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"FORMBY, a village, a township, and two chapelries in Walton-on-the-Hill parish, and a sub-district in Ormskirk district, Lancashire. The village stands on the coast, adjacent to the Liverpool and Southport railway, near the river Alt, 7½ miles W of Ormskirk; was formerly a market-town; and has a station with telegraph on the railway, and a post office under Liverpool. The township includes also the hamlets of Ainsdale and Raven-Meols. Acres, 15,264; of which 8,560 are water. Real property, £7,531. Pop. in 1851, 1,594; in 1861, 1,780. Houses, 328. The increase of pop. arose from the erection of houses for persons from Liverpool. The property is divided among a few. Formby Hall is the seat of the Rev. L. Formby. A headland or projection, 3 miles SW by W of the village, bears the name of Formby Point. Two beacons and a red tower are on the coast, and the floating light put up in 1834, at the Victoria or New Formby channel, on a line with the Crossby or main channel into the Mersey, is 3 miles WSW of the red tower. The Old Formby channel is nearer the shore, and not much used. The two chapelries are St. Peter and St. Luke; and are jointly conterminate with the township. The livings are p. curacies in the diocese of Chester. Value of St. Peter, £124;* of St. Luke, £50.* Patron of the former, the Rector of Walton; of the latter, Dr. R. Formby. St. Peter's church is a plain brick building, with cupola. St. Luke's is neat and recent. A Roman Catholic chapel, in the Romanesque style, after designs by Mr. Clutton, of brick, with stone dressings, was built in 1864, at a cost of £3,000. Marsh's schools have £34 from endowment; and other charities £11. The sub-district contains also Birkdale township and Altcar parish. Acres, 25,218. Pop., 3,606. Houses, 647."
John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72)
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Local studies information is held at Ormskirk library.
Details about the census records, and indexes for Formby.
The registers of the parish church, St Peter, have been published by the Lancashire Parish Register Society as follows.
- Volume 112 - Bap, Mar & Bur 1620-1780.
- Volume M5 - Bap, Mar & Bur 1781-1837.
The Register Office covering the Formby area is Sefton North.
The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868
"FORMBY, a chapelry in the parish of Walton-on-the-Hill, hundred of West Derby, county palatine Lancaster, 7 miles W. of Ormskirk, and 12 N.W. of Liverpool, its post town. It is situated on the western coast, in the vicinity of the river Alt, and includes the hamlets of Armsdale and Raven Meets. The Liverpool and Stockport branch of the West Lancashire and Yorkshire railway has a station hero. At Formby Point are two beacon-lights and a lofty red tower, forming a conspicuous landmark. Here are two district churches, the livings of which are both perpetual curacies in the diocese of Chester-St. Peter's, of the value of £124, in the gift of the Rector of Walton; and St. Luke's, value £50. The former is rather an old edifice, containing monuments of the Formby and other families; and the latter a modern stone structure. The parochial charities consist of £34, being the endowment of the free grammar school, and £10 for the poor. The Roman Catholics have a chapel and school. There are two other schools in the place. In the village is a very old stone cross. Formby Hall, an ancient seat, is the principal residence. Formby gives name to one of the main approaches to Liverpool, distinguished as the New Formby, or Victoria channel, nearly in a line with the Crosby, or main channel. It is distinguished by a floating light, situated in N. lat. 53° 31' and W. long. 3° 10'."
"RAVEN-MEOLS, a hamlet in the chapelry of Formby, and parish of Walton-on-the-Hill, county Lancaster, 7 miles W. of Ormskirk, and 10 N.W. of Liverpool. It is situated on the sea-coast near Formby Point, at the mouth of the river Alt."
- Ask for a calculation of the distance from Formby to another place.
In 1835 Formby was a township in the parish of Walton on the Hill.
Information about boundaries and administrative areas is available from A Vision of Britain through time.
View a map of the boundaries of this town/parish.
You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SD293079 (Lat/Lon: 53.563179, -3.069096), Formby which are provided by:
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- Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
- English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
- Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
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For probate purposes prior to 1858, Formby 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.
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.