
Oldham, Springhead, Providence Chapel
Oldham, Hey Leas, St. John
Oldham, Greenacres Congregational Chapel
Bardsley Parish Church
Padgate, Christ Church
Latchford, St. James the Great
Thelwall, All Saints
Patricroft, George St.
Prescot, St. Mary
Penketh, Quaker Burial Ground
Rainhill, St. Bartholomew
Rochdale, Providence Chapel
Rochdale, Town Meadows Burial Ground
Rochdale, Ogden Baptist Chapel

Thanks once more to Cheyvonne Bower for these.

A further 800 burials at Christ Church, Bradford 1878-1882 have been added to the Miscellaneous database.

Thanks to Mark Harrey for these.

Listings of memorial inscriptions have been added to the descriptive documents for the following burial grounds which are included in the memorial inscription database:

St. Helens, Hollinfare
Salford, New Jerusalem (Owen)
St. Mary Lancaster
Leigh Parish Church
Leigh, St. Mary
Lowton, St. Luke
Middleton, St. Leonard
Middleton, St. Gabriel
Middleton, St. Leonard (Owen)
Middleton, Mills Hill Baptist
Mossley Parish Church
Wargrave, Emmanuel
Newton-le-Willows, United Reform
Newton-le-Willows, St. Peter
Oldham, Northmoor, All Saints
Oldham, Chapelry
Oldham, Werneth, St. John
Oldham, Royton, Quakers
Oldham, St. James

Thanks as always to Cheyvonne Bower for these.

Added another 1,537 burial records for Christ Church, Bradford, these covering years 1871-1879.

Thanks to Mark Harrey for this addition.

Another addition to the Great Database.

This time it is 307 baptisms between 1740 and 1768 for Ardwick, St. Thomas. These have been transcribed by Susan Mayall.

They appear on the Family Search site but are cunningly concealed in a volume described as "Marriages 1749-1762", which actually covers baptisms, marriages and burials.

Another addition to the Great Database.

This time it is 126 burials between 1740 and 1768 for Ardwick, St. Thomas. These have been transcribed by Susan Mayall.

They appear on the Family Search site but are cunningly concealed in a volume described as "Marriages 1749-1762", which actually covers baptisms, marriages and burials.

I have added another 183 memorials and a total of 683 names to the Memorial Inscription database in the member area.

Going through some old papers recently, I found a stack of photocopies of transcripts of memorials which had been removed from the graveyard of St. Cross, Clayton. These include damaged/vandalised memorials and kerbstones which were possibly removed to make maintenance easier.

For some reason, these had not been processed when we published the original transcriptions for St. Cross, so I have completed the work and now added the results to the MI database.

John Marsden

Another batch of listings have been added to the descriptive documents for memorials indexed in the Memorial Inscriptions database. These relate to:

Ashton-in-Makerfield, St. Thomas
Ashton-in-Makerfield, St. Thomas (churchyard)
Ashton-under-Lyne, Christ Church
Ashton-under-Lyne, St. Peter (Owen Manuscripts)
Ashton-under-Lyne, St. Michael and All Saints
Astley, St. Stephen
Audenshaw, St.  Stephen
Manchester, Clayton, St. Cross
Bacup, Particular Baptist Church
Warrington, Croft, St. Lewis
Warrington, Croft, Christchurch
Burtonwood, St. Michael
Droylesden, St. Mary
Droylesden, St. Mary (second transcript)
Halshaw, Independent
Gateacre Unitarian Chapel
Grange-over-Sands, St. Paul
Great Sankey, St. Mary
Great Sankey, St. Mary, Cemetery
Warrington, Appleton, Hill Cliffe Baptist Church (Owen Manuscripts)

Thanks to Cheyvonne Bower for these.

Listings of the memorial inscriptions for another batch of Manchester/Salford burial grounds have been added to the descriptive documents linked to the memorial inscription search in the great Database. These allow the memorials to be browsed rather than simply searched for a specific name.

These relate to:

St Mary Mulberry St (RC), Manchester
St George, Hulme
Levenshulme Weslyan Chapel
St Andrew, Levenshulme
St John, Longsight
St James, Gorton
Brookfield Unitarian Church, Gorton
New Jerusalam, Salford (from Owen MSS)
St Ann, Brindle Heath
Sacred Trinity, Salford (two listings)
Weaste Cemetery, Salford
Wesleyan Chapel Irwell St, Salford (from Owen MSS)
New Windsor Old Independent Chapel, Salford
Barton on Irwell Roman Catholic Burial Ground
Barton on Irwell Wesleyan Chapel
St Catherine Dumplington, Barton on Irwell
Unitarian Chapel, Monton
Unitarian Free, Swinton
St Mark, Worsley

Thanks are due to Cheyvonne Bower, for producing these helpful listings.

More have been completed and will be added in the near future and Cheyvonne is currently working on similar listings for the first batch of Lancashire burial grounds.

This is an account of Arthur Wood's army service in WW1. The words are taken from Arthur Wood's diary and are supplemented by contemporary images, mainly photographs taken by an Australian unit which worked alongside the British army and which connect directly with Arthur Wood's diary entried. 

This is a unique story, of course, detailing major eents as well as the smaller details of throwing snowballs in the sunshine; it is a story which deserves its place in our archives.

Thanks are due to Elaine Greensmith for enabling the society to create this valuable archive which can be read as a PDF in the Documents section or as a webpage HERE

Memorial Inscription listings added to the descriptions to the following churches:

Droylsden: St Andrew
Hyde: St Mary Magdalene
Manchester: Unitarian Chapel Mosley St
Manchester: St Ann
Manchester: Collegiate Church (Owen MSS)
Chorlton: Beech Rd Wesleyan Chapel
Salford: King St Chapel
Manchester: Gadsby's Chapel Rochdale Rd  (Owen MSS)
Pendlebury: St John
Heaton Mersey: Congregationalist Chapel

Thanks to Cheyvonne Bower for her work on these.

6,951 names added to the creed book transcription. These cover periods 1884-1886 and 1891-1892.

Thanks to members of our Bolton Branch for these. For those unfamiliar, the admission registers for Bolton Workhouse do not survive, but the creed books, which record the religion of each inmate at the time of admission, do. These provide names and other information including dates of admission and discharge (or death). There are no ages, but families are usually listed as a group, which can be helpful.

A further 1,641 BMD announcements from the Manchester Courier for 1829.

Thanks to Linda Bailey and Chris Hall for transcribing these very useful pre-civil registration references, which frequently provide more information than the parish register entries.

A further 58 death certificates have been scanned and indexed to the Great Database with links to the images. Thanks to Barry Henshall for these.

A further 28 marriage certificates have been scanned and indexed to the Great Database with links to the images. Thanks to Barry Henshall for these.

A further 42 birth certificates have been scanned and indexed to the Great Database with links to the images. Thanks to Barry Henshall for these.

Another addition to the Great Database. This time another 3,142 baptisms at St. Mary, Prestwich 1769-1791, bringing total coverage to 1752-1791.

Thanks to Susan Mayall for these.

An interesting new document has been added to the member area Document Collection (General - Military):

The Gallipoli diary of Lt Charles Earsham Cooke M C 1896 - 1917 1/9th Battalion Manchester Regiment (Territorial).

This is published with the kind permission of his nephew, Richard Cooke.

This albeit short diary provides a first hand account of Cooke's involvement in the Gallipoli campaign between 5 May and 2 September 1915.

Two new additions to the memorial Inscriptions database in the member area, both relating to the Bolton area:

Belmont Congregational Chapel - 277 names from 72 memorials
Edgworth URC - 863 names from 205 memorials

Both were originally transcribed by Turton Local History Society and re-typed for online publication by Colin Calderbank.

Another addition to the Great Database.

Details of 2,178 burials at Christ Church Bible Christian Church Hulme 1827-1839 (with a gap 1837-38). Transcribed by Geoff Edge and Mark Harrey.

These are particularly interesting as they include in many cases the cause of death.

Another addition to the Great Database. This is the final part of the admissions to Manchester Grammar School transcribed by Linda Bailey and Chris Hall and consists of 637 index entries 1807-1823. These entries can contain anywhere from a date of admission only up to a fairly lengthy summary of the subsequent career.

Thanks to Linda and Chris for a valuable project conceived and completed.

I have just added another 1,488 records to the Great Database. These are birth, narriage and death announcements published in the Manchester
Courier during 1828.

Thanks to Linda Bailey for this substantial extension to her previous work, which now amounts to 14,167 references.

One of the criticisms of the Memorial Inscription database is that there is no way to browse all of the memorials for a particular cemetery. Thanks to Cheyvonne Bower, this is on the way to being addressed. Cheyvonne is working through the records to produce listings of the memorials which are to be appended to the descriptive documents. A start has been made, but there is still much to be done. I will keep you updated as the work progresses. The first ones completed are:

GraveYardNo    Name
M080    Manchester, Gadsby's Chapel, Rochdale Rd (Owen)
M085    Manchester, St. George, Oldham Road
M088    Manchester, New Cross, St Paul
M090    Manchester, Cannon St Chapel
M091    Manchester, Great Bridgewater St. Wesleyan Chapel
M092    Manchester, Upper Brook St. Unitarian Chapel
M095    Manchester, St Michael, Angel St
M099    Manchester, Ancoats, Christ Church, Every Street
M100    Manchester, Ancoats, All Souls
M101    Manchester, Ardwick, St. Thomas
M106    Manchester, Newton Heath, All Saints
M111    Manchester, Failsworth, Dob Lane Unitarian Chapel, Oldham Rd
M150    Trafford Park, St. Cuthbert
M155    Manchester, Moss Side, St. James
M180    Manchester, Cheetham Hill, St. Luke
M279    Manchester, Ardwick, St. Benedicts
M280    Manchester, St. Saviour, Plymouth Grove
M300    Manchester, Rusholme, Platt Unitarian Chapel (1974 Transcript)
M301    Manchester, Rusholme, Platt Unitarian Chapel (2000 Transcript)
M311    Manchester, Rusholme, St James, Birch in Rusholme
M336    Manchester, Chorlton-on-Medlock, St Clements (Owen)

Another big addition to The Great Database in the member area at mlfhs.uk

This is the final batch to complete the Manchester Probate Names Index 1812-1837 which now contains 42,788 names extracted from 5,533 wills and administrations proved at the chester Consistory Court where the testator was recorded as living in Manchester or one of the townships.

The index is invaluable as a means of finding who was connected with the testator, either as executor, witness or beneficiary, so if one of your ancestors appears as a beneficiary, you can locate the will in which they are named and possibly locate more information and open up a new line of research. Mostly probate is indexed by testator only, so if youu have no knowledge of a connection to a testator, this index will bring it to light.

Considerable thanks are due to Geoff Edge and his team of transcribers for the splendid work they have done to create this index, which helps with that awkward period just before civil registration and the census.

If you make a breakthrough as a result of using the index, please post it to the forum to help members become more aware of the possibilities it opens up.

Joe Hilditch has extracted the names and addresses of Manchester public houses together with the names of publicans listed in Slater's Directory of Manchester 1879 and Kelly's Directory of Manchester, 1933.

These are available in the Member Document Collection - General - Trades and Professions.

Added another 4,244 records to the Great Database.

These consist of an index to testators of 'Supra' wills (those whose estates were worth over £40) proved in the Chester Consistory Court between 1838 and 1858, when the probate responsibility transferred to civil probate registries.

Thanks are due to Geoff Edge and his volunteers for creating the index and to Chris Willis for processing the listing document so that references link directly to the online scanned images on the family Search site.

Our teams of volunteers work with archives, organisations and individuals to transcribe and help to preerve records for family historians and researchers present and future. 

This long list of additions to our databases showcases the work done by our teams since June 2020 - when we already had 2.7 million records and a large collection of documents online. 

Another addition to The Great Database:

This data set consists of a transcript of 1,304 burials from the combined Baptism, Marriage and Burial Register for St. Mary, Prestwich, 1752-1768 and was compiled by Susan Mayall.

Another addition to The Great Database, courtesy of Joe Hilditch.

This is a collection of 321 names, addresses, positions and churches of ministers of churches in Manchester and Salford taken from Kelly's Directories for 1929 and 1933. These are also in the Document Collection (General - Trades and Professions) together with a listing of Manchester (CofE) churches taken from Crockford's Clerical Directory for 1898. This latter names the ministers and curates as well as providing some interesting data on the local population and number of seats in the church.

Another 1,011 records added to the Great Database. These are from Bolton Historical Gleanings by B. T. Barton (1882).

There are everal diverse record sets relating to Bolton and District transcribed from this publication by Colin Calderwood.

A copy of the extracts has been added to the Bolton Documents section of the member area.

Another small, but very interesting addition to The Great Database:

Listing of the officers of the 49th (Openshaw) Battalion of the Home Guard. Transcribed by Joe Hilditch (304 records)

Useful, in that it includes addresses and dates of birth.

dded a further 1,850 records to the Great Database.

These are transcriptions of baptisms at Prestwich, St. Mary 1752-1768 and were transcribed by Susan Mayall.

Linda Bailey has just sent me another part of the Admission Registers of Manchester Grammar School. This is Volume 2 covering 962 admissions 1776-1807 (bringing the total to over 3,000). Thanks to Linda Bailey and Chris Hall for this latest addition. They are now added to the Great database.

Another substantial and interesting addition to The Great Database.

This is a transcript of the burial registers for Salford, King Street, Bible Christian Church graveyard 1814-1837.

There was already a dataset of 10,091 records covering burials 1800-1813, which had been transcribed by Joan Lawler many years ago. This latest addition covers a further 5,682 burials.

King Street was a very popular burial ground, firstly for followers of this fairly obscure sect, but possibly more so for those who wanted a cheap burial place. Many of those buried at King Street came from Manchester and so if you have been unsuccessful in finding a burial in the parish graveyards it is just possible that their family may have had them buried here.

All thanks are due to Geoff Edge for undertaking this substantial transcription.

Another 2,036 records have been added to the Great Database. This is an index to the Grave Book for Little Lever United Reformed Church (URC). Burial register seldom records the grave in which the person is buried. Memorial inscriptions do not necessarily always record all the persons buried (and sometimes memorialise those who were buried elsewhere). The grave book, for those unfamiliar with them, records who is buried in each grave and so provides strong evidence that those in the grave are in some way related (though this is not always the case). They also record 'unusual' burials such as those of stillborn children and of the ashes of those who were cremated, which may not appear either in the register or on the memorial.

The grave book was 0riginally transcribed by volunteers of our Bolton Branch working under Sylvia Massey. The project also recorded the memorial inscriptions, which are already included in our MI database.

The original transcript is also available in the Document Collection - Bolton - Death and Burial.

Special thanks to Rita Greenwood, for prompting me to add this very interesting index to the Great Database.

I have now added the last book of baptisms at Salford, Sacred trinity, to the Great Database. Thanks to Susan Mayall for these 2,360 additional records.

The eagle-eyed will have spotted that the headline on the home page at mlfhs.uk now reads "Search over 2.8 million records..." (updated from 2.7 million) and the number is, in fact approaching 2.9 million. With more in the pipeline, maybe we will see 3 million later this year.

Military General Service Medal - Awards to men of the Lancashire Fusiliers.

Colin Calderbank has transcribed the details (Name and Rank plus some miscelleneous notes plus the campaigns for which they were awarded clasps) for 236 recipients of the MGS Medal. The medals were not awarded until 1847, three decades after the campaigns for which they were awarded, and only about 10% of those who qualified are believed to have claimed their medals.

Thanks to Colin Calderbank for these useful additions.

Beersellers in 1911 - Joe Hilditch has transcribed the names and addresses of 1,690 beer and wine sellers listed in Slater's Manchester Directory for 1911

Thanks to Joe Hilditch for these useful additions.

Deaths at Scutari Hospital
Anthony Steven has completed the transcription of another 1,863 names of soldiers who died at Scutari Hospital during the Crimea campaign 1854-56 as were published in UK newspapers for the period. These are, as noted previously, by no means all local men, but will include men from local regiments.

Thanks to Anthony Steven for these useful additions.

Bolton Workhouse Creed Books

A further 4,475 records of admissions to the Bolton Workhouse, taken from the Creed Books, have been added to the Great Database. These cover persons admitted during the years 1882-1884.

Thanks, as always, to those volunteers who have extended this valuable resource.

Linda Bailey has been busy and now, assisted by Chris Hall, has completed Volume 1 of the Admissions for the Manchester School. It covers 1730 - 1775.

The 1,172 people named have been added to the Great Database and a copy of the transcript of this and the previous Vol 3 Part 2 added to the Document Collection (General-Institutions).

As before, information can be anywhere from basic date of admission through to quite lengthy biographical details.

Thanks to Linda and Chris for this useful resource.

Susan Mayall has transcribed the second volume of Sacred Trinity, Salford baptisms covering 1864-1872 - another 1,556 references and these are now in the Great Database.

Thanks to Susan for this addition, from a register which was particularly difficult to read, both from poor reproduction (it looks like parts were written in pencil) and from some eccentric handwriting.

Possibly the final addition to the Great Database for 2020.

I have just added a further 5,109 records from the Creed Registers of Bolton Workhouse transcribed by members of our Bolton Branch. These relate to people admitted between 1869 and 1874.

The admission registers of the workhouse, as is so often the case, have not been preserved. However, the creed books for Bolton have survived and are in Bolton Archives.

Creed registers were kept so that orphaned children could be given appropriate religious instruction and so that, in the event of the inmate's death, they could be buried with the appropriate rites.

The format of the registers varies over time but they generally record (at least):

The name of the inmate
Date of admission (or in some cases date entered into register)
Previous abode
Religious creed
Name of informant providing information (usually self or parent)
Reason for Discharge (sometimes death)
Date of Discharge or death

Where a family was admitted as a group, the family entries will usually appear together in the register.

This makes them an excellent substitute for the lost admission registers.

The transcription project aims to transcribe the registers 1869-1918. Twelve of the twenty-one registers have been completed creating 34,649 records covering 1869-1882, 1892-5 and 1902-1907.

Many people, however, will appear more than once since they might be admitted and discharged several times as their fortunes waxed and waned.

Another new addition to The Great Database. This time it is a collection of 1,620 baptisms at Sacred Trinity Church, Salford 1813-1864.

These were transcribed by Susan Mayall, to whom thanks are due.

995 names with sometimes extensive personal information relating to entries in W. E. Axon's Annals of Manchester (1886).

There are full copies of the transcripts in the Document Collection.

Thanks to Linda Bailey for these.

Admissions to Manchester Grammar School
878 names with sometimes extensive biographical information relating to entries in part 2 of Volume 3 of Jeremiah Finch Smith's three part listing of pupils admitted to MGS. These records cover 1823-1837. Work is in progress  to complete coverage 1730-1857.

There are full copies of the transcripts in the Document Collection.

Thanks to Linda Bailey for these.

More useful additions to the Great Database.

7,054 baptisms from the registers of All Saints, Newton Heath 1793-1837. These have been transcribed from the scanned images on FamilySearch.

Thanks are due to Susan Mayall for this substantial contribution.

More useful additions to the Great Database.

A final batch of 141 deaths from the registers of Withington Hospital completing this index to cover 910 deaths recorded 1923-1940. These are particularly useful as they not only include cause of death, but also often include the place of burial/cremation.

Thanks are due to Joe Hilditch for this helpful resource.

Added another large file of newspaper references to the Great Database, as follows:

Manchester Mercury - to complete

1806 (365 records),

(1807-1808 - not available),

1809 (650 records)

Thanks are due to Linda Bailey for this addition.

dded another large file of newspaper references to the Great Database, as follows:

Manchester Courier - 1827 (1254 records)

Thanks are due to Linda Bailey for this addition.

Added a new item to the member documents (General - Trades and Professions). This is a listing of 500+ Manchester Public Houses, with addresses and the names of publicans, taken from Kelly's Manchester Directory for 1933.

Thanks are due to Joe Hilditch for this list.

Added a further 1,149 names to the Great Database. This is a further batch of soldiers' deaths reported at the Scutari Hospital and brings the index up to reports published up to February 1855, a total of 2,755. Thanks to Anthony Steven for this welcome addition.

These deaths are not specific to men from the Manchester area but those identified as serving in the 20th Regiment (Lancashire Fusiliers) and 47th Regiment (Royal Lancashire Regiment) are particularly likely to be local to the county. However, it is quite possible that local men may have served with any regiment.

Another substantial addition to the Great Database. This time it is 16,559 burials in the churchyard of All Saints, Chorlton-on-Medlock.

Many thanks to alll the volunteers who contributed to this substantial piece of work.

Just because the web site has moved to a new platform it doesn't mean that the databases don't continue to expand. Here are the latest additions:

Scutari Hospital Deaths
Anthony Steven has made a flying start on compiling a list of those soldiers (and the odd civilian) who died in the Scutari Hospital (think of Florence Nightingale) during the Crimean War 1854-56. His initial batch relates to 1,541 deaths 1854-5 and he is continuing to work on the balance. These are taken from reports published in a variety of newspapers. While these are not (by far) all going to be men from the Manchester area, there will undoubtedly be local men in some of the regiments. Details given include (mostly) rank, regiment, date of death and cause of death.

Just because the web site has moved to a new platform it doesn't mean that the databases don't continue to expand. Here are the latest additions:

Manchester Courier BMDs
Linda Bailey has added another 1,320 records of births, marriages and deaths published in the Manchester Courier, this batch relating to 1826. Both this and the probate names index provide valuable information for that troublesome period before the introduction of civil registration.

Just because the web site has moved to a new platform it doesn't mean that the databases don't continue to expand. Here are the latest additions:

Withington Hospital Deaths
Joe Hilditch has added another 85 deaths at Withington Hospital to the index which provides details 770 deaths between 1923 and 1938. These are valuable because (1) they often include place of burial and (2) the deaths were subject of inquests so may lead to newspaper reports giving more information.

Just because the web site has moved to a new platform it doesn't mean that the databases don't continue to expand. Here are the latest additions:

Manchester Probate Names Index
Geoff Edge and his team have completed another 12,782 names which appear in the probates of Manchester testators 1821-1828. Work continues to complete coverage 1812-1837.

Another step forward!

The indexing of burials for St Mark, Cheetham 1813-1855 is now completed and the 6,650 records are now part of the Great Database. Thanks to all of the volunteers involved. Work has already begun on the eight books for All Saints, Chorlton-on-Medlock, a much larger graveyard with around 16,000 burials 1820-1877.

Also added are the latest 750 or so references to BMDs, inquests and obituaries from the Manchester Courier 1895 extracted by Linda Bailey, bringing this year to completion and the index up to around 6,500 records. Thanks to Linda for this increasinly large resource.