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

Burials 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supposed poor people within a parish has increased many times above normal during these years until the act was finally repealed in 1794.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.

The Register for Burials at St John the Baptist 1744 - 1787 with Surname Index

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

The Register for 1788 - 1812 is divided into batches covering 13 years
Batches for the individual years may be accessed via the links below

 1788 - 1800   1801 - 1812 

The Register for Burials at St John the Baptist 1813 - 1847 with Surname Index

The Register for 1813 - 1847 is divided into batches covering 9 years
Batches for the individual years may be accessed via the links below

 1813 - 1821   1822 - 1830   1831 - 1839   1840 - 1847 

The Register for Burials at St John the Baptist 1847 - 1867 with Surname Index

The Register for 1847 - 1867 is divided into batches covering 7 years
Batches for the individual years may be accessed via the links below

 1847 - 1853   1854 - 1860   1861 - 1867 

The Register for Burials at St John the Baptist 1867 - 1887 with Surname Index

The Register for 1867 - 1887 is divided into batches covering 7 years
Batches for the individual years may be accessed via the links below

 1867 - 1873   1874 - 1880   1881 - 1887 

There are 10231 Burial Records extracted for this Church

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

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