Westhoughton
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HOUGHTON (WEST), a village, a township, a chapelry, and a sub-district in Deane parish, Bolton district, Lancashire. The village stands near the Bolton and Wigan railway, 5 miles SW by W of Bolton; and has a station with telegraph on the railway, a post office under Bolton, a police station, and fairs on 27 Feb. and 12 Oct. The township comprises 4,460 acres. Real property, £16,679; of which £2,790 are in mines. Pop. in 1851, 4,547; in 1861, 5,156. Houses, 1,064. The land belongs chiefly to five. There are collieries, two silk factories, cotton mills, and a nail manufactory. The chapelry is less extensive than the township, and was constituted in 1860. Pop., 3,879. Houses, 806. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Manchester. Value, £170. Patron, the Vicar of Deane. The church was rebuilt in 1731; and re-rebuilt, at a cost of £5,500, in 1869-70. There are chapels for Independents, Quakers, and Methodists, and a national school. The sub-district is conterminate with the township.

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

Archives and libraries

Local studies information is held at Bolton library.

Cemeteries

Census

Details about the census records, and indexes for Westhoughton.

Church History

Church Records

You can also perform a more selective search for churches in the Westhoughton 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 Westhoughton area is Bolton.

Description and Travel

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Gazetteers

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Historical Geography

In 1835 Westhoughton was a township in the parish of Deane.

History

A description of Westhoughton in the 19th century.

Maps

View maps of Westhoughton and places within its boundaries.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SD652059 (Lat/Lon: 53.548566, -2.526704), Westhoughton which are provided by:

Probate Records

For probate purposes prior to 1858, Westhoughton 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.