Christening at St Werburgh's, Chester, Cheshire, England

[Martin Briscoe]

It has just been pointed out to me that the birth and christening of my Great Grandmother are in the IGI and at St Werburgh'S, Chester, Cheshire, England.  I have checked there many times going back years so I presume they must be still adding records as I am sure it was not there previously.

The record is

Isabella Hammond 
                               Birth:             30 JUL 1846      
                               Christening:  09 AUG 1846      St Werburgh's, Chester
                               Father:     Mark Hammond    
                               Mother:     Catherine O'Shea

I wonder if it is possible for some to check the register to see if there is any information about her father.

We think that Mark HAMMOND was a soldier from Yorkshire, he married Catherine O'Shea in Quebec in 1844 (the marriage record is here).  They had a son in 1845 in Quebec then we think he was killed or died.  In the 1851 Census Catherine is living with the two children in Laverton, Yorkshire as  Widow Pauper (formerly a soldier's wife).  But we have not been able to find anything out about his military service.

Which church would be St Werburgh's be?  I can see there is a RC church built in 1870 but also there are references to the cathedral being dedicated to St Werburgh.

My theory is that after the death of Mark, his widow would be "returned" to where he enlisted as the army tends to do things "by the book".  They could have passed through Chester on the way to Yorkshire from Canada perhaps via an army barracks there or just the workhouse. 

I can't see the birth in CheshireBMD.

[Martin Briscoe]

Still puzzled by this, the IGI Batch Number is C010185

The IGI has baptisms at St. Werburgh's Catholic Church, Chester back to 1794 and always refers to the Cathedral as such.

We have wondered whether her mother might be RC being Irish and married in a RC church in Quebec.

[peterbennett]

Hi

   Chester Cathedral is dedicated to St Werburgh but always known as the Cathedral, it is a completly differant church to St Werburgh RC Grosvenor Park Road. Built 1875.

  But this means there could not have been a baptism there in 1846 ?

  You could send the details to the email address in this link http://www.cheshire.gov.uk/Recordoffice/aboutus/recoffcontact.tm
and ask them to verify which register it comes from, they don't usually make a charge for this kind of search.

You can find a description of all the Chester churches at this link
http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/genuki/chs/chester.html

peterbennett

[Martin Briscoe]

Hi

   Chester Cathedral is dedicated to St Werburgh but always known as the Cathedral, it is a completly differant church to St Werburgh RC Grosvenor Park Road. Built 1875.

You can find a description of all the Chester churches at this link
http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/genuki/chs/chester.html

peterbennett

Thanks, I have got confirmation from the Record Office also that it is the RC church.  It's only a couple of quid for a copy so Ihave sent off for one from there.

I don't think that it is going to tell me a lot more but be good to get a copy.

Martin

[peterbennett]

Hi

      Sorry our posts must have crossed, I have ammended my original post.

peterbennett

[Martin Briscoe]

Is it not just the current building that is from the 1870s?

This is what the Cheshire Record Office catalogue has

FindingNo ERC 3 
Level Collection (Fonds) 
Title Chester St Werburgh Roman Catholic church 
Date 1794-1948 
Description Baptisms 1794-1948, marriages 1822-1973, burials 1861-1993, register of grave plots at Queen St chapel and burial entries 1827-53, indexes to baptism registers c1790- 1956 
Extent 27 volumes 

Martin Briscoe

(By the way is it possible to store the signature so it is inserted by the system?)

[peterbennett]

Hi

     Yes of course you are right when you say it was built on the same grounds as the demolished chapel, silly me.

(By the way is it possible to store the signature so it is inserted by the system?)

Not my knowledge, sorry.

peterbennett

[Martin Briscoe]

Hi

     Yes of course you are right when you say it was built on the same grounds as the demolished chapel, silly me.

(By the way is it possible to store the signature so it is inserted by the system?)

Not my knowledge, sorry.

peterbennett

Must hunt around to see if there are any pictures of the old chapel.

Thanks, I keep forgetting to sign because used to other sites inserting the sig! 

Martin

[Martin Briscoe]

I just got the 1871 and 1912 maps from the Digital Archives Association so thought I would have a look for St Werburgh's RC Church.  Easily seen on the 1912 25" map but the 1871 6" has a blank space, it looks as if perhaps they blanked it when the old chapel was taken down.  There are several other places that looked as if they could have been blanked out.

Was the Cathedral originally St Oswald's?  It seems to have that name on the earlier map.

Sorry if this is not an actual lookup but follows on from my earlier messages.

Martin Briscoe