Barrow in Furness
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BARROW, or Barrow-in-Furness, a seaport town and two chapelries in Dalton-in-Furness parish, Lancashire. The town stands at the terminus of a branch of the Furness railway, opposite Walney Island, 8 miles SW of Ulverston; was only a village, with a pop. of 325, so late as 1847; rose to a pop. of about 2,000 in 1847, and to a pop. of more than 12,000 in 1868; owed its rise mainly to rapid development of mineral wealth in its vicinity; began, in 1867, to acquire a grand artificial harbour, with docks and wharves, estimated to cost about £300,000; imports large quantities of timber and coal; has a long range of blast furnaces, extensive foundries, and steel-works, large timber-yards, ship-building yards, and saw-mills: draws from neighbouring mines about 400,000 tons of iron ore a year; produces about 4,000 tons of pig-iron weekly; converts about one-fifth of that quantity into steel by the Bessemer process; exports, in addition to its iron produce, about 3,000 tons of copper ore and about 20,000 tons of slate a year; is built on a regular plan, chiefly with streets crossing at right angles; and has a head post office, a fine new r. station with telegraph, a spacious town hall and market house built in 1865, an assembly-room, a temperance hall, a subscription newsroom and library, a mechanics' institute, a police office, a custom-house, a church in the geometric style built in 1859, another church built in 1867, an Independent chapel in the early English style, a Wesleyan chapel of 1863, a Welsh chapel of 1864, a Roman Catholic chapel of 1866, and a national school. The chapelries are St. George and St. James, and were constituted, the former in 1863, the latter in 1867. The livings are p. curacies in the diocese of Carlisle. Value of St. G., £149.* of St. J., £150. Patron of St. G., the Duke of Devonshire; of St. J., Trustees.

John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72)

Archives and libraries

Local studies information is held at Cumbria Record Office, Barrow

Cemeteries

There have only ever been three burial grounds within the Borough of Barrow, namely the Municipal Cemetery on Devonshire Road, opened in 1873 [previously most burials had to go to Dalton] and for persons on the fringes of the borough the churchyards of St. Michael's, Rampside, and St. Mary the Virgin, Walney Island.

Census

Details about the census records, and indexes for Barrow in Furness.

Church History

Church Records

You can also perform a more selective search for churches in the Barrow-in-Furness area that are recorded in the GENUKI church database. This will also help identify churches in nearby townships and/or parishes. You also have the option to see the location of the churches marked on a map.

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Civil Registration

The Register Office covering the Barrow in Furness area is Barrow in Furness.

Description and Travel

You can see pictures of Barrow-in-Furness which are provided by:

Gazetteers

Ask for the gazetteer for a calculation of the distance from Barrow in Furness to another place.

Historical Geography

In 1835 Barrow comprised just two wooden jetties, ten or a dozen cottages and two public houses [Baines' History of Lancashire], but by 1882 had a population of 47,000. Before it's rapid growth it was just part of the parish of Dalton in Furness.

Maps

View maps of Barrow-in-Furness and places within its boundaries.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SD201688 (Lat/Lon: 54.108857, -3.223630), Barrow-in-Furness which are provided by:

Merchant Marine

Poor Houses, Poor Law etc.

The Workhouse site has an interesting description of Barrow workhouse.

Probate Records

For probate purposes prior to 1858, Barrow in Furness was in the Archdeaconry of Richmond, in the Diocese of Chester. The original Lancashire wills for the Archdeaconry of Richmond are held at the Lancashire Record Office.

Societies

You can also see Family History Societies covering the nearby area, plotted on a map. This facility is being developed, and is awaiting societies to enter information about the places they cover.