Place:Penwortham, Lancashire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

Penwortham {#17 on map) is a town in South Ribble, Lancashire, England, on the south bank of the River Ribble facing the city of Preston. The town is at the most westerly crossing point of the river, with major road and rail links crossing it here. Penwortham is one of the largest civil parishes by population in Lancashire. The population of the town at the UK 2011 census was 23,047. Penwortham is located in the South Ribble District and prior to the nationwide reorganization of municipal government in 1974, it was part of Preston Rural District. In the 19th century it was part of Longton sub-district of Preston Registration District and Poor Law Union. Before becoming a civil parish in 1866 it was a township and ancient parish in Leyland Hundred. Penwortham is one of the largest civil parishes by population in Lancashire, with a population of 23,047 recorded in the 2011 UK census. The town's development closely resembles that of Preston. The Lower Penwortham area developed during the Victorian period which is evidenced by the large number of terrace housing along Leyland Road and the surrounding streets. Higher Penwortham is characterised by its 1920s and onwards, post-war semi-detached housing. The town includes the localities of Howick Cross and Middleforth, and the Kingsfold housing estate.

The following description from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72 is provided by the website A Vision of Britain Through Time (University of Portsmouth Department of Geography).

"PENWORTHAM, a village, a township, and a parish, in Preston [registration] district, Lancashire. The village stands on the river Ribble, near the Northwestern railway, 1½ mile S W of Preston; and has a post-office under Preston. The township contains also the village of Middleforth-Green, and the hamlet of Charnock-Moss; and comprises 2,277 acres. Real property: £7,221; of which £30 are in fisheries. Population in 1851: 1,487; in 1861: 1,506. Houses: 271.

"[Penwortham] Priory, [Penwortham] Hall, [Penwortham] House, the Oaks, Hurst Grange, White Friars, and Swallow House are chief residences. An ancient castle stood here, to guard the navigation of the Ribble; but was long ago erased. A Benedictine priory, a cell to Evesham abbey, was founded here, in the time of the Conqueror, by Warine Bussel; was given, at the dissolution, to the Fleetwoods; and has left no remains.

"The parish contains also the townships of Howick, Hutton, Longton, and Farington. Acres: 11,317; of which 1,450 are water. Real property: £26,169. Population in 1851: 5,722; in 1861: 5,488. Houses: 996. The property is subdivided. Bricks and tiles are made in Howick; and brewing and malting are carried on in Longton. The living is a [perpetual] curacy in the diocese of Manchester. Value: £125. Patron: L. Rawstorne, Esq.

"The church is of the 14th century; was partly rebuilt, partly enlarged, in 1856; consists of nave, aisles, and chancel, with porch and low tower; and contains handsome monuments of the Fleetwoods and the Rawstornes. The [perpetual] curacies of Longton and Farington are separate benefices. A chapel of ease, a Wesleyan chapel, a workhouse for female children, an endowed grammar school, and charities £70 are in [Penwortham] township; and dissenting chapels and public schools are in the other townships."

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Penwortham. The History section briefly covers the 11th to 18th century and gives names of a number of landowners.

The Holme

In its chapter on the township of Penwortham, British History Online (Victoria County Histories), published 1911, states that The Holme was an extraparochial area and describes it as follows

"The low ground by the Ribble, on the north-east, is called The Holme; it is common to the parishes of Penwortham and Preston. The area is 2,230½ acres and the population in 1901 was 2,523. To the south-east of The Holme is the bridge over the Ribble to Preston."

In the previous chapter of British History Online, entitled Parish of Penwortham, is a map with The Holme marked.

A Vision of Britain through Time notes that The Holme (#21) was a census place in 1901. It is to be assumed that The Holme was absorbed into Penwortham, if not into Preston, soon after.

The Holme described here, with its links to Penwortham and Preston, should not be confused with another small place named Holme, or Holme Chapel or Holme in Cliviger which was part of the ancient parish of Whalley a distance to the east of Preston, close to the border of Lancashire with Yorkshire.

Research Tips

• See the Wikipedia articles on parishes and civil parishes for descriptions of this lowest rung of local administration. The original parishes were ecclesiastical (described as ancient parishes), under the jurisdiction of the local priest. A parish covered a specific geographical area and was sometimes equivalent to that of a manor. Sometimes, in the case of very large rural parishes, there were chapelries where a "chapel of ease" allowed parishioners to worship closer to their homes. In the 19th century the term civil parish was adopted to define parishes with a secular form of local government. In WeRelate both civil and ecclesiastical parishes are included in the type of place called a "parish". Smaller places within parishes, such as chapelries and hamlets, have been redirected into the parish in which they are located. The names of these smaller places are italicized within the text.
• An urban district was a type of municipality in existence between 1894 and 1974. They were formed as a middle layer of administration between the county and the civil parish and were used for urban areas usually with populations of under 30,000. Inspecting the archives of a urban district will not be of much help to the genealogist or family historian, unless there is need to study land records in depth.
• Civil registration or vital statistics and census records will be found within registration districts. To ascertain the registration district to which a parish belongs, see Registration Districts in Lancashire, part of the UK_BMD website.
• The terms municipal borough and county borough were adopted in 1835 replacing the historic "boroughs". Municipal boroughs generally had populations between 30,000 and 50,000; while county boroughs usually had populations of over 50,000. County boroughs had local governments independent of the county in which they were located, but municipal boroughs worked in tandem with the county administration. Wikipedia explains these terms in much greater detail.
• Lancashire Online Parish Clerks provide free online information from the various parishes, along with other data of value to family and local historians conducting research in the County of Lancashire.
• FamilySearch Lancashire Research Wiki provides a good overview of the county and also articles on most of the individual parishes (very small or short-lived ones may have been missed).
• Ancestry (international subscription necessary) has a number of county-wide collections of Church of England baptisms, marriages and burials, some from the 1500s, and some providing microfilm copies of the manuscript entries. There are specific collections for Liverpool (including Catholic baptisms and marriages) and for Manchester. Their databases now include electoral registers 1832-1935. Another pay site is FindMyPast.
• A map of Lancashire circa 1888 supplied by A Vision of Britain through Time includes the boundaries between the parishes and shows the hamlets within them.
• A map of Lancashire circa 1954 supplied by A Vision of Britain through Time is a similar map for a later timeframe.
• GENUKI provides a website covering many sources of genealogical information for Lancashire. The organization is gradually updating the website and the volunteer organizers may not have yet picked up all the changes that have come with improving technology.
• The Victoria County History for Lancashire, provided by British History Online, covers the whole of the county in six volumes (the seventh available volume [numbered Vol 2] covers religious institutions). The county is separated into its original hundreds and the volumes were first published between 1907 and 1914. Most parishes within each hundred are covered in detail. Maps within the text can contain historical information not available elsewhere.
• A description of the township of Penwortham from British History Online (Victoria County Histories), published 1911
• A description of the parish of Penwortham from British History Online (Victoria County Histories), published 1911