County Library and Information Service
Community History - Guide to the Local Collections - Kirkham Collection
Fylde District.
Station Rd
Kirkham
Preston
Lancs
PR4 2HD
Tel: 01772 684479
Fax:01772 684479
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
09:30 - 19:00
Closed
09:30 - 17:00
09:30 - 17:00
09:30 -19:00
9:30 - 12:00
4. Scope and arrangement of the collection
The collection is devoted chiefly to the township of Kirkham, but some material relating to the surrounding parishes is also held. When appropriate, items relating to more distant places in the region, such as Blackpool, Preston and parts of the former Wyre District, are also included.
Books are classified by the Lancashire Library Local Studies Classification Scheme.
5. Catalogues and bibliographies
Most local studies items are catalogued on the Lancashire County Library and Information Service’s online Talis catalogue.
A comprehensive set of extracts of directory entries for Kirkham from 1851 - 1938 is available, mostly in photocopy form.
The MANNEX directory – 1851 - Westmorland with Lonsdale and Amounderness in Lancashire.
The Mannex directory - 1873 – Preston and District
Barrett's Directory - 1938 - Blackpool and Fylde District
Directories can be found on the Library’s online catalogue.
7. Electoral registers and poll books
None. Please contact St Annes Central Library.
None. The main collection of rate books for the county is held at the Lancashire Record Office.
9. Census enumerators' returns
No census enumerators' returns are held at Kirkham Library, but the returns for the area are available for consultation at St Anne's Central Library.
All our libraries provide free access to the Ancestry website which gives access to Census Records for England, Wales and Scotland (1841-1901).
10. Parish records
The printed transcript of the registers of the Parish Church of St Michael, Kirkham, 1539-1653 is held (LANCASHIRE PARISH REGISTER SOCIETY, vols. 83 and 99).
Also held are printed indexes to the Index marriage registers, Burial registers and Memorial Inscriptions (1837 – 1995) for St John the Evangelist (the Willows).
The International Genealogical Index (IGI) is online at www.familysearch.org.
The main collection of parish records for the county is held at the Lancashire Record Office.
Kirkham and Rural Fylde Express is kept for twelve months. The Lancashire Evening Post and The Gazette are held for one week.
Lancashire Lantern includes an index to stories from local newspapers covering several areas of the county .
None.
Maps held, mostly in photocopy form, include the Tithe Award map of 1839. There is a selection of Ordnance Survey maps of Kirkham and the surrounding area, notably 25" to 1 mile maps of the surveys of 1893, 1911 and 1932.
14. Council minutes and minutes of official bodies
The agendas are held for the meetings of Kirkham Town Council for 12 months
The minutes for Fylde Borough Council, Ribby with Wrea Parish Council and Newton Parish Council are held for 12 months.
The collection of about 200 photographs is currently (May 2009) stored at St. Annes Library.
The Library is currently developing an online database of photographs from the county’s various library collections county's various library collections; this is available as part of Lancashire Lantern.
16. Sound and video recordings
None.
None. The main repository of archives for the county is held at the Lancashire Record Office.
None.
None.
Microfiche reader.
21. Books useful as introductory reading
FISHWICK, Henry. The History of the Parish of Kirkham, in the County of Lancaster. Chetham Society, 1st series, vol. 92. 1874.
PORTER, John. History of the Fylde of Lancashire. 1976, reprinted S.R. Publications., 1968.
RAMSBOTTOM, Martin. Kirkham: a Town Trail. Lancashire County Books, 1992.
SHAW, R. Cunliffe. Kirkham in Amounderness: the Story of a Lancashire Community. R. Seed & Sons (printers), 1949.
SINGLETON, Francis J. Kirkham: a Short History. Kirkham Local History Society, 1980.
22. Other Family History Sources
The Ancestry website, which includes Census Records for England Wales, Scotland the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands from 1841-1901, is freely available on public computers in all Lancashire Libraries and at Lancashire Record Office. Birth, Death and Marriage records and other Family History sources are also available through Ancestry.
The International Genealogical Index or Computer File Index of the Genealogical Society of Utah is available on their Family Search website at www.familysearch.com.
The Library’s Online Reference Library www.lancashire.gov.uk/onrl also includes links to many other sources useful for Family and Community History.