Genealogy Chat

I wrote to the vicar at Christ Church, Fulwood (near Fulwood Barracks, where the groom was living) and he says the vicar's name (H S Butler) doesn't ''ring a bell'' when he thinks about the board listing the incumbents that hangs in the church!! Nice to know he checked thoroughly then!! I have now emailed The Parish Office that covers The Minster Church of St. John the Evangelist and The Parish Church of St. George the Martyr to see if they know of Rev H S Butler. Pity he didn't have a more memorable name really! So.....fingers crossed, everyone.......XXXX and thumbs XX and toes XXXXX (can you do that?) Merry

I have just asked my Preston born and bred husband 'If I asked you where the Parish Church was in Preston... where would you say it was' and he said 'St. John's... The Church near the Bull and Royal Hotel (no longer there) Anyway, I got my book out 'A History of Preston' by David Hunt and there are many refferences to St John's Parish Church (and apparently it was built on the site ancient St Wilfred's though none of the original fabric survives) It's a fabulous book and am pleased to see my old scripture and music teacher Ada Blackhurst (Frenchwood Sec.) in the acknowledgements. Hope this helps... Roll on the next Guild. Cheers Gerry

Stop it you lot... you are making me homesick as I'm a Preston lass (now in Australia) I was in the pub opposite Fulwood Barracks only last year. Congratulations on winning the Ashes back. Cheers Gerry

I am so grateful for all these suggestions - I suppose whatever the truth of which church SHOULD be described as the Parish church, it's down to the Vicar of the time who wrote what he felt like when he conducted the marriage. If I'm feeling brave I could 'phone Rev McConkey (who you traced, thak you Margaret) and ask him to look and see if ''my'' rev was Vicar at his church in 1915. Yes, the groom was a soldier. He was an officer, (but not a gentleman?), who ''forgot'' he was already married when he wed my gran!! I am trying to find out if the vicar ever wrote anything in the register if he was told what had happened after the event??? There are no clues in the civil record as to whether the marriage was made void officially. Merry

Merry My x2 grts got married in the Parish Church in the Parish of Preston in 1859. This was St Johns Church. I have a few pics of it if you would like. Jan

Hi Merry, Well, Fulwood Barracks is not near to either church. It is on Watling Street Road, Fulwood and I would say a good 15 mins walk from there to either church, which are very close together. Fulwood is a district of Preston now. Was he living in the Barracks as a soldier? I will go onto the diocesen site to see which church is nearest to Barracks. May be it is the parish church of Fulwood!! Margaret ************************************************** This is what I found on the web site for Christ Church Fulwood which is on Victoria Road. Vicar Rev. B.R. (Brian) McConkey Tel 01772 719210 OS Map Ref SD538 314. When the parish of fulwood was created in 1860, it was part of Lancaster, not Preston. It had previously been part of St Mary’s parish Lancaster; the largest parish in the county. However, it was seen as necessary to recognize the growing population of wealthy Preston residents moving to the “Forest of Fulwood” as the Industrial Revolution gathered pace. In January 1862, the Fulwood Church Comittee began appealing for funds with a target of £3,700. By 1864 the target was reached and, on 12 May 1864, the foundation stone of the new church was laid. It was dedicated on 3 August 1865 by the Bishop of Manchester. Since then, Fulwood continued to grow rapidly. In 1886, the new parish union workhouse was the first major building after Christ Church to be completed, and still stands to this day more recently becoming the Civic Hostel. The rapid growth lead, in 1883, to the Eastern part of Fulwood becoming the new parish of Ribbleton and, in 1916, it was felt necessary to increase the ecclesiastical presense in Fulwood by creating the Church of Saint Cuthbert. While Christ Church was being built, a barn of the old Brunswick farm was temporarily used as a mission. The area of the barn was rebuilt as a school in 1866 merging with an existing school on Black Bull Lane. The new school, the Fulwood and Cadeley School (Original Spelling), moved back to Black Bull Lane in 1937 as the Cadley County Primary School. Since 1937, the old school house has been the church hall where many of the church activities indicated on this website take place. The hall is made available to other local organisations. Web Site - www(.)blackburn.anglican(.)org/fulwood It lists all churches in the Blackburn Diocese which covers Preston. ******************************************* There is also the Garrison Chapel, details below from GENUKI site. Garrison Chapel, Watling Street Road, Fulwood Lancashire Church History It was founded before 1848. Maps The church is located at OS grid reference SD548315. You can see this on maps provided by: Streetmap.co.uk. multimap.com. old-maps.co.uk www.magic.gov.uk ************ I still think it is the Parish Church in Preston. Margaret X

Thank you Janice..... Merry

I have copies of early maps of Preston and the Parish Church is refered to and it is St John. jan

Hello Margaret! Thank you for your kind offer...... Well, grans address of ''Twickenham, Middlesex'' won't help much, but MAYBE the groom's address of ''Fullwood Barracks'' might give a clue?? Merry

St. John the Evangelist is the Parish Church of Cof E. Now a Minster. There is also St. Wilfred's Parish Church which is RC. Those are the two main 'Parish churches' as far as I know, so it will depend on which religion these two people were. Do you have an address on your certificate, if so, that may give a clue as to which area their church was in. Post it and I will have a look for you Merry. Margaret. Margaret

Thank you everyone for your imput!! Olde Crone is right (as usual!!) I need to see the original record - I already have a copy of the cert from the GRO..... Need to see if the original says, ''This marriage void, due to previous marriage of Mr X being still valid'' or something worded much better than that (I am actually still asleep!) Merry

OK, I'm back, somewhat crestfallen. The Parish Church of the Parish of Preston has been partly filmed by the LDS, but only upto 1819. There is also no clue to what the Church is actually called. But blimey! The LDS seem to have filmed just about every Church in Preston, including the RCs, the Quakers,and the Countess of Huntingdon's Church!And lots of non-Church records too, including Court Records, Merry..... Going to my pit now. Olde Crone

Sorry to butt in here everybody, but I have insider knowledge of Merry's quest (smirk) and she really needs to see the ORIGINAL record, in other words, either the actual Church Register or a film of it. Lancs Records Office, in my recent experience, are sooooo slooooow that Merry will be drawing her pension before they get round to it. I am off to the LDS site to see (A) Which really is the parish church and (B) Whether the LDS have filmed up to the relevant years. Back later! Olde Crone

Hi Merry, This is an afterthought, I have lots of them!! lol Have you tried the Lancashire Records Office in Preston. They should have the marriage records for that time. Telephone 01772 263039. I see someone has got there before me with e-mail addy!! Margaret

MMM - The Lancashire Records Office (Lancashire County Council) are very helpful, their website address is: www(.)lancashire(.)gov(.)uk/education/lro/records/folk2(.)asp If you know the date of the marriage they can usually provide a copy of the marriage register. The fee is 2-50 per copy. Lancashire Record Office Bow Lane PRESTON Lancashire PR1 2RE UK Tel: 01772 533039 Fax: 01772 533050 Email: record(.)office@ed(.)lancscc(.)gov(.)uk

Trust my gran to marry somewhere posh!! I'm trying to find out if she had her bigamous marriage made void!! (it was the man who was already wed, not her!) What fun! Merry

Thats OK. I live there so knew what I was looking for!! But I have searched the Diocesen site and it doesn't give the name of the Minister. By the way, it is a Grade 11 listed building and very beautiful! Hope you get a result. Margaret

Doh, Thanks Margaret, I'll give the OPC a few days to tell me the answers and if that doesn't work, I'll try the above, Thanks a lot! Merry

Contacts for the Parish are listed below. The Parish of Preston The Parish Office, St. John's Minster Church Street Preston, Lancashire PR1 3BT Phone: 01772 901313 Fax: 01772 901315 Email Address: pcc at prestonparish . plus . com St. Georges Church Chapel Yard Friargate Preston Lancashire PR1 2NP Churchwardens Mr Ronnie Watson Mrs Judy Royan Mrs Sue Taylor Mrs Margaret Warwick-Nelson Mrs Kath Davenport Mrs Denise Warlow This church is now a Minster. Upgraded a couple or so years ago. Take out the spaces in the e-mail addyy!! Margaret

Thanks for the last few replies. The officiating minister was H S Butler (nice of him to give us his first names, I don't think!!) I tried Genuki but that just made me more confused! I have given the name of the minister to the OPC at Preston in the hope they know where he was the Vicar. Why isn't the OPC at his/her computer on a Sunday - I think it is very remiss lol Merry