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Chester

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"CHESTER, a city and port and county (of itself), locally in the hundred of Broxton, county palatine of CHESTER, of which it is the capital, 17 miles (S.) from Liverpool, 36 (S. W.) from Manchester, and 181 (N. W.) from London, through Coventry and Lichfield, and 190 through Northampton and Leicester, containing 19,949 inhabitants, and, including those portions of the parishes of St. Mary on the Hill, St. Oswald, and the Holy Trinity, which are without the limits of the city, 21,176 .... The city comprises the parishes of St. Bridget, St. John the Baptist, Little St. John, St. Martin, St. Michael, St. Olave, and St. Peter; and part of the parishes of St. Mary on the Hill, St. Oswald, and the Holy Trinity, and the precinct of the Cathedral Close; all in the archdeaconry and diocese of Chester. ...More." [From Samuel Lewis A Topographical Dictionary of England  (1831) ©Mel Lockie]

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Chester Parishes

  • Chester is a city, borough, and from 1884 a civil parish (SJ 4066)
  • Since 1974 it has been an unparished area.
  • It includes the districts of Balmoral Park, Boughton, Buddicom, Curzon Park, Five Ashes, Handbridge, Heron Bridge, Overleigh, Queen's Park and Westminster Park.
  • Chester Castle was a separate extra-parochial area and civil parish within the city centre which remained separate from the city and borough of Chester.
  • The population of the borough of Chester was 15052 in 1801, 27766 in 1851, 38309 in 1901, 48237 in 1951, and 58220 in 2001.
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Cemeteries

  • Blacon Cemetery.
  • Overleigh Cemetery, Handbridge. Opened 1850. There is a searchable database of burials 1850-1950 on the Cheshire Archives & Local Studies website.
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Churches

There are more than 30 churches identified in this place. Please click here for a complete list.
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Civil Registration

  • Great Boughton (1837-69)
  • Chester (1870-1998)
  • Cheshire West (1998-2007)
  • Cheshire (2007-09)
  • Cheshire West & Chester (2009+)
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Court Records

  • Chester (City) (1884-1974)
  • Chester (1974-2001)
  • Chester, Ellesmere Port & Neston (2001-12)
  • West Cheshire (2012+)
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Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Chester which are provided by:

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Directories

Description of Chester from  Samuel Lewis - A Topographical Dictionary of England (1831)

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Gazetteers

The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

"CHESTER, comprising the parishes of Holy Trinity, St. Mary On The Hill, St. John and several others;} it is a city, port, municipal and parliamentary borough, and a county of itself, locally situated in the hundred of Broxton, in West Cheshire, 178¼ miles distant from London by the London and North-Western railway, and 213 by the Great Western, 84½ from Holyhead, 84¼ from Birmingham, and 52 from Manchester. It is connected, by the Ellesmere canal, with the Mersey and with Nantwich. It is a bonding port, and is 22 miles distant from the sea. It does not appear that Chester was a place of any importance before the Roman era. It was then walled round, and was called in the Cymric language Caer Lleon vawr, the "Camp of the Great Legion." It is probably identical with the Deva of the Itinerary of Antoninus, and was called Deunana, or Deva, by the Romans, from being half encircled by the Dee. After many struggles the Saxons finally wrested it from the Britons in 830, the Danes from the Saxons in 894, and again the Saxons from the Danes in 908. It was an important post as a fortress on the Welsh frontier, and as a stronghold against Danish invaders. Edgar received at Chester the homage of six kings in 972. As the story is told by William of Malmesbury, Edgar sat in the prow of a boat on the Dee while the six kings plied their oars. After the Conquest Chester fell to the share of Hugh Lupus, nephew of William the Conqueror, who was created Earl of Chester, and who built the castle, in which were held the courts of the county palatine of Cheshire. From Domesday Book it appears that, at this time, there were 431 houses taxable, and 56 belonging to the bishop, and that it had a "guild mercatory," equivalent to a corporation, with a chief magistrate, called "præpositus regis," or provost.

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Historical Geography

  • 1884 — Created from the parts within Chester Muncipal Borough of the parishes of Holy Trinity (pop. 3020 in 1881), St. Bridget (pop. 1104 in 1881), St. John the Baptist (pop. 10905 in 1881), St. Martin (pop. 779 in 1881), St. Mary on the Hill (pop. 5276 in 1881), St. Michael (pop. 758 in 1881), St. Olave (pop. 579 in 1881), St. Oswald (pop. 11724 in 1881) and St. Peter (pop. 622 in 1881), together with the Abbey Precincts (pop. 245 in 1881), the township of Spital Boughton (pop. 139 in 1881), and part of the township of Great Boughton (pop. 1643 in 1881).
  • 1899 November 9 — Gained part of Chester Castle (pop. 0 in 1901), and lost parts to Blacon cum Crabwall (pop. 0 in 1901)  and Chester Castle (pop. 0 in 1901).
  • 1936 April 1 — Gained parts of Blacon cum Crabwall (985 acres, pop. 774 in 1931), Claverton (3 acres, pop. 0 in 1931), Great Boughton (48 acres, pop. 954 in 1931), Hoole (47 acres, pop. 404 in 1931), Little Saughall (8 acres, pop. 0 in 1931), Marlston cum Lache (35 acres, pop. 41 in 1931)  and Newton by Chester (153 acres, pop. 2134 in 1931), and lost part to Great Boughton (2 acres, pop. 0 in 1931).
  • 1954 April 1 — Gained parts of Hoole (498 acres, pop. 8705 in 1951) and Upton by Chester (22 acres, pop. 10 in 1951).
  • 2015 April 1 — Gained part of Saughall.
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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SJ455658 (Lat/Lon: 53.186616, -2.816681), Chester which are provided by:

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Politics & Government

  • Chester Municipal Borough (1835-89)
  • Chester County Borough (1889-1974)
  • Chester (1974-2009)
  • Cheshire West & Chester (2009+)
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Poor Houses, Poor Law

  • Chester
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Voting Registers

  • Chester City (1832-1974)