Orrell

N.B.There is also another township also called Orrell in the parish of Sefton.

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ORRELL, a village and a township in Wigan parish, Lancashire. The village stands adjacent to the Liverpool and Bury railway, 1 mile S of the Leeds and Liverpool canal, and 3 W of Wigan; and has a station with telegraph on the railway, and a post-office under Wigan. The township contains also the village of Far-Moor, and comprises 1,542 acres. Real property, £6,016; of which £260 are in mines. Pop. in 1851, 2,762; in 1861, 2,932. Houses, 570. Much of the property belongs to Lord Kingsdown and M. Bankes, Esq. Coal is worked; nail-making is carried on; and there is a cotton mill. There are chapels for Independents, Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, and Roman Catholics; a national school at Far-Moor, used also a chapel of ease: and Independent and Roman Catholic schools. A Benedictine nunnery was established at Mount Orrell in 1821.

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

Archives and libraries

Local studies information is held at Wigan library.

Cemeteries

Census

Details about the census records, and indexes for Orrell.

Church History

Church Records

You can also perform a more selective search for churches in the Orrell 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 Orrell area is Wigan and Leigh.

Description and Travel

You can see pictures of Orrell which are provided by:

Directories

"ORRELL, a township three miles west of Wigan, is famed for its mines of exceLlent coal, and has a peculiar interest attached to it, has having at 'Orrell Mount' an establishment of French Benedictine nuns, under Madame Louise de Levis Mireoix, late of Montargis, in France, who, being driven from their native country by the horrors of the revolution, landed at Brighton on the 18th of October, 1792, and have ever since found an asylum in this country, first at Heath, in Yorkshire, and since 1821 at this place. By their unremitting and successful attention to the education of the youth of the catholic persuasion, and their exemplary deportment, this society has obtained the patronage of many distinguished individuals, and the kindly feelings of all who know the establishment. Orrell township contained, in 1821, 2,106 inhabitants."

Royal National and Commercial Directory and Topography of the county of Lancashire - Pigot & Co. 1828

Gazetteers

Ask for the gazetteer for a calculation of the distance from Orrell to another place.

Historical Geography

In 1835 Orrell was a township in the parish of Wigan.

Maps

View maps of Orrell and places within its boundaries.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SD528039 (Lat/Lon: 53.529620, -2.713538), Orrell which are provided by:

Poor Houses, Poor law etc.

Poor Law records held at Wigan Archives.

Probate Records

For probate purposes prior to 1858, Orrell was in the Archdeaconry of Chester, in the Diocese of Chester. The original Lancashire wills for the Archdeaconry of Chester 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.