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Author Topic: Parish Registers - St Bees v Whitehaven Churches  (Read 3351 times)

Offline Cavanaghs

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Parish Registers - St Bees v Whitehaven Churches
« on: Tuesday 14 January 25 15:30 GMT (UK) »
I've noticed many of my relatives were baptised in St Bees but they seem to marry and get buried in one of the Whitehaven churches. Can anyone help explain why this might be? I'm thinking of the period pre 1837. Tia!
GEDMatch Kit no. CE7119959

Maternal: Thirlwell, Dobbins, Stamp, Rochester, Laws, Nicholson, Cavanagh, Jessop, Clough/Cleugh, Charlton, Weightman, Swinhoe, Swainson, Purdie, Carney…
(Northumberland, Cumberland, Ireland)

Paternal: Gilmour, McGrath, Oram, Green(e), Hepplewhite, Graham, Bugbird, Hanley, Hutton, Bellott, Busfield, Blake, Bugbird, Dwyer...
(Ireland, County Durham, especially Hartlepool, Whitby, North Yorkshire, Middlesex, Surrey, ia)

Online CaroleW

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Re: Parish Registers - St Bees v Whitehaven Churches
« Reply #1 on: Tuesday 14 January 25 16:44 GMT (UK) »
My knowledge of St Bees is from the 1970's but it was a very small village like place then so going back 140yrs beforehand I presume it had even less facilities hence marriages & baptisms in Whitehaven.  About 6 miles between the 2 places so not exactly round the corner 

I can't recall if it had a church but a quick Google suggests there wasn't one back in the early 1800's but I may be mistaken
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Offline Cavanaghs

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Re: Parish Registers - St Bees v Whitehaven Churches
« Reply #2 on: Tuesday 14 January 25 17:07 GMT (UK) »
The parish registers date from 1538 so St Bees has been around for a while! Perhaps it was a much bigger settlement in the past or just catered for a large area around it..
GEDMatch Kit no. CE7119959

Maternal: Thirlwell, Dobbins, Stamp, Rochester, Laws, Nicholson, Cavanagh, Jessop, Clough/Cleugh, Charlton, Weightman, Swinhoe, Swainson, Purdie, Carney…
(Northumberland, Cumberland, Ireland)

Paternal: Gilmour, McGrath, Oram, Green(e), Hepplewhite, Graham, Bugbird, Hanley, Hutton, Bellott, Busfield, Blake, Bugbird, Dwyer...
(Ireland, County Durham, especially Hartlepool, Whitby, North Yorkshire, Middlesex, Surrey, ia)

Offline KGarrad

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Re: Parish Registers - St Bees v Whitehaven Churches
« Reply #3 on: Tuesday 14 January 25 17:47 GMT (UK) »
Whitehaven used to be a chapelry to St Bees.
Back when Whitehaven consisted of just 9 houses!
Garrad (Suffolk, Essex, Somerset), Crocker (Somerset), Vanstone (Devon, Jersey), Sims (Wiltshire), Bridger (Kent)

Offline Cavanaghs

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Re: Parish Registers - St Bees v Whitehaven Churches
« Reply #4 on: Tuesday 14 January 25 18:48 GMT (UK) »
Wow! I didn't expect that! I would have thought Whitehaven would have been established as a port since early times!
GEDMatch Kit no. CE7119959

Maternal: Thirlwell, Dobbins, Stamp, Rochester, Laws, Nicholson, Cavanagh, Jessop, Clough/Cleugh, Charlton, Weightman, Swinhoe, Swainson, Purdie, Carney…
(Northumberland, Cumberland, Ireland)

Paternal: Gilmour, McGrath, Oram, Green(e), Hepplewhite, Graham, Bugbird, Hanley, Hutton, Bellott, Busfield, Blake, Bugbird, Dwyer...
(Ireland, County Durham, especially Hartlepool, Whitby, North Yorkshire, Middlesex, Surrey, ia)

Offline martin hooper

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Re: Parish Registers - St Bees v Whitehaven Churches
« Reply #5 on: Tuesday 14 January 25 19:08 GMT (UK) »
Exactly so. Whitehaven was in the parish of St Bees. I have the same situation with many ancestors in my tree - baptised in St Bees.

Martin

Offline MollyC

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Re: Parish Registers - St Bees v Whitehaven Churches
« Reply #6 on: Tuesday 14 January 25 20:50 GMT (UK) »
See the OS 6-inch map of 1861: https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=13.0&lat=54.51120&lon=-3.54597&layers=257&b=ESRIWorld&o=100

It shows St. Bees ancient parish as almost 67878 acres - St Bees named in a large hollow font - whereas to the south the township of St Bees was 1848 acres (black italic font).  Most of the parish was probably sparsely populated. 

Moving north, Whitehaven was a small township of only 176 acres, within a larger parliamentary borough.


Offline JACK GEE

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Re: Parish Registers - St Bees v Whitehaven Churches
« Reply #7 on: Tuesday 14 January 25 21:48 GMT (UK) »
Very interesting background. Two of my family interests are in this area - Creighton and Fox, with attached families.

cheers
Jack Gee
CECIL - DNA, GILBERT-ShirehamptonEng-Vic/Australia,HERWEG-WoltwiescheGERmany-Vic/Aust,CREIGHTON-Donegal-NI,Gosforth/CumbriaEng-Vic/Aust,MCCLURE-Cloghroe/KillynureDonegal NI,Vic/Aust,PATULLO-StMadoesPerthshire-Vic/Aust,NICHOLAS-Nth CheritonEng/Vic Aust,COX-ShirehamptonEng,FORD-MidsomerNortonEng,THOMAS-Pilton/Devon,EDWARDS-Bristol/Eng,BOND-Norfolk,NAU-Germany,SINGLETON-MuncasterEng,LADLAY-GosforthEng,JOHNSTONE-BalmerinoFife, TEMPLE-StranorlarNI,CRAIGIE,HALL,HANNAM,GINGELL,HALE,OSMAN,HARVEY,ALLEN.

Offline MollyC

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Re: Parish Registers - St Bees v Whitehaven Churches
« Reply #8 on: Wednesday 15 January 25 11:21 GMT (UK) »
I'm glad you made me look at this.  I have ancestors in Whitehaven c1800. It is largely a Georgian town; years ago I read "Whitehaven 1660-1800", HMSO, 1991.  See https://www.jstor.org/stable/4285952

More recently I have spent time looking at the landscape of similar large parishes in Yorkshire on this map series.  I now see that two of the churches in Whitehaven are marked "Per Cur" = Perpetual Curacy.  That is, they were subsidiary to a mother church, i.e. St. Bees.  However St. James is not marked, so I wonder what its status was.
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