The Parish of Chorley in the County of -- Lancashire --

Chorley Parish Resources

The Church of St Laurence is located at Landranger Grid: SD 583177

Parish records for the church exist as follows:

Transcribing of Chorley parish records for the church of St. Lawrence is underway and should be completed by late 2006.

The parish records of Chorley St. George commence in 1837 and are held on microfiche at the Lancashire Records Office under reference number PR 3123. The IGI contains an index to baptisms from that church from 1836 to 1887 and marriages from 1836 to 1900.

LancashireBMD is making progress in indexing births, marriages and deaths that were registered in this district. It is recommended to review their site. This provides access to births, marriages and deaths registered only AFTER 1st July 1837 and allows you to order the certificate from the local registry office instead of the national registration system. Do check the coverage link to see what records have been transcribed. Marriages at the parish church should also be in the parish church records.

FreeBMD may also be consulted for births, marriages and deaths registered in this district after 1st July 1837. This is also a work in progress that is not yet complete.

Other churches in Chorley include the following:

The Lancashire Family History and Heraldry Society (LFH&HS) has transcribed some marriage indexes for St. Laurence's and the Monumental Inscriptions for St. Laurence's, St. George's and St. Peter's. The Society should be contacted for further information. LFH&HS

The Lancashire Parish Register Society (LPRS) is a group of volunteers who have been working since 1898 to transcribe and make available copies of parish registers in Lancashire. Further information may be obtained here: LPRS

Census Records

Transcripts of the 1841 census for the Chorley area are being made available here:-

Census Transcripts

You should also consult the FreeCEN site although it is only just getting started and not much may be available.

Copies of the census books have been made available or are in process by Stepping Stones, S&N Genealogy and Archive CD Project. The various census and other records can be searched online at: Familysearch

All census transcriptions should be used as an index as the original records may be in very poor shape and pencil was used to record much of the original information. Some searchers have found ancestors by searching on first names, so be creative.

Legal Notice: Although not bound by the UK 1998 Data Protection Act, this site is in full compliance as no information will be posted on live people at any time.