Whilst the church was built in 1864/65, the first Parish Registers were started in 1740: for Baptisms taking place at St Mary's Chapel at Euxton Hall. 

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The first entry in the Baptismal register was that of Richard Cowper, whose baptism took place on 18th January 1740, the officiating priest being Rev John White. The Register notes that Rev White died on 18th January 1778, his successor being Rev Robert Swarbrick.

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The following note appears at the end of Book 3 of the Baptismal Register:

NB  From August 1815 to December 1817 there appears to be no Baptism register for Euxton. I am told that Revd John Bell who was priest here for a short time would not register the Baptisms because it was illegal to to administer sacraments. Whatever his reason for doing so it is pretty certain he didn't keep any Register. Possibly some children may have been baptised at Weld Bank.

John Worthy

Note that Rev John Worthy became the Parish Priest in October 1851 and clearly made this addendum at that time.

 

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The various Baptismal Registers contain details of Confirmations up to 1853, and Book 5 of the Register contains the following summary of Confirmations in the Parish in Rev John Worthy's hand:

        October 1821          112    

        October 1825          59 

        July 1831                  65   

        September 1835    61 

        October 1838         39  

        August 1850          142  

        November 1853     65

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Book 5 also includes "Deaths of the Congregation of St Mary's Euxton" from September 1851 (the time of the arrival in the Parish of Rev John Worthy) - the first entry in this section of the Register is for Jane Johnson of Euxton Burgh, aged about 70. 

 

The Marriage Register for the Parish start in 1849, interestingly the first entry is for a couple who were from Liverpool: on 16th April 1849 George Myers married Jane Hewitt, the officiating minister being Rev Richard Gillow.

 

The Burial Register for the Parish starts on the 19th October 1865 (the Cemetery being consecrated at the same time as the opening of the "new" church). The first burial is for Hugh Swift (an Euxton farmer) who died on 19th October and was buried on 23rd October. Book 1 of the Burial Register also includes a Plan of the Cemetery and Cemetery Accounts (payments for burial plots). Also, interestingly, this Register contains the simple note "Debt of the Church paid off in February 1878".

 

As described above, some deaths of Parishioners were recorded prior to the opening of the Cemetery - these can be viewed here>  use this link! 

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Prior to the formal opening of the Cemetery at St Mary's in 1865 parishioners who died were, in the main, interred in the Church of England cemetery, although the early Registers indicate some burials at Weldbank and at Leyland. The Euxton Parish Church (C of E) Registers identify 166 Catholic (or Papist) interments up to 1865, although it seems clear from the early St Mary's baptismal registers that many other Catholics were interred at the Parish Church. The St Mary's website contains details of the known Catholic interments at the Parish Church here - the "Lancashire Online Parish Clerks" website contains a full transcription of the Parish Church burial records.

 

The Confirmation Register starts in 1853, following on from the Confirmation entries previously made in the Baptismal Register as described above.

 

The following is a summary of the Parish Registers which are available for public access at the Lancashire Record Office:

        Baptisms 1740 - 1895

        Burials 1865 - 1939

        Marriages 1849 - 1895

        Confirmations 1853 - 1940

Details of their access may be found at the Lancashire Record Office website.

 

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The "current" Registers may be accessed at the Presbytery by appointment for bona fide religious purposes only.

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The Parish Registers have been transcribed and are held and accessed via a computer database. The Archdiocese of Liverpool operates a policy that Parish Registers over 70 years old may be made available for public access, and these historic St Mary's Registers are available on this website - follow the links at the top of this page.

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