MANCHESTER FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH HOME PAGE- a brief introduction to the site which contains many aspects of research into family history and economic and social history - including prison, court, workhouse and asylum records.
 

 

A SITE DESIGNED AND CONSTRUCTED BY A MANCUNIAN

MANCHESTER FAMILY HISTORY REASEARCH

 METHODICAL THOROUGH AND EXHAUSTIVE RESEARCH

mail@manchester-family-history-research.co.uk

PUT THE KETTLE ON...AND SETTLE DOWN FOR A READ

 

CONTENTS

HOMEPAGE

A  MANCHESTER RESEARCHER'S TALE

MANCHESTER AND STOCKPORT CERTIFIED INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS

MANCHESTER COURT RECORDS

BELLE VUE PRISON RECORDS

NEW BAILEY PRISON RECORDS

STRANGEWAYS PRISON RECORDS

STRANGEWAYS PRISON: FIRST REPORTS

MANCHESTER MARTYRS' PRISON RECORDS

PRESS REACTION TO THE MANCHESTER EXECUTIONS PART I

PART II

PART III

WHAT  DID HAPPEN TO THE REMAINS OF THE PRISONERS EXECUTED AT MANCHESTER?

THE MANCHESTER FELONY REGISTER PT 1

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4

GREATER MANCHESTER RIOTS IN 1868

MANCHESTER AND LANCASHIRE STRAYS IN MILL BANK PRISON

MANCHESTER POOR LAW AND WORKHOUSE RECORDS

MANCHESTER POOR LAW UNION MINUTES

CHORLTON AND SOUTH MANCHESTER REGISTRATION DISTRICT

VOTING REGISTERS AND ELIGIBILITY IN MANCHESTER

1831 POPULATION FIGURES FOR MANCHESTER

MANCHESTER CENSUS COLLECTION DETAILS

PLACES OF WORSHIP IN MANCHESTER AND SALFORD

MANCHESTER PARISH AND CITY

MANCHESTER CITY CENTRE CHURCHES

MANCHESTER AND GENERAL INFORMATION

MANCHESTER BOROUGH POLICE FORCE

SECOND PART

THIRD PART

FOURTH PART

MANCHESTER INQUESTS WITNESS STATEMENTS INDEX

TRANSPORT IN MANCHESTER PART ONE

PART TWO

USEFUL LINKS

MANCHESTER FAMILY HISTORY CONTACT PAGE

   

 

MANCHESTER FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH HOME PAGE

 

This is not your ordinary run of the mill family history or genealogy site, this is different. Stop what you are doing and settle down for a good read, you might even want to put the kettle on and make yourself a drink before exploring these pages.  If you have an interest in Manchester in particular, and  its surrounding  area then this is the site for you. Bookmark this page, because you will want to come back and revisit this site. There is  too much information to take in at one go, you will need to come back, again and again. The information on these pages, although Manchester based, can apply to many areas of family research throughout the whole of the country. In these pages you can see many examples of my work, so read on, enjoy and let me extend a  very warm welcome to my web site.

FIND MY PAST  THE 1939 REGISTER. AS Find My Past states "FREE to search the register and to preview the transcript that includes the person’s name, year of birth, town and county of residence. In addition, you’ll be able to see how many other people lived in the house at the time and how many of them are closed due to being younger than 100 years old and still alive. This will help you to confirm if you’ve found the right person and then you can choose to unlock the record. Unlocking will give you all of the additional information such as address, dates of birth, occupations and marital statuses of everyone that lived there, plus the original record image, maps, newspapers and exclusive photos of the time."

 

 

 In late 2011 Manchester Archives  launched The Manchester Collection on Find My Past. The publicity releases contained numerous examples of my research, covering many years, that can be found on this site. I have heard that both the company  and Manchester Archives have had an abundance of emails asking for explanations of some of the terminology used in these records...look no further than the pages of this site! Most, if not all is explained. See below for a link to the Manchester Collection. This  is what Find My Past stated:

NEW CATHOLIC RECORDS FROM FIND MY PAST. This will eventually be the most comprehensive online collection of Roman Catholic records for Britain, Ireland and the USA. TRY A 14 DAY FREE TRIAL NOW.

FOR UK  SEE HERE

FOR USA  SEE HERE

FOR AUSTRALIA SEE HERE

FOR IRELAND SEE HERE

If you are looking for a site with sophisticated graphics and images, then you may be disappointed. If you are looking for an experienced Researcher or Record Agent, then this is the place for you! I have  appeared on Manchester's local TV channel, Channel M and I also have  been featured  on   BBC Radio Manchester where I  discussed my work, my travels and my website. In 2010 the site was reviewed on the prestigious  eogn.com web site which has added many new readers to this site. I have  worked on various Manchester projects for other London based professional researchers including some  background research for a Television Production Company which makes  a very popular programmes about the family history of celebrities (Tracy Emin episode), as well as other TV companies  and radio  in the UK and Ireland. I have also worked for a very eminent American  art historian and a very well known Manchester born American based journalist who is very prominent and has written several lyrical pieces and other works.

My name is Gerard Lodge, I am on the list of known researchers as compiled by the  Greater Manchester Archivists' Group, and I used to be on the Lancashire Record Office List of Record Agents until they increased their admin fees by 250%. I am also registered with the Rylands Library as a  known researcher. March 2008 saw the publication in three local newspapers, including The Manchester Evening News, of  articles concerning my research of The Manchester Prison Records and in particular the discovery of the prison register entries for the Manchester Martyrs. I was also  interviewed again by BBC Radio Manchester about these findings. 

 

As the title suggests this site deals with the research of the family history and other genealogical matters of Manchester and the surrounding areas. I can also research  topics relating to social and economic history or other aspects, such as the history of homes and buildings through the use of Trade Directories and possibly even discretely finding living people. I have also carried out research for legal purposes. As with all research it is impossible to guarantee success, but I can promise that my research will be methodical, thorough and exhaustive.  I can, if required, visit any record  repository. I can also offer a service whereby I can supply electronic images of certain parish records.  Details are available on application. If so required, I can also supply copies of certificates and wills for overseas readers if they are having problems paying by sterling. This is possible because I  can accept payment via PayPal.

This site takes a slightly different look at how to search the various records other than Census returns. It explains the pitfalls of research and gives a breakdown of the court records, workhouse records and prison registers available at Manchester Archives. The prison register collection discovered in 2007 is probably one of Manchester Archives and Local Studies' finest collections. I have made some very interesting discoveries of material that had not been listed in the original catalogue. Probably one of the most interesting finds was that of the entries in the New Bailey Prison Felony Register of "The Manchester Martyrs" and the other prisoners who were prosecuted for their attack on the prison van in September 1867 in Hyde Road.  Many people ask me why so many people were either baptised or married at the Collegiate and Parish Church of Manchester (later the Cathedral). You can find the answer here. The parish of Manchester Parish covered a vast area, much more than just the old township of Manchester. The vast majority of these records are now online on Ancestry including records that could only be previously seen in the Archives. Some parishes have been omitted.

This site is searchable page by page. Click on edit at the top left hand of your own computer screen, then click on Find, type in the word you wish to search for, and scroll down the page until you find the highlighted word. For some unknown reason some version of  Firefox do not show this site as it is designed. I suggest that you view the site via a more popular browser.

This site was created in the latter part of February 2007 from the humble beginnings of using pre formed page templates. In June 2007 I was able to covert to my own page designs, and have added constantly to the contents of the site. Visits  for November 2016 were 9,548 (85,595 so far this year) making a total  of 1,068,329 visits since the site first appeared. Thank you all for your interest and support.

I have compiled material about the felony registers that have survived from the later New Bailey  Prison Register and the early Strangeways Register. My research goes beyond the information contained in the Gaol Registers etc. Where possible newspaper reports have been included.

Likewise this site contains a wealth of information about the formation of the Manchester Borough Police Force in 1839 and its further development in its early history. Up until now I have covered the years 1839 to 1849.

As we live in age where things are changing rapidly and the barriers to research are constantly being challenged by the use of such methods as The Freedom of Information Act, I have now created a new page to reflect on some of these changes. It will also give me a chance to occasionally pontificate about other matters and it will also provide a home for news of other updates to the site. For the time being I will leave the updates here until people have a chance to get used to the new page.

Early in 2010 I was interviewed by award winning film maker Karen Gabay. She was in the process of making two films about Belle Vue and the ice cream families of Manchester. Now completed, these two short films are very interesting and entertaining with a splash of humour. I appear very briefly in both films.

Links to this site exceed well over a thousand, from some of the most prestigious organisations concerned with genealogy and research, including findmypast.co.uk, nationalarchives.gov.uk, manchester.gov.uk, ancestry.com,  FamilySearch and many others too numerous to mention. If you need to search family history in the UK, I am sure if you are searching  in Manchester, Lancashire, courts, prisons, industrial schools, workhouses, census, parish records, electoral registers etc this site will appear on the search engine contents. The information on this site is freely available to all, so long as accreditation is given to my work when published elsewhere. Further research  requests are not usually free of charge.

WDYTYA? MAGAZINE February Edition 2012

"If you are looking for a site with sophisticated graphics and images, you may be disappointed..." so states the homepage of this fascinating website, run by our expert this month Manchester researcher, Gerard Lodge. It's packed with information and data drawn from all sorts of sources focusing on Greater Manchester - much of it relating to courts and prisons. Find sections on Belle Vue Prison, New Bailey Prison, Strangeways, Mill Bank, plus specific cases (such as the Manchester Martyrs).This is a labour of love that merits return visits.  Written by Jonathan Warren, WDYTYA? Magazine.

WDYTYA? MAGAZINE Blog 29th September 2011

 Discussing  Manchester sources "...a gem of a site, Manchester Family History Research".

YOUR FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE - January 2010.

This magazine recently published a four page feature on researching in Greater Manchester. In their opinion they named the top three Manchester websites for using as "useful portals for kicking off your family history on line": 1 Manchester City Council; 2 Virtual Manchester; 3 Manchester Family History Research. This is what they published:

Researcher and archivist (which I am not) Gerard Lodge has a splendid website at www.manchester-family-history-research.co.uk which contains many valuable sources and a great deal on topics from industrial schools to workhouses.

LANCSOPC - Really Useful Sources - I don't normally include professional researchers, as I have no way of knowing whether they give value for money. However, this one is worth checking out for the information about Manchester in his website. As he claims, it is certainly a good read.

STATE LIBRARY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA - This website is definitely worth visiting for anyone researching Manchester ancestors. It has a lot of detailed information about historical sources and events in the Manchester area and includes some transcriptions.

UKGDL - Manchester Family History Research: A wealth of information about Manchester including court details of the riots of 1868, Milbank prison records and more.

PINELLAS GENEALOGY SOCIETY - This is a website offered by Gerard Lodge. It has free information from Manchester, Lancashire, and beyond. Gerard says it has so much information that your might want to "stop what you are doing and settle down for a good read, you might even want to put the kettle on and make yourself a drink before exploring these pages." The website also got recognition from Dick Eastman in his online genealogy newsletter.

M&LFHS - Gerard Lodge's pages offer a variety of interesting sources including several listings relating to prison inmates and a useful summary of available workhouse records.

FAMILYSEARCH.ORG - Gerard Lodge’s excellent website has images and further information about Manchester Workhouses and the history of the two Crumpsall sites.

Gerard Lodge's  website content including representative case notes and advertisements for institutions relating to Manchester for several Poor Law Unions at his excellent website.

This site currently has dozens of links from other organisations, repositories, family history societies and private individuals.

One thing I have realised recently is that you all do not see this site as it appears to me on my monitor. It designed for a large monitor and on smaller monitors the type may appear extremely large.

As happens in the field of research, some people are not happy about my ability to find the answers to their questions if I am not successful. That is the nature of the beast of research. 

For a quotation or for any other information please contact MFHR by using the following link:

mail@manchester-family-history-research.co.uk

The very low value of the pound sterling makes my rates even better value than ever for overseas clients.

A few words of advice to those people who are worried about the cost of family research: "Why waste your money looking up your family tree? Just go into politics and your opponents will do it for you." - Mark Twain.

The Formation of the Manchester Borough Police 1839-49 :  Vast amount of details, names, numbers, ranks and some addresses .More pages added.

 Manchester Coroners' Inquest Index Details (This an absolute gem that most people do not know exists...potential gold dust!!!)

 CONTACT MFHR AT:

mail@manchester-family-history-research.co.uk

 

The image shown above is by Mark Kennedy whose mosaics can be seen in many places around the City of Manchester. I took this image some time ago when this piece of work was on the outside of the building that was then known as Affleck's Palace. It is sadly no longer located there. Hopefully a new home will be found for it soon.

 


Copyright: Gerard Lodge (www.manchester-family-history-research.co.uk) 2007-2017

All Rights Reserved

Do Not Reproduce Any Material Without The Prior Permission Of The Author.

Last update: 14th February 2017