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Ormskirk

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"ORMSKIRK, a town, a township, a parish, a sub-district, and a district, in Lancashire. The town stands on the East Lancashire railway, at the junction of the branch from St. Helens, 2½ miles S E of the Leeds and Liverpool canal, and 12 N by E of Liverpool. The manor belonged, till the Reformation, to Burscough priory; and belongs now to the Earl of Derby. The town is well-built; contains four chief streets, going rectangularly from a central market-place; is governedby a local board of health, and well supplied with gas and water; is a seat of petty sessions and county-courts, and a polling-place; publishes two weekly newspapers; and has a head post-office, a railway station with telegraph, a banking office, two chief inns, a town hall and corn-market, a sessions-house and magistrates' rooms, a news-room and library, a church, three dis-senting chapels, a free grammar-school, a national school, a dispensary, a workhouse, and charities £354. The dissenting chapels are Independent, Wesleyan, and Unitarian. The free grammar-school was founded in 1614, under the will of Henry Ascroft; is a Tudor structure, in Ruff-lane; and has an endowed income of £139. The national school was erected by voluntary contributions; is a stone building in the Tudor style, in Derby-street; possesses capacity forupwards of 800 scholars; and the Sunday school has an endowed income of £28. The dispensary is a small but ornamental building, in the Doric style, in Burscough-street. The workhouse stands in Wigan-road; was built at a cost of about £4,000; and, at the census of 1861, had 76 inmates. A weekly market is held on Thursday; cattle fairs are held on Whit-Monday, Whit-Tuesday, and 10 Sept.; rope-making and hand-loom silk-weavingare carried on; and there are several breweries, and an iron-foundry. Acres of the town, 572. Real property, £13, 597; of which £323 are in gas-works. Pop. in 1851, 6,183; in 1861, 6,426. Houses, 1,193."    more ...

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

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Archives & Libraries

Ormskirk Library,
Burscough Street,
Ormskirk
L39 2EN

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Census

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Civil Registration

The Register Office covering the Ormskirk area is West Lancashire

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Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Ormskirk which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

"ORMSKIRK, a parish, post, and market town, in the hundred of West Derby, county Lancaster, 12 miles N.E. of Liverpool, and 12 from Wigan. It is a junction station on the East Lancashire railway, where the St. Helen's branch turns off. It is situated on the old road between Liverpool and Preston, near the Douglas navigation, and near the Leeds and Liverpool canal. The parish, which is of large extent, comprises the townships of Bickerstaffe, Burscough, Lathom, Ormskirk, Scarisbrick, and Skelmersdale, with a population of 17,049, of which 6,426 are within the town limits. Ormskirk is a polling and petty sessions town, and has been much improved of late years. It is governed by a local board of health, and by a constable and other minor officers chosen at the court leet, which is held in October. It contains four streets, diverging at right angles from a central area used as the market-place. It is lit with gas, and is amply supplied with water. There are a savings-bank, townhall, and corn market, sessions house, dispensary, union poorhouse, and gas-works. The petty sessions for the division are held monthly, also a county court at the sessions house. An extensive retail trade is done for supply of the surrounding country, and some of the inhabitants are engaged in the manufacture of rope, hats, and silk weaving. There are also a large iron foundry, two breweries, and establishments for balance-making. The soil is of a mossy and loamy nature, with a subsoil of sand and clay. Great quantities of carrots and of early potatoes are grown for supply of the Liverpool market. The town has long been celebrated for its gingerbread, which is exported. There are considerable coal mines within the parish. Ormskirk Poor-law Union comprises 21 parishes or townships within the county of Lancaster, it is also the seat of a superintendent registry district. The living is a vicarage with the curacy of Scarisbrick annexed, in the diocese of Chester, value £290.

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Historical Geography

In 1835 the parish of Ormskirk contained the townships of Ormskirk, Skelmersdale, Scarisbrick, Burscough, Lathom, Bickerstaffe and Simonswood.

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Maps

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View maps of Ormskirk and places within its boundaries.

A map of Ormskirk around 1890.

View a map of the boundaries of this town/parish.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SD420078 (Lat/Lon: 53.563791, -2.87749), Ormskirk which are provided by:

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Poor Houses, Poor Law

The Workhouse site has an interesting description of Ormskirk workhouse.

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Probate Records

For probate purposes prior to 1858, Ormskirk 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. Ormskirk and District Family History Society.

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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.