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| GENUKI England | Genuki contents | Information for all Westmorland | Westmorland Parishes |
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| Westmorland, county in N. of England; bounded NW. and N. by Cumberland, NE. by Durham, E. by Yorkshire, and S. and SW. by Lancashire and Morecambe Bay; greatest length, N. and S., 32 miles;. greatest breadth, E. and W., 40 miles; area, 500,906 acres, population 64,191. |
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Westmorland is served by the Cumbria Archive Service and the principal office relevant for the county is:
Kendal Record Office, County Offices
Strickland Gate, KENDAL, Cumbria LA9 4RQ
Telephone:- U.K. 01539 773540, Overseas +44 1539 773540
E-mail: kendal.record.office@cumbriacc.gov.ukThere is an ARCHON directory Kendal RO detailing some of their holdings, and in particular there is a listing of Westmorland Quarter Session Records
However there will also be some useful material at other offices, especially Probate Records which will be found at Carlisle (e-mail), Preston, York and London. Other relevant material might be found at Barrow (e-mail).
There
are searchable resources on the National
Archives site.
The A2A
site has extracts from catalogues of record
offices.
This
includes Westmorland Quarter Session records at Kendal. Individual
names are indexed.
The most useful library for genealogical material in Westmorland is Kendal Library [EARL - Familia]. The Society of Genealogists Library in London also has much useful material.
The essential book for family historians is Cumbrian Ancestors published by and available from Cumbria Archive Service.
Also Cumberland and Westmorland: a genealogical bibliography. Stuart Raymond. 1993. Published Federation of Family History Societies. ISBN 1 872094 56 2
A listing is maintained of currently available publications of interest to the Cumbria researcher. Included are known source material, books, maps, all with information on where to obtain copies.
Westmorland books can be searched in the catalogue of the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City.
Much useful information can be found in Cumbria FHS Publications including many transcriptions for the 1851 census. There is an index to Newsletters
The Cumberland and Westmorland Archaeological and Antiquarian Society (CWAAS) has listing of its publications and the contents (1997-) for its invaluable transactions. These latter are held by several public libraries within Cumbria and elswhere.
Lords & Earls of Westmorland; Gentlemen of Note from Magna Britannica et Hibernia.Volume 6: Westmorland by Thomas Cox printed in 1731.
Cemeteries (and Monumental Inscriptions)
MIs
for certain churchyards have been
published in: Monumental Inscriptions of Westmorland
by E.
Bellasis 1888-89
It is a 2 volume set and a copy is available in Kendal Library.
Some parishes
are transcribed and searchable on Westmorland
Papers. The transcripts for the other parishes are available
on this site from the respective parish pages.
An index of Monumental Brasses in the county is available
Returns
for the national censuses of 1841
to 1901 are available on microfilm from the usual places, including
Kendal Library.
They are searchable online at Ancestry.com
by subscribers. The 1901 census is of course available online on the PRO
website
The database of places on the 1891 census will aid locating the appropriate film.
The British 1881 census is searchable on the LDS familysearch site, and is also available on computer and microfiche at Mormon Family History Centres and other libraries, and also available for purchase on CD-ROM.
Much of the 1851 census has been transcribed by Cumbria FHS and booklets can be purchased. Names appearing in these transcripts are available in a name index from Roland Grigg.. There is also 'North Westmorland - An Index to the 1851 Census' compiled by David Lowis and Barbara Slack. This indexes heads of households. For places on the 1851 census see the place index by Roland Grigg.
There was also a 'census' of 1787 (also known as the Constables' Census) the surviving returnsof which are held at the Kendal Record Office of Cumbria Archives Service. The Record Office reference is WQ/SP/C. They are transcribed in Vital Statistics published by Curwen Archives Trust 1992. ISBN 1897590008.They contain names of all householders, their families and tenants, and their occupations. There is an index to the 1787 census on Edenlinks.
There are also lists of inhabitants of Westmorland parishes 1695. These survive only for part of the Borough of Kendal and for Lonsdale Ward. They contain the names of householders, their families and servants and their occupations. They are held at Kendal RO and their reference is WD/Ry Box 32. A card index is available.
Though not actually a census, there are also Protestation Oath records for 1641 which record the males over 18 who swore an oath of allegiance (and those who didn't). These returns have survived for the East and West wards and a transcript has been published.
A list of Papists of Kendale 1650 is transcribed on EdenLinks.
The earliest "census" was the Domesday Book which covered parts of Westmorland.
Ecclesiastical History etc from Magna Britannica et Hibernia.Volume 6: Westmorland by Thomas Cox printed in 1731.
There
are some fine churches in
Westmorland with work dating from Saxon and Norman times to the present
century.
Many pictures
are now
available on this site and also on the Edenlinks site, on
Steve
Bulman's Images
of Cumbria and churches
sites,
and included in Visit Cumbria's Churches of
Cumbria
For brief descriptions see under the parish concerned, but for detailed descriptions see:
Salter M. The Old Parish Churches of Cumbria. Folly Publications. 1998. ISBN 1871371356
Pevsner N. The Buildings of Cumberland and Westmorland. 1967.
Actual church plans are available online.
Parish Registers will usually be in the Kendal Record Office, as will the Bishop's Transcripts. There should also be copies at the Carlisle Office. Microfilm versions should also be available through LDS Family History Centres.
Use the normal sources for indexes and obtaining microfilms. In particular the International Genealogical Index (IGI) is available on the Mormon LDS Church Familysearch site, and Westmorland parishes are searchable via Hugh Wallis' interface. A list of IGI batch numbers is also made available by 'Jake' Prescott.
There are also published Printed Parish Registers available at the Society of Genealogists. Some of these are available at other major UK libraries. The registers for 4 Westmorland parishes are included in a parish register index by Roland Grigg (Wayback Machine Internet Archive). Some are available on the Edenlinks site.
See also Ted Wildy's UK Marriage witness index entries for Westmorland [ ftp ].
Diocese of Carlisle Marriage License/Bonds are at Carlisle Record Office and have been published by Cumbria FHS/Cumbria Archive service
- Volume 1 1668-1739
- Volume 2 1740-1752
Older
church records include Westmorland
Protestation Returns 1641-2 which record the males over 18 who swore an
oath of allegiance (and those who didn't).
These returns have survived for the East and West wards and a
transcript has been published by M A Faraday.
There
are not many Roman Catholic records
for Westmorland. The county was in Hexham Diocese in 1860 and had only
2 chapels: Kendal and Dodding Green (records in Kendal record Office
for 1762-1941).
The best source of details of 'early' RC records is Michael Gandy, "Catholic
Missions and Registers 1700-1880" vol. 5 North West England
2nd
Ed. 1998 (ISBN 0 9528879 2 4).
Noin-conformist registers are usually deposited at the PRO in London. Microfilm copies for many are available in the Kendal Record Office.
Details of Society of Friends are given on the Quaker FHS Site
General details on registration of births, marriages and deaths and their indexes are provided on the GENUKI England site.
Brett Langston has provided details of Westmorland Registration Districts 1837-1930.
Certificates of birth,
death and marriage can be obtained from the Superintendent Registrar at
Kendal District
Register
Office.
[Ordering guidelines are given on the
Genuki
Register Offices webpage]
Magna
Britannica et Hibernia.Volume 6: Westmorland by Thomas Cox
printed
in 1731 includes topography and natural history.
This
county was divided into two grand divisions called the Barony
of
Westmorland and the Barony of Kendal. The
former was
divided into two wards called East Ward and West
Ward,
and the latter comprised the Kendal and Lonsdale
Wards,
forming the south-west part of the county. Transcriptions of
descriptions from Parsons & White 1829 are given on
Edenlinks.
Links to Westmorland, Lake District and Cumbria sites are provided.
A
number of printed directories exist
covering or including the county. There is a collection in Kendal
Public Library covering 1829-1938.
The
Leicester University project Historicaldirectories.org
[select Westmorland] has facsimiles of a number of directories for the
county.
These include:
The details for all parishes from this directory are transcribed on Edenlinks site.
Harriet Martineau's
Directory of the Lake District 1855 is transcribed by Roland Grigg
(available through the Wayback Machine Internet Arvhive):
These and several other Cumbrian directories have been combined on Roland Grigg's website (Wayback Machine Internet Archive): .
Westmorland is included in Pigot's Trade Directory 1830 searchable database.
Various directories covering Westmorland available for purchase as Archive CD Books are described on Rod Neep's site.
Publications
available in microfiche
include:
Use the national Online Parish Locator to identify a particular place in Westmorland (or to identify other places within a certain distance.
Or
search the place index for Westmorland (in the 1891 census).
The index includes "Registration District", "Registration Sub-district", "Place", "PRO Piece Number" and "LDS Film Number". Enter the place-name in the text-box and press the "Search" Button.
For places on the 1851 census see the place index by Roland Grigg.
The
Ordnance
Survey site
is useful for identifying and locating places. There is also a useful map site [for
the whole of the
UK] with a placename search facility for locating places
History and Gazetteer from Magna Britannica et Hibernia.Volume 6: Westmorland by Thomas Cox printed in 1731.
"Westmorland is an inland County, no where touching on the Sea, but bordering on the East on Part of Yorkshire and the Bishoprick of Durham, on
the South on Lancashire, and on the West and North on Cumberland: It extendeth thirty Miles in Length, but is not much above twenty-four Miles in
Breadth, which making it 120 Miles in Compass, it contains in it thirty-two large Parishes, in which are a great Number of Chapels of Ease, eight
Marker-Towns, Six thousand five hundred and one Houses, Five hundred and ten thousand Acres of Land, which is divided into two large Baronies, viz. the
Barony of Westmorland, which is a large Champian Country, and the Barony of Kendale, which is full of Mountains, or as they are called by the
Inhabitants, Fells. These two Parts belong to two Dioceses, viz. the former Carlisle, and the latter to Chester.
This County was Part of the large Country of the Brigantes, of whom we having given a large Account in Cumberland, we shall supersede any
Description of them here, as we shall also of the Northumbrian Kingdom established by the Saxons, of which this Shire was a Part, because we have
also set down the Succession of the Kings thereof in Northumberland, to which we thought it most properly to belong, because from that County it
took its Name, and thither also we refer our Reader.
How the Conqueror, after England became perfectly subject to him, dealt with this little County, our Historians are altogether silent. 'Tis
probable, it was so remote from his Eye, that he little regarded it; and though his great Commanders were greedy to heap to themselves great
Inheritances from the Saxons Spoils; yet this being an hilly barren Country, we do not find it disposed of to any, till the Reign of King John, who
rewarded the great Services of Robert de Vipont, who had been with him at the memorable Battle of Mirabel, in which the French and Poictovins received
so terrible an Overthrow; with a Grant of the Castles of Appleby and Burgh, and the whole Bailiwick of Westmorland, to hold during the King's Pleasure.
This Robert still continuing in the King's Wars, had the next ensuing Year another Grant for his better Support of the Premisses, together with the
Services of all those that held not by military Services, to hold to him and his Heirs, by the Wife that he then had, by the Service of four Knights Fees
for all Service; provided, that he should not commit Waste in the Woods of Winesell, nor hunt in them during the King's Life, except he were there
himself in Person, and saving to the King and his Heirs, all Pleas of the Crown.
In the two Baronies of Westmorland and Kendal before-mentioned, we find no Hundreds, but only Wards, Deaneries, Parishes, and Constablewicks; all
which but the Deaneries, not being distinctly known to us, we are obliged to treat of the Towns in an Alphabetical Order, putting the Market-Towns in
capital Letters for the more easy finding them. The Reason given by our Antiquaries, why this County was not divided into Hundreds, Rapes or
Wapentakes, as all the other Counties of England are, is, because in antient Times these Parts paid no Subsidies, being sufficiently charged in Border
Service against the Scots.
Magna Britannica et Hibernia.Volume 6: Westmorland by Thomas Cox (Vicar of Bromfield, Essex) 45 pages, printed in 1731.
Transcription by Sarah Reveley, Joan Fisher and Lisl Schoenwald. (Rootsweb Westmorland Listmembers) (c) 2003
The following books have been digitised on British History Online;
- The Later Records relating to North Westmorland or the Barony of Appleby by J Curwin 1932
and has a wealth of information for North Westmorland parishes- Records relating to the Barony of Kendale: volume 1 William Farrer & John F. Curwen (editors) (1923)
Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society. Record Series, 4.
(20 townships of the parish of Kendal)- Records relating to the Barony of Kendale: volume 2 William Farrer & John F. Curwen (editors) (1924)
Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, Record Series, 5.
(33 townships in the parishes of Grasmere, Windermere, Heversham, Beetham, Burton and Kirby Lonsdale.)- Records relating to the Barony of Kendale: volume 3 John F. Curwen (editor) (1926)
Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, Record Series, 6.
(the barony of Kendale, plus records for individual townships supplementary to volumes 1 and 2.)
LNER Wartime Evacuation Documents (N.EVAC 2 and N.EVAC 3) are provided by Brian Pears
describing arrangements for evacuating children from Newcastle and Gateshead
to rural parts of Northumberland, Co Durham, Yorkshire, Cumberland and Westmorland.
The second document includes lists of schools with details of their places and times of departure and their destinations.
Inventories, Registers, Catalogues
Some of the county was included in the Domesday Survey of 1086.
Feet of Fines - abstracts on medieval.org.uk giving details of conveyance of freehold property in Westmorland 1360-1485.
Information on manors is available on Lancaster University's Cumbrian Manorial Records website. The register is coming soon.
Links to web versions of maps of Westmorland and surrounding area from several centuries are provided on the Genmaps and yourmapsonline sites.
Facsimiles of C19th Ordnance Survey maps of Westmorland are available on the Landmark Oldmaps site.
Current OS maps are available on the Ordnance Survey site.
A Boundary Commisioners' map of 1885 (Eyre & Spottiswoode) is available on the londonancestor.com site.
Early C20th maps are available for purchase from Alan Godfrey for Appleby (1911), Kendal North (1911) and Kendal South (1911).
Antique maps are available for purchase from Lesley Aitchinson and earlymaps.com
And there is a Kendale map by Speed
A short bibliography with links is provided.
See Cemeteries
There are 2 articles on the frequency of surnames in Westmorland and also Cumbria as a whole that appeared originally in the Cumbria FHS Newsletter:
There is a database of Westmorland middle names by Hugh Wallis
For indexes of current surname research interests see under Genealogy
A list is
published by CWAAS: A Hand-list of newspapers
published in
Cumberland, Westmorland & North Lancashire. By F.
Barnes &
J.L. Hobbs (1951, PB, ISBN 1 873124 07 0)
(£1/£1.50)
Transcribed items are being added to Cumberland and Westmorland Newspaper Transcriptions
Most employment within the county would have been connected with agriculture, but a selective bibliography of other occupations is available.
Poor
Law Unions existed for East
Ward, Kendal
and West
Ward documented on Peter Higginbotham's site.
Details are also given on
Ross Bret's website.
Westmorland with only 65,010 inhabitants had the third lowest population in England in 1871.
Population tables and statistics are provided.
Most wills for the North of the County will be in the Carlisle R.O. as this is the Diocesan office for the Carlisle Diocese.
Wills for the Southern half of Westmorland will also be at Carlisle since about 1858 but before that will be at the Preston R.O. as it was in the Diocese of Chester until that time.
Being situated in the Province of York, some probate material relevant to the whole of the county will be in the Borthwick Institute in York.
The booklet Index and Extracts of Cumbrians in Wills proved at the P.C.C. is published by Cumbria FHS and includes wills for Westmerians available in the National Archives in London.
Though not a society and not primarily for genealogy the Cumonin - Cumbria Message Board is a very useful way of getting in touch with Cumbrians and Westmerians. (And the GonMad Cumbrian Dictionary and associated Babel Cumbrianator will help in communicating with them!)
Name lists have been
transcribed on EdenLinks for:
This county is maintained by Dave Huddart with help and information
provided by others.
Report problems, and contribute information.
For more general
genealogical
information visit the England page.
GENUKI is a registered trade mark of the charitable
trust GENUKI.
Copyright © 2004, Genuki.
[This page last updated October 2006]
