Farnworth, Lancashire
Historical Description
Farnworth, a town and a township, in Deane parish, Lancashire. The town stands near the Bolton and Manchester railway, 2 miles SE of Bolton; has a post, money order, and telegraph office (R.S.O.), three railway stations- Farnworth, Moses Gate, and Plodder Lane-on the L. & N.W.R., and publishes a weekly newspaper. It is governed by a local board, and is regarded as co-extensive with the township. Acreage of the township, 1502; population, 23,758. The inhabitants are employed in the neighbouring coal mines, cotton and paper mills, iron foundries, and brick and tile works. Farnworth possesses a public park, which was presented by T. Bames, Esq., M.P. for Bolton,. and was inaugurated in 1864 by Mr Gladstone. The township has been divided for ecclesiastical purposes into three parishes-viz., St John the Evangelist, with Kearsley. constituted in 1832 (population, 10,069); St Thomas', Dixon Green, constituted in 1880 (population, 5159); and St Peter's, formed in 1889 (population,, 7554). The living of St John the Evangelist is a vicarage, united with Kearsley, in the diocese of Manchester; gross value, £439 with residence. Patrons, Hulme's Trustees. The church is modern, in the Decorated style, and cost £8000; chancel and aisles, and north and south porches were added in 1873, when the church was thoroughly restored. Ecclesiastical parishes have been formed since 1866 out of this parish at New Bury, Kearsley Moor, Dixon Green, and St Peters. The living of St Thomas', Dixon Green, is a vicarage; gross value, £200 with residence. Patron, the Bishop. Of St Peter's, a perpetual curacy; gross value,-£160. Patron, the Vicar of Farnworth. There are several dissenting chapels, and a grammar school, with 10 foundation scholarships, and a high shool for girls. The Bolton workhouse is in this township.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Lancashire | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Farnworth St. John | |
Hundred | Salford | |
Poor Law union | Bolton |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
Ancestry.co.uk, in association with Lancashire Archives, have images of the Parish Registers for Lancashire online.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Farnworth from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Farnworth (St. John))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Lancashire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Farnworth are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Lancashire newspapers online: