The Church of St John the Baptist, Lees (or Hey) in the County of -- Lancashire --

Baptisms at St John the Baptist
in the Parish of Lees (or Hey)

For the format of dates in Registers prior to 1752, see notes on the Julian Calendar

A note in the first separate burial register states: 'This Chapelry is situated in the confines of the three parishes of Ashton-under-Lyne, Oldham and Saddleworth and the seatholders in each have the privilege of interment'. Based on the last sentence it is assumed that A, S & O in the notes refer to Ashton under Lyne, Saddleworth and Oldham Parishes.

In the Baptism and Burial registers there are notes which state that Duty on Christening & Burials etc began on Oct 1^st, 1783. The Stamp Duties Act of 1783 was passed by the House of Commons in order to raise money to pay for the American War of Independence. Under the provisions of this Act, all baptism, marriage and burial entries in each parish register were subject to a tax of 3d (old pence), exempting burials from the workhouse and births to parents on parish relief. Church ministers were empowered to collect the duty and were allowed to keep 10% of this fee as compensation for their trouble. Refusal to pay carried a fine of five pounds.

This was a deeply unpopular tax, and many clergymen were sympathetic to the plight of their parishioners, and as paupers were exempt from this tax, it is not uncommon for family history researchers and genealogists to find that the number of supposed poor people within a parish has increased many times above normal during these years until the act was finally repealed in 1794. Such entries in a parish register are annotated with either the letter 'P', 'Pauper' or 'Poor'. If a family could not claim exemption then it was not unusual for them simply not to bother to have a child Baptised, and this would result in a number of adult 'late' baptisms during the following decades.

 Based on the above, this explains why some notes say A3, O3 or S3 and refers to the 3d duty. In addition, it explains the P or Poor in some notes, particularly for burials; for baptisms though, a note 'P' (or 'half') may refer to Private Baptisms, usually when a child was not expected to survive and was baptised as soon as possible after birth.

The Register for Baptisms at St John the Baptist 1743 - 1787 with Surname Index

The Register for 1743 - 1787 is divided into batches covering 15 years
Batches for the individual years may be accessed via the links below

 1743 - 1757   1758 - 1772   1773 - 1787 

The Register for Baptisms at St John the Baptist 1788 - 1812 with Surname Index

The Register for 1788 - 1812 is divided into batches covering 5 years
Batches for the individual years may be accessed via the links below

 1788 - 1792   1793 - 1797   1798 - 1802   1803 - 1807   1808 - 1812 

The Register for Baptisms at St John the Baptist 1813 - 1842 with Surname Index

The Register for 1813 - 1842 is divided into batches covering 10 years
Batches for the individual years may be accessed via the links below

 1813 - 1822   1823 - 1832   1833 - 1842 

The Register for Baptisms at St John the Baptist 1842 - 1896 with Surname Index

The Register for 1842 - 1896 is divided into batches covering 14 years
Batches for the individual years may be accessed via the links below

 1842 - 1855   1856 - 1869   1870 - 1883   1884 - 1896 

There are 9593 Baptism Records extracted for this Church

A combined index for all the above registers may be accessed through the links below.

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