Downham Genealogical Records
Downham Birth & Baptism Records
An index to births registered throughout England & Wales. Provides a reference to order copies of birth certificates from the national registrar of births, marriages and deaths – the General Register Office.
A growing index of births registered in the county. Records include a reference to the sub-registration district, making it easier to order the correct certificate.
An index to 1,250,301 baptisms, linked to images of the original registers. These records will provide parents' names, residences, occupations and occasionally other details.
A name index connected to original images of Lancashire baptism registers for over 175 parishes.
Digital images of baptism registers that can be searched by name. They record baptisms, which typically occur shortly after birth, and list the baptised's name, date of birth and/or baptism and parents' names. They may also list where the parents lived, their occupations and occasionally other details.
Downham Marriage & Divorce Records
An index to marriages registered throughout England & Wales. This is the only national marriage index that allows you to search by both spouse's names. Provides a reference to order copies of marriage certificates from the national registrar of births, marriages and deaths – the General Register Office.
A growing index of marriages registered in the county. Records include a reference to the sub-registration district, making it easier to order the correct certificate.
An index to 585,995 marriages, linked to images of the original registers. These records will provide parents' names, residences, occupations, ages and other details.
A name index connected to original images of Lancashire marriage registers for over 175 parishes.
Digital images of marriage registers that can be searched by name. They contain written records of marriages and typically record the name of the bride and groom and date of marriage. They may also record occupations, residences, fathers' names, witnesses and other information about the marriage.
Downham Death & Burial Records
An index to deaths registered throughout England & Wales. Provides a reference to order copies of death certificates from the national registrar of births, marriages and deaths – the General Register Office.
A growing index of deaths registered in the county. Records include a reference to the sub-registration district, making it easier to order the correct certificate.
An index to 968,658 burials, linked to images of the original registers. These records will provide age, residence and occasionally other details.
Transcripts of Anglican burial registers from over 100 churches in Yorkshire.
A name index connected to original images of Lancashire burial registers for over 100 parishes.
Downham Census & Population Lists
An index to and digital images of records that detail 40 million civilians in England and Wales. Records list name, date of birth, address, marital status, occupation and details of trade or profession.
The 1911 census provides details on an individual's age, residence, place of birth, relations and occupation. FindMyPast's index allows searches on for multiple metrics including occupation and residence.
A tax on the county's wealthier residents, ordered by wapentake or liberty and settlement.
A tax list of wealthier Lancashire residents.
Two lay subsidies from the reigns of Henry III and Edward I.
Newspapers Covering Downham
Original images of a regional newspaper, searchable via a full text index. Includes news from the Burnley area, business notices, obituaries, family announcements and more.
A database allowing full text searches of a newspaper covering local news, family announcements, obituaries, court proceedings, business notices and more in the Burnley area.
A database allowing full text searches of a newspaper covering local news, family announcements, obituaries, court proceedings, business notices and more in the Burnley area.
A database allowing full text searches of a newspaper covering local news, family announcements, obituaries, court proceedings, business notices and more in the Burnley area.
Local news; notices of births, marriages and deaths; business notices; details on the proceedings of public institutions; adverts and a rich tapestry of other local information from the Blackburn district. Every line of text from the newspaper can be searched and images of the original pages viewed.
Downham Wills & Probate Records
Searchable index and original images of over 12.5 million probates and administrations granted by civil registries. Entries usually include the testator's name, date of death, date of probate and registry. Names of relations may be given.
Digital images, indexed by testor's name, of 28,716 wills, administrations, inventories and other probate documents. The records can shed light on an individual’s relations, possessions, land holdings, legal agreements and more. They cover various jurisdictions throughout the north of England.
Transcripts of several hundred wills, contains an index to people named within.
An index to 263,822 wills, administrations and other probate documents proved by an ecclesiastical court in York. The index included the testor's name, residence, year of probate, type of document and reference to order copies of the referenced document(s.).
An index to 38,107 wills, searchable by name and including the testor's residence and occupation. The wills are from the records of Amounderness, Furness, Kendal and Lonsdale deaneries, within the Archdeaconry of Richmond.
Downham Immigration & Travel Records
Records of around 40,000 people and their families who were forcibly moved from one parish to another. Contains many Irish individuals.
A name index connected to original images of passenger lists recording people travelling from Britain to destinations outside Europe. Records may detail a passenger's age or date of birth, residence, occupation, destination and more.
A full index of passenger lists for vessels arriving in the UK linked to original images. Does not include lists from vessels sailing from European ports. Early entries can be brief, but later entries may include dates of births, occupations, home addresses and more. Useful for documenting immigration.
An index to and images of documents recording over 1.65 million passengers who arrived in Victoria, Australia, including passengers whose voyage was paid for by others.
Details on over 600,000 non-British citizens arriving in England. Often includes age and professions. Useful for discerning the origin of immigrants.
Downham Military Records
An inventory of memorials commemorating those who served and died in military conflicts.
A chronicle of happenings in the counties of Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire relating to the war in Europe. Contains much detail on ship building.
Biographies of hundreds of men who served as officers in The Green Howards, an infant regiment in the King's Division. Details given include parentage, date of birth, military career and later professional career.
A general history of the militia preceded by an overview of Yorkshire's military history since the conquest.
An index to over 65,000 civilians who died directly or indirectly as a result of Axis attacks in Britain. Covers Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire.
Downham Court & Legal Records
Abstracts of records that detail land conveyances.
Transcriptions of pleas brought before a court. They largely concern land disputes.
Transcripts of 17,368 admission records, including name, gender, age, occupation, date of admission, cause of insanity, outcome of incarceration, date of leaving the institution and more.
A name index linked to original images of over 250,000 Manchester prison records. Records contain details on the convict's birth, appearance, crime and more.
An index to and images of books dealing with legal matters and administration in the county. They cover legal decisions, costs of prosecution, filiation and maintenance orders, settlement orders, removal orders, transportation orders, sentences passed on criminals, setting highway rates, appointing officials and presentments for repairs to roads and bridges, poor relief, settlement, licences for various trades and more.
Downham Taxation Records
A list of those who voted in the election, stating their residence and for who they voted.
A list of those who voted in the election, stating their residence and for who they voted.
A list of those who voted in the election, stating their residence and for who they voted.
A transcription of the Lincolnshire section of the Domesday Book, which records land ownership, use and value in the late 11th century; and similar survey completed in 1118.
A tax on the county's wealthier residents, ordered by wapentake or liberty and settlement.
Downham Land & Property Records
A list of those who voted in the election, stating their residence and for who they voted.
A list of those who voted in the election, stating their residence and for who they voted.
A list of those who voted in the election, stating their residence and for who they voted.
Abstracts of records that detail land conveyances.
An English translation of Yorkshire domesday records. This transcripts details the county's landowners in 1086.
Downham Directories & Gazetteers
A comprehensive place-by-place gazetteer, listing key contemporary and historical facts. Each place has a list of residents and businesses. Contains details on local schools, churches, government and other institutions.
A comprehensive guide to the Yorkshire textile manufacturers. Arranged by towns, each entry gives the name of the mill and its owner(s), approximate number of spindles and looms, pay day, telegraphic address and telephone number.
A detailed directory of towns in the North East.
A directory listing phone with telephones in Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland.
Descriptions of settlements in Durham, Northumberland, and Yorkshire with lists of their leading private and commercial men.
Downham Cemeteries
An index to close to 150,000 names listed on gravestones in Yorkshire.
Photographs and descriptions of Lancashire's most illustrious church monuments, often featuring effigies, medieval inscriptions and heraldic devices.
Images of millions of pages from cemetery and crematoria registers, photographs of memorials, cemetery plans and more. Records can be search by a name index.
Photographs and transcriptions of millions of gravestones from cemeteries around the world.
Profiles of several hundred mausolea found in the British Isles.
Downham Obituaries
The UKs largest repository of obituaries, containing millions of searchable notices.
A growing collection currently containing over 425,000 abstracts of obituaries with reference to the location of the full obituary.
A collection of 364 obituaries of Quakers from the British Isles. The volume was published in 1849 and includes obituaries of those who died in late 1847 through 1848.
This transcribed and searchable work by Sir William Musgrave contains 10,000s of brief obituaries. The work is a reference point for other works containing information on an individual.
A text index and digital images of all editions of a journal containing medical articles and obituaries of medical practitioners.
Downham Histories & Books
An English translation of Yorkshire domesday records. This transcripts details the county's landowners in 1086.
A detailed history of the county's hundreds, parishes and religious houses.
A chronicle of happenings in the counties of Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire relating to the war in Europe. Contains much detail on ship building.
Photographs and images of churches in North Yorkshire.
A chronological rendering of the county's history.
Downham School & Education Records
A name index connected to digital images of registers recording millions of children educated in schools operated by the National Society for Promoting Religious Education. Records contain a variety of information including genealogical details, education history, illnesses, exam result, fathers occupation and more.
A name index linked to original images of registers recording the education and careers of teachers in England & Wales.
A name index linked to original images of short biographies for over 120,000 Oxford University students. This is a particularly useful source for tracing the ancestry of the landed gentry.
A transcript of a vast scholarly work briefly chronicling the heritage, education and careers of over 150,000 Cambridge University students. This is a particularly useful source for tracing the ancestry of the landed gentry.
A searchable database containing over 90,000 note-form biographies for students of Cambridge University.
Downham Occupation & Business Records
Profiles of collieries in the north of England, with employment statistics, profiles of those who died in the mines and photographs.
Reports of mining distastes, includes lists of the deceased and photographs of monuments.
An introduction to smuggling on the east coast of England, with details of the act in various regions.
Abstract biographies of people connected with mining in the North of England.
A searchable book detailing the Yorkshire Rugby Football Union around the time of the Great War. Contains the names of many players and other persons associated with the sport.
Pedigrees & Family Trees Covering Downham
A detailed history of the county's hundreds, parishes and religious houses.
A detailed history of the county's hundreds, parishes and religious houses.
Extensive and impeccably sourced genealogies for British, Irish & Manx royalty and nobility. Scroll down to 'British Isles' for relevant sections.
A searchable database of linked genealogies compiled from thousands of reputable and not-so-reputable sources. Contains many details on European gentry & nobility, but covers many countries outside Europe and people from all walks of life.
A searchable book, listing pedigrees of titled families and biographies of their members.
Downham Royalty, Nobility & Heraldry Records
A detailed history of the county's hundreds, parishes and religious houses.
Pedigrees compiled from a late 16th century heraldic visitation of Yorkshire. This work records the lineage, descendants and marriages of families who had a right to bear a coat of arms.
Pedigrees compiled from a early 17th century heraldic visitation of Yorkshire. This work records the lineage, descendants and marriages of families who had a right to bear a coat of arms.
A detailed history of the county's hundreds, parishes and religious houses.
Transcripts of records that detail the lives and lands of Cheshire and Lancashire landholders.
Downham Church Records
Digital images of baptism, marriage and burial registers from Church of England places of worship in Yorkshire.
Records recording teens and young adults commitment to the Christian faith.
A name index connected to original images of Lancashire parish registers for over 60 parishes.
An index of close to 1 million baptism, marriage and burial registers extracted from records of the Church of England.
Transcriptions of registers that record baptisms, which typically occur shortly after birth; marriages and burials. They can help establish links between individuals back to the 16th century.
Biographical Directories Covering Downham
A listing of the prominent residents of the county of Yorkshire, giving details on family, education, careers, hobbies, associations and more. Also includes details on the county's government officials, military officers, members of parliament, religious leaders and demographics.
Biographies of hundreds of men who served as officers in The Green Howards, an infant regiment in the King's Division. Details given include parentage, date of birth, military career and later professional career.
Abstract biographies of people connected with mining in the North of England.
A searchable book, listing pedigrees of titled families and biographies of their members.
A book containing genealogies and biographies of Britain's titled families.
Downham Maps
Digital images of maps covering the county.
A number of maps of northern England with the locations of collieries plotted.
Digital images of maps covering the county.
Detailed maps covering much of the UK. They depict forests, mountains, larger farms, roads, railroads, towns, and more.
Maps showing settlements, features and some buildings in mainland Britain.
Downham Reference Works
A beginner’s guide to researching ancestry in England.
Compiled in 1831, this book details the coverage and condition of parish registers in England & Wales.
A comprehensive guide to researching the history of buildings in the British Isles.
A service that provides advanced and custom surname maps for the British Isles and the US.
A dictionary of around 9,000 mottoes for British families who had right to bear arms.
Civil & Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction
Historical Description
DOWNHAM is a township and village, on the road from Clitheroe to Colne, and in 1856 was formed into a parish from the civil parish of Whalley, being about 1 ¼ miles north-east from the Chatburn station on the Blackburn and Hellifield section of the Lancashire and Yorkshire line, and 3 east-north-east from Clitheroe, in the Clitheroe division of the county and petty sessional division of Blackburn, higher division of Blackburn hundred, Clitheroe union and county court district, rural deanery of Whalley, archdeaconry of Blackburn and diocese of Manchester. The village is supplied with water from the Pendle hills, the water works being the property of Ralph Assheton esq. The church of St. Leonards, erected about 1800, on the site of an ancient church, is an edifice of stone, consisting only of nave with south porch and an embattled western tower with pinnacles, dating from 1284, and containing 4 bells, 3 of which were brought from Whalley Abbey, but one was re-cast in 1881 and the fourth, or tenor bell, was given by Ralph Assheton esq. in the same year: the east window is stained: the font was given by John Paslew, 17th and last Abbot of Whalley, and bears the arms of the isle of Man on one of the sides: there are mural tablets to the Right Hon. Ladye Dorothy Assheton (1635), Sir Ralph Assheton of Whalley (1680) and others of that family; the church has 350 sitings, all free. The register dates from the year 1653. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £190, with half an acre of glebe and residence, in the gift of Hulme’s trustees, and held since 1899 by the Rev. Harold Broadbent Moore M.A. of Brasenose College, Oxford. There is a Wesleyan chapel here. Charities of £7 yearly, are distributed in money and clothes, Richard Waddington in 1727 left, £40 in trust to the lord of the manor for the time being, the interest of which is appropriated for the benefit of the poor. Downham Hall is the seat of Ralph Assheton esq. D.L., J.P. the lord of the manor and principal landowner. Nicholas Assheton, of this family, who was bora about 1590 and died 16th April, 1625, wrote a “journal” in 1617—18, which was published, first by Dr. Whitaker and afterwards by the Chetham Society in 1848. Crystals, known as “Downham diamonds,” are found in the neighbourhood. The soil is light; the subsoil, freestone and limestone. There is much pasture land here. The acreage is 2,302; rateable value, £2,345; the population in 1901 was 246. The population of the ecclesiastical parish, which includes the townships of Downham and Twiston, in 1901 was 289.
Public Elementary School (mixed), built in 1839 & endowed with £1,400 Consols, producing. £40 yearly, by Sir Richard Assheton kt. in 1680 & others: this amount is applied to the payment of the master; the school will hold 90 children; average attendance, 50.
Most Common Surnames in Downham
| Rank | Surname | Incidence | Frequency | Percent of Parent | Rank in Blackburn Hundred |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bulcock | 23 | 1:16 | 5.52% | 1,333 |
| 2 | Hartley | 22 | 1:17 | 0.29% | 42 |
| 3 | Parker | 16 | 1:24 | 0.23% | 52 |
| 3 | Smithies | 16 | 1:24 | 3.60% | 1,262 |
| 5 | Yates | 14 | 1:27 | 0.15% | 27 |
| 5 | Parkinson | 14 | 1:27 | 0.18% | 39 |
| 7 | Mangham | 13 | 1:29 | 33.33% | 6,303 |
| 8 | Robinson | 12 | 1:31 | 0.07% | 7 |
| 9 | Greenwood | 10 | 1:38 | 0.14% | 45 |
| 10 | Smith | 9 | 1:42 | 0.02% | 1 |
| 11 | Boothman | 8 | 1:47 | 1.14% | 884 |
| 12 | Whipp | 7 | 1:54 | 1.44% | 1,188 |
| 13 | Burns | 6 | 1:63 | 0.12% | 95 |
| 13 | Walmsley | 6 | 1:63 | 0.13% | 105 |
| 13 | Cockshutt | 6 | 1:63 | 3.51% | 2,491 |
| 13 | Carton | 6 | 1:63 | 11.76% | 5,319 |
| 13 | Oddis | 6 | 1:63 | 100.00% | 23,988 |
| 18 | Jackson | 5 | 1:75 | 0.03% | 4 |
| 18 | Mitchell | 5 | 1:75 | 0.11% | 110 |
| 18 | Barker | 5 | 1:75 | 0.10% | 94 |
| 18 | Spencer | 5 | 1:75 | 0.09% | 74 |
| 18 | Kenyon | 5 | 1:75 | 0.11% | 103 |
| 18 | Illingworth | 5 | 1:75 | 1.52% | 1,596 |
| 18 | Reilly | 5 | 1:75 | 0.93% | 1,093 |
| 18 | Slinger | 5 | 1:75 | 1.06% | 1,220 |
| 18 | Gooderham | 5 | 1:75 | 55.56% | 17,052 |
| 27 | Watson | 4 | 1:94 | 0.07% | 68 |
| 27 | North | 4 | 1:94 | 0.93% | 1,288 |
| 27 | Ellison | 4 | 1:94 | 0.16% | 245 |
| 27 | Wiseman | 4 | 1:94 | 1.17% | 1,549 |
| 27 | Lonsdale | 4 | 1:94 | 0.41% | 655 |
| 27 | Death | 4 | 1:94 | 9.09% | 5,827 |
| 27 | McCoy | 4 | 1:94 | 0.82% | 1,188 |
| 27 | Falstead | 4 | 1:94 | 100.00% | 32,689 |
| 35 | Jones | 3 | 1:125 | 0.01% | 3 |
| 35 | Edwards | 3 | 1:125 | 0.04% | 49 |
| 35 | Shaw | 3 | 1:125 | 0.03% | 18 |
| 35 | Hayes | 3 | 1:125 | 0.07% | 119 |
| 35 | Stocks | 3 | 1:125 | 1.11% | 1,835 |
| 35 | Holgate | 3 | 1:125 | 0.30% | 647 |
| 35 | Collinge | 3 | 1:125 | 0.17% | 358 |
| 35 | Higson | 3 | 1:125 | 0.19% | 412 |
| 35 | Hodgkiss | 3 | 1:125 | 1.26% | 2,007 |
| 35 | Oddie | 3 | 1:125 | 0.68% | 1,276 |
| 35 | Kayley | 3 | 1:125 | 5.77% | 5,249 |
| 46 | Davies | 2 | 1:188 | 0.01% | 12 |
| 46 | Johnson | 2 | 1:188 | 0.01% | 9 |
| 46 | Turner | 2 | 1:188 | 0.02% | 19 |
| 46 | Wilkinson | 2 | 1:188 | 0.02% | 24 |
| 46 | Burton | 2 | 1:188 | 0.09% | 271 |
| 46 | Slater | 2 | 1:188 | 0.04% | 97 |
| 46 | Banks | 2 | 1:188 | 0.06% | 181 |
| 46 | Ingham | 2 | 1:188 | 0.06% | 175 |
| 46 | Horsfall | 2 | 1:188 | 0.35% | 1,022 |
| 46 | Beesley | 2 | 1:188 | 0.27% | 849 |
| 46 | Seed | 2 | 1:188 | 0.15% | 465 |
| 46 | Dugdale | 2 | 1:188 | 0.17% | 550 |
| 46 | Wait | 2 | 1:188 | 2.90% | 4,366 |
| 46 | Worswick | 2 | 1:188 | 0.55% | 1,476 |
| 46 | Veevers | 2 | 1:188 | 0.75% | 1,854 |
| 61 | Walker | 1 | 1:376 | 0.01% | 16 |
| 61 | Clark | 1 | 1:376 | 0.02% | 92 |
| 61 | Thompson | 1 | 1:376 | 0.01% | 13 |
| 61 | Hill | 1 | 1:376 | 0.01% | 41 |
| 61 | Ward | 1 | 1:376 | 0.01% | 47 |
| 61 | King | 1 | 1:376 | 0.03% | 159 |
| 61 | Young | 1 | 1:376 | 0.03% | 161 |
| 61 | Allen | 1 | 1:376 | 0.02% | 83 |
| 61 | Hunt | 1 | 1:376 | 0.03% | 141 |
| 61 | Dixon | 1 | 1:376 | 0.02% | 93 |
| 61 | Holden | 1 | 1:376 | 0.01% | 28 |
| 61 | Briggs | 1 | 1:376 | 0.04% | 227 |
| 61 | Howarth | 1 | 1:376 | 0.01% | 20 |
| 61 | Preston | 1 | 1:376 | 0.04% | 222 |
| 61 | Bullock | 1 | 1:376 | 0.12% | 739 |
| 61 | Lancaster | 1 | 1:376 | 0.05% | 338 |
| 61 | Cope | 1 | 1:376 | 0.20% | 1,174 |
| 61 | Pickles | 1 | 1:376 | 0.07% | 452 |
| 61 | Tate | 1 | 1:376 | 0.22% | 1,250 |
| 61 | Driver | 1 | 1:376 | 0.09% | 597 |
| 61 | Downing | 1 | 1:376 | 0.30% | 1,603 |
| 61 | Batty | 1 | 1:376 | 0.14% | 889 |
| 61 | Tattersall | 1 | 1:376 | 0.03% | 191 |
| 61 | Garnett | 1 | 1:376 | 0.09% | 612 |
| 61 | Dewhurst | 1 | 1:376 | 0.03% | 209 |
| 61 | Pool | 1 | 1:376 | 0.43% | 2,038 |
| 61 | Farrington | 1 | 1:376 | 0.10% | 642 |
| 61 | Somerville | 1 | 1:376 | 1.11% | 3,714 |
| 61 | Lofthouse | 1 | 1:376 | 0.17% | 1,027 |
| 61 | Ridge | 1 | 1:376 | 0.45% | 2,095 |
| 61 | Burford | 1 | 1:376 | 2.22% | 5,751 |
| 61 | Dinsdale | 1 | 1:376 | 0.68% | 2,749 |
| 61 | Place | 1 | 1:376 | 0.28% | 1,488 |
| 61 | Wolfenden | 1 | 1:376 | 0.10% | 638 |
| 61 | Townson | 1 | 1:376 | 0.15% | 903 |
| 61 | Sagar | 1 | 1:376 | 0.11% | 716 |
| 61 | Willard | 1 | 1:376 | 8.33% | 13,828 |
| 61 | Inskip | 1 | 1:376 | 2.70% | 6,498 |
| 61 | Tarver | 1 | 1:376 | 5.56% | 10,506 |
| 61 | Tiddle | 1 | 1:376 | 33.33% | 38,470 |
| 61 | Turse | 1 | 1:376 | 100.00% | 51,995 |
| 61 | Prep | 1 | 1:376 | 100.00% | 51,995 |