Flintshire

Parishes

Contents

Buckley

"Buckley is in the County of Flint, North Wales. The neighbouring towns are Chester, 8 miles, Flint 6, Mold 3, and Hawarden 2. It is situated on an eminence about 500 feet above sea level. The River Dee flows 3½ miles below, and the mouth of the Dee and Irish Sea are in view to the North-west. As the breezes blow mainly from that point, its position is rendered very healthful and invigorating. Looking west and south there is a splendid view of the Clwydian range of mountains, Caergwrle castle, etc. The population is about 7000, and its industries are coal-mining, the manufacture of fire-clay bricks, tiles, etc., and pottery earthenware. A century ago it was but a straggling village of a score or so of mud and stone straw-thatched cottages, but coal was mined here 200 years since. ..... With one or two honourable exceptions, the district has never received the assistance it might have had from its absentee landlords and employers. But there are some in its midst, possessed of considerable influence and ability, who are devoting themselves loyally to its needs. May they long remain in its service."
[From Official Programme - Buckley Jubilee Day Festivities, 8 July 1902]

The town of Buckley developed rapidly during the nineteeth century, straddling the boundary between the ancient parishes of Mold and Hawarden.
For ecclesiastical purposes, the town is now divided between the parishes of Buckley and Bistre.

Cemeteries Church History Church Records

Civil Registration Population Statistics

Cemeteries

• Flintshire County Council,
  Housing and Community Services,
  Cemeteries Section,
  County Offices,
  Flint,
  Flintshire.
  CH6 5BD.

  Tel: 01352 703360
  Fax: 01352 703373

A copy of the burial register from 1928-1982 has also been deposited in Flintshire Record Office, Hawarden.

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Church History

"A plain but handsome Gothic structure, embracing an area within sixty-eight feet, by forty-four feet, without pillars, which is divided into three aisles, Middle, North, and South .....
On Wednesday the 25th of September, 1822, the ceremony of consecration took place at this Church; the day was favourable, and from the best observations it was calculated that near two thousand people were assembled ....."
[From A Memoir of Hawarden Parish, Richard Willett, 1822]

The Clwyd FHS website has a photograph of the church.

Nonconformist Churches

Name of Chapel	Denomination	Number of "adherents"
Nantmawr - English	Baptist	100
Daisy Hill - English	Baptist	100
St. John - English	Congregational	550
Mold Road	Calvinistic Methodist	140
Zion	English Presbyterian	140
Bistre	Methodist New Connexion	400
Pentrobin	Methodist New Connexion	250
Alltami	Primitive Methodist	138
Drury	Primitive Methodist	176
Tabernacle	Primitive Methodist	500
Not named	Salvation Army	100
Brunswick - English	Wesleyan	130
Mold Road - Welsh	Wesleyan	35
The Square - English	Wesleyan	150

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Church Records

Parish Registers

• The following Parish Registers have been deposited at Flintshire Record Office, Hawarden. They may be viewed on microfilm at the Flintshire Record Office, the Denbighshire Record Office, and the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth. These microfilms are not available elsewhere.

Baptisms	Marriages	Burials
1822 - 1966	1841 - 1992	1822 - 1978

Bishop's Transcripts

• Bishop's Transcripts for the years shown below have been deposited in the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.
  Around the year 1951, most of the Bishop's Transcripts which had been deposited at that time were microfilmed by the LDS; and the films are available on request at Family History Centres of the LDS.
  The films may also be viewed at the Flintshire and Denbighshire Record Offices, and at the National Library of Wales.
  In general, the Bishop's Transcripts are less complete than the parish registers.

Deposited at the National Library of Wales	Microfilmed copies
1867 - 1872	None

I.G.I.

• There are no official I.G.I. entries for St. Matthew's, Buckley.

It should be noted that until 1874, when it became a separate parish, the ecclesiastical district of Buckley did not have specifically defined boundaries within the parish of Hawarden, and its parishioners had the option to be baptised, married or buried in any church of the parish of Hawarden, subject to the consent of the incumbent.

When researching the years 1822 to 1874, a thorough search of all the registers of the parish of Hawarden, especially those of the nearby church of Pentrobin and the parish church in Hawarden, is therefore advisable!

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Nonconformist Records

• The following nonconformist registers for the Buckley and Bistre area are held at the Public Record Office, Kew.
  They may be viewed on microfilm at LDS Family History Centres; and at the Flintshire Record Office, the Denbighshire Record Office and the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.
  They have also been incorporated into the I.G.I., as part of an "official extraction" programme :

Name of Chapel	Denomination	Type of Record	Years Covered
Buckley Mountain	Independent	Births and Baptisms	1820 - 1836

• The following nonconformist registers for the Buckley and Bistre area are held either at the Flintshire Record Office, Hawarden (FRO), at the Denbighshire Record Office, Ruthin (DRO), or at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth (NLW).
  They have not been filmed; and they have not been incorporated into the I.G.I. :

Name of Chapel	Denomination	Type of Record	Years Covered	Held at
St. John's	Congregational	Baptisms, Marriages and Burials	1946 - 1982	FRO
Zion	English Presbyterian	Marriages	1899 - 1966 1973 - 1974	NLW
Providence, Bistre	Methodist New Connexion	Baptisms	1893 - 1948	FRO
Providence, Bistre	Methodist New Connexion	Baptisms	1950 - 1977	DRO
Alltami / Drury / Tabernacle, Buckley ("Circuit")	Primitive Methodist / Methodist	Baptisms	1902 - 1989	FRO
(Not named)	Wesleyan Methodist	Baptisms	1893 - 1948	FRO
(Not named)	Wesleyan Methodist	Baptisms	1950 - 1977 (photocopies)	FRO
Brunswick	Wesleyan Methodist	Baptisms	1885 - 1935	FRO
Square	Wesleyan Methodist	Baptisms	1885 - 1933	FRO

• Note - many of the Methodist chapels were grouped into "Circuits", with one set of registers serving the Circuit; and it may not always be possible to identify the particular chapel in which the ceremony was performed.
  Over the years, there have been several re-organisations of these Circuits in the eastern part of Flintshire. It is therefore advisable to also search the Methodist registers for the Connah's Quay and Hawarden areas.

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Civil Registration

On the 1st January 1870, the Great Boughton registration district was re-named as Chester.

On 1 January 1903, the sub-district of Hawarden was upgraded to a Registration District in its own right.

In the GRO indexes to civil registration, entries for Buckley are found under:

• Years 1837 - 1851: Gt. Boughton XIX.nnn
• Years 1852 - 1869: Gt. Boughton 8a.nnn
• Years 1870 - 1902: Chester 8a.nnn
• Years 1903 - 1946: Hawarden 11b.nnn

(GRO index references have no relevance at the local Superintendent Registrar's Office)

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Population

• In 1831- Buckley was not a separate parish.
• In 1901- the population was 2949.
  [Royal Commission on the Welsh Church - October 1907]

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Statistics

Archdeacon Thomas (1911) gives the area of the parish as 2048 acres.

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