Pole Lane, Townsend and Ebenezer Chapels, Darwen in the County of -- Lancashire --

Baptisms at Pole Lane, Townsend and Ebenezer Chapels
in the Parish of Darwen
Births and Baptisms recorded in the Register for 1736 - 1822

This register is in two sections which are different in format.

The first section contains the 'recollections and memoirs' of the congregation, which appear to have been compiled because no register book seems to have been kept since the departure of Mr Townsend in 1806. It is in the style of a census, recorded mostly by household. The second section, from 1820-1822, is in a more traditional format with columns showing dates of birth, baptism and occasionally death. In these notes, the two are referred to as the 'census' section and the 'register' section.

In the 'census' section, each family group usually records the head of household, his wife, and then his children. Sometimes the families of the children are also included. The original entries appear to have been written mostly on the right-hand pages of the book, but further families or family members then appear to have been added on the left-hand page. Sometimes there appears to be a connection between the entries on the left and those on the right; they may be alongside each other, and/or may be linked with an asterisk. At other times there is no apparent connection at all between entries on the left-hand page and any of the families on the right. Any relationship between a record on the left hand page and another on the right hand page cannot be assumed from this register alone.

There is some evidence, e.g. from margin notes regarding dates and ages, that the census section was begun in 1818, was supplemented in 1819 (particularly regarding the pages on the left), and then continued to be updated up to 1822. The census was still being added to at the same time as the 1820-1822 'register' section was being compiled.

In transcribing the census section, we have numbered the left and right side of each page with L and R respectively, e.g. 19L and 19R. Where there is a clear indication that an entry on the left belongs with a family group on the right, we have moved it to be with its family group. Also, where a family group has been split over a page turn, e.g. 13R and 14R, we have kept the family together in the transcription. Other than this, the entries are transcribed in book order, i.e. the left-hand side entries before those on the right-hand side.

Dates are often missing from the census section, and because the section is in order of family group, there is no date sequence. Names are also often incomplete. Sometimes, the way the census has been recorded means that it is unclear exactly who is related to whom; where there is uncertainty we have added a Note.