St Mary of Furness, Ulverston - Roman Catholic

Current church on Victoria Rd. St Mary of Furness,
Victoria Rd,
Ulverston
Lancashire

Cemeteries

The church does not have a graveyard.

Church History

A Roman Catholic mission to Furness, under the Jesuit Father Thomas West (who wrote the first detailed history of the district), was inaugurated in the early 1770s. It was initially based at Dalton, but was moved to Ulverston in 1779. "It was served sometimes by Jesuits and sometimes by secular priests. The first place of worship was a school in Tarnside; then a church, now the Oddfellows' Hall in Fountain Street [currently used as Jackson's sale room], 1823. This was succeeded by the present church of St Mary of Furness in Victoria Road in 1895. The Jesuits finally resigned charge of the mission in 1863. The stones for the foundation of the tower of the older church were taken from Furness Abbey [according to 'Victoria County History of Lancashire', vol. viii p 356].

The Catholic Church, under the invocation of the Blessed Virgin, patroness of Furness, is a narrow, plain Gothic edifice, at the corner of Fountain Street. The foundation stone, which was taken from Furness Abbey, was laid on the Feast of SS. Peter and Paul, June 29th, 1822. From the period of the Reformation to the erection of this church, the Catholics of Furness had no ecclesiastical edifice, and the few scattered members of the old creed must have had long distances to travel to fulfil the obligations of their faith. The first priest of the mission was the Rev. B. M'Hugh, who, in conjunction with the Rev. Dr. Everard, afterwards Archbishop of Cashel, received a few gentlemen boarders into their house for the purpose of completing their education. In 1832, the small tower at the east end was erected. The chancel is the only portion of the church which has received any ornamentation ; the window, by which it is lighted, is filled with stained glass, representing the Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension of Christ, and the Descent of the Holy Ghost in the central compartments, and the twelve apostles in the others.

After the death of the Rev. B. M'Hugh, the mission was placed under the care of the Jesuit fathers, and upon their resignation of the charge, Father Laverty entered upon the mission, where he laboured most assiduously among his poor flock until the infirmities of age compelled his retirement from active service. The church is much too small for the congregation, and it is intended to build a new one, and also presbytery and school, towards the cost of which 1,400 has already been subscribed. The present pastor is the Rev. William Massey. Near the church is the school, attended by about 105 children. It is under the care of the Misses Potter.

from Mannex's directory of Furness & Cartmel, 1882

Church Records

Whilst every effort has been made to record exact details of record office and library holdings you are recommended to check with them before visiting to ensure that they do hold the records and years you wish to examine. Similarly check with transcript publishers to ensure they cover the records and years you require before making a purchase.

Original registers

Lancashire Record Office hold copies of:

• Baptisms 1812-1880
• Marriages 1822-1897
• Burials 1845-1872

Register Transcripts

The Catholic Record Society's volume 20, pp. 14-31 (1916) contains:

• Baptisms 1812-1842
• Marriages 1822-1844

Indexes

The IGI contains:

• Baptisms 1812-1842

Maps

The church is located at OS grid reference SD287784. You can see this on maps provided by:

• this church marked on a Google map. (Use this to report a corrected location)
• Old Maps
• Streetmap.co.uk.
• multimap.com.
• www.magic.gov.uk
• Google maps showing nearby churches with satellite image option.

The original church was located at OS grid reference SD288784. You can see this on maps provided by:

• this church marked on a Google map. (Use this to report a corrected location)
• Old Maps
• Streetmap.co.uk.
• multimap.com.
• www.magic.gov.uk
• Google maps showing nearby churches with satellite image option.

This site provides historical information about churches, other places of worship and cemeteries. It has no connection with the churches themselves. For current information you should contact them directly.