ROMAN CATHOLICS IN LIVERPOOL & ITS ENVIRONS, 1767
This is a directory style index for some of the family history information contained in Parliamentary Archives, HL/PO/JO/10/7/266 concerning people known or reputed to be Roman Catholics in the year 1767. All of the information presented here covers Liverpool and its surrounding districts. It is offered here as a free resource for family history researchers to serve as a census substitute.
The information in this index is usually set out in the following order:-
- Surname
- Forename
- Age
- Occupation or relationship within household
- Address
- Length of residency
Most residents of the town are listed with a specific street name residents in the surrounding areas are listed with just a district name. Births within the place of residency are indicated by the age and length of residency figures being the same and by the phrases "Born in Town" or "Born here". The residents' place of origin was seldom recorded but on those rare occasions when this information was obtained there are insights into the migration patterns of the time.
Here is a transcript of a Liverpool resident with their place of origin information:-
Quin, Lawrence, 38, Silkweaver, Cross Hall Street, Liverpool, 6 months, From Dublin
Some information was collected from multiple streets at the time and particular streets may not be identified. Rather than individual street names a description was provided for certain streets. These streets are number coded with the number appearing where the street name should be in the index.
The number codes and descriptions are as follows:-
1. “Copperas Hill, East side of St Peters Church, Peter Street, Workhouse Lane, alley north of School Lane, Manesty Lane”.
2. “Strand Street, Crooked Lane, Steers Alley & East end of Dry Dock”.
3. “East side of the Graving Dock and North side of the Dry Dock”.
4. “Harrington Street, Lord Street, Potato Market, Cable Street and Thomas Street”.
5. “Atherton Street, King Street, alley from Dock to Cable Street, Brook Square and Paradise Street”.
6. “Bartons Weint, Holdens Weint, Virginia Street, St Pauls Square, Prussia Street, Edmond Street, Ormond Street”.
7. “Benns Gardens, Red Cross Street, Preeson Row and Derby Square”.
8. “Dale Street & Queens Court”.
Copies of the original records may be obtained from the Parliamentary Archives or local record offices. Transcriptions of the returns for 1767 showing each person with their family members and neighbours are also available in two separate volumes:-
Returns of Papists, 1767: Diocese of Chester by E. S. Worrall (Catholic Record Society, Occasional Publications no 1, 1980-1989)
Returns of Papists, 1767: Dioceses of England and Wales except Chester by E. S. Worrall (Catholic Record Society, Occasional Publications no 2, 1980-1989)
Some of my ancestors who lived in the countryside outside Liverpool are included in these returns. My six times great grandfather Robert Brookfield (c1741-1801) was working on a relation's farm in West Derby in 1767.
Here is a transcript showing the complete household from the returns:-
Paul Brookfield, 35, Farmer, West Derby, 3 years
Elizabeth Brookfield, 34, Wife, West Derby, 3 years
Mary Brookfield, 7, Daughter, West Derby, 3 years
Ann Brookfield, 5, Daughter, West Derby, 3 years
Paul Brookfield, 3, Son, West Derby, 3 years
James Brookfield, 1, Son, West Derby, 1 year
Robert Brookfield, 27, Servant, West Derby, 3 years
John Mason, 26, Servant, West Derby, 3 years
Thomas Forshaw, 18, Servant, West Derby, 3 years
Henry Brookfield, 20, Servant, West Derby, 3 years
Ann Scaresbrick, 22, Servant, West Derby 3 years
Margaret Middleton, 25, Servant, West Derby, 3 years
William Brookfield, 12, West Derby, 3 years