County Library and Information Service
Community History - Guide to the Local Collections - Morecambe Collection
Lancaster District.
Central Drive
Morecambe
Lancashire
LA4 5DL
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Tel: 01524 415215
Fax:01524 415008
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
09:30 - 17:00
09:30 - 19:00
09:30 - 17:00
09:30 - 19:00
09:30 - 17:00
09:30 - 16:00
4. Scope and arrangement of the collection
Whilst the collection includes material relating especially to Morecambe and Heysham, there are also information files on surrounding villages. The material consists of a variety of printed items, including books and pamphlets, newspapers, press cuttings, illustrations and maps. No documentary material is collected. Most of the items are for reference use, but a small loan collection of local material is also maintained - this is situated in the lending library.
It is recommended that this collection is chosen for initial use by enquirers studying the history of Morecambe and Heysham, although it may subsequently be found that a visit to the collection at Lancaster Central Library will provide supplementary information.
5. Catalogues and bibliographies
The Local Studies catalogue is available as part of the Lancashire County Library and Information Service’s Talis online catalogue. It is possible to search by author, title, keyword, subject and class number.
Author and subject catalogues are maintained. All volumes of the Lancashire Bibliography published to date are held and a copy of A bibliography of the history of Cumberland and Westmorland, by H. W. HODGSON (Cumberland Record Office, 1968), is available.
The earliest directory held is BAINES, E. History, directory and gazetteer of the County Palatine of Lancaster, (W. Wales, 1824/5). A scatter of directories for the period 1866 - 1972 is held. A useful current directory of local business is Enterprise in Lancaster, 1983/4 – bit out of date
Directories can be found on the Library’s online catalogue (link) .
Morecambe, Heysham and neighbourhood 1949-date (lacks isolated volumes)
None. The main collection of rate books for the county is held at the Lancashire Record Office (link).
9. Census enumerators' returns
1881 Census for UK on CD-ROM.
1891 Lancaster district is on microfiche, the county on CD-ROM.
1901 Census on microfilm for Morecambe and Lancaster
1881 Lancashire Family History Society local branch transcripts for Lancaster district almost complete.
1841-1881 Kelly Collection Transcripts (a collection of A4 ring-binders containing transcripts and indexes of the census returns) as follows:
Folder 1 Bare and Torrisholme
Folder 2 Bolton-le-Sands
Folder 3 Borwick
Folder 4 Heaton-with-Oxcliffe
Folder 5 Heysham
Folder 6 Middleton
Folder 7 Nether Kellet
Folder 8 Over Kellet
Folder 9 Overton
Folder 10 Slyne-with-Hest
Folder 11 Morecambe/Poulton
Folder 12 Surnames index covering Bolton-le-Sands, Borwick, Bulk, Carnforth, Caton-with-Littlemore, Claughton, Farleton, Halton-with-Aughton, Hornby, Nether Kellet, Over Kellet, Priest Hutton, Quernmore, Skerton, Slyne-with-Hest, Yealand Conyers (1851 only), Yealand Redmayne (1851 only).
Folder 13 Bolton-le-Sands family sheets (names include Beckett, Bibby, Constable, Davis, Dixon, Edmondson, Pedder, Shaw, Stackhouse).
Other family folders cover the names Airey, Aldren, Allan, Allen, Altham, Anderson, Anderton, Armisted, Aspden, Bainbridge, Baines, Bains, Ball, Bartholomew, Bateson, Baxter, Beckett, Beesley, Bell, Birkett, Birtwistle, Blacow, Bland, Boardley, Bond, Brade, Braid, Brown, Burrow, Burton, Carter, Casson, Caton, Charnock, Clark, Clarke, Clifton, Cocking, Corless, Cottam, Croskell, Curwen, Dickinson, Dobson, Dodgson, Dowthwaite, Duckett, Edmondson, Escombe, Ewan, Fisher, Foxcroft, Gardner, Gerrard, Gornall, Gorst, Hadwen, Hadwin, Hall, Hargreaves, Harrison, Hayton, Hewitson, Hodgson, Holme, Houghton, Jackson, Johnson, Kellet, Kew, Kirkham, Kitchen, Kitchin, Kitching, Knipe, Lamb, Laytham, Leatham, Lee, Lodge, Long, Lund, Lupton, Marshall, Mashiter, Mason, Maudsley, Mayor, Mill, Miller, Mount, Nelson, Nicholson, Nickson, Nixon, Orr, Outhwaite, Page, Parker, Parkin, Parr, Perkin, Postlethwaite, Proctor, Raby, Richmond, Rogerson, Sandham, Shaw, Shuttleworth, Siddle, Smallthwaite, Smith, Speight, Statter, Stephenson, Stretch, Swain, Taylor, Tennant, Thompson, Threlfall, Timperley, Titterington, Towers, Townley, Wadeson, Warbrick, Wilkinson, Willacy, Wilson, Woodhouse, Woodman.
For holdings of census returns for this area, please click here)
For holdings of census returns for this area, please click here)
LANCASHIRE PARISH REGISTER SOCIETY. Vol. 1-129, 1898 - 1990 (lacks isolated volumes).
Kelly Collection (Should be above 10.?
Folder 14 Bolton-le-Sands, 1653 - 1736.
Folder 15 Heysham, 1658 - 1812 (includes typed alphabetical list and transcript), Overton, 1718 - 1813 (includes written alphabetical list and transcript).
Folder 16 Heysham; christenings 1792 - 1849. Separate grooms and brides indexes for Heysham 1813 - 1837, Lancaster 1813 - 1841, Overton 1813 - 1837, Poulton 1848 - 1864.
Folder 17 Morecambe cemetery plan and miscellaneous notes.
The main collection of parish records for the county is held at the Lancashire Record Office
Morecambe Guardian 1922 - 63 (18 volumes covering the period 1922 - 50, some years lacking; complete run 1951 - 63). Not indexed. Microfilmed 2008 -
Morecambe Visitor 1898 - . Contains news relating to Morecambe and the surrounding villages. Indexed 1898 - 1958 (continuing). Microfilmed 1898 - 2008 (continuing).
A cuttings file is also maintained of items from the Morecambe Visitor, the Morecambe Guardian and the Lancashire Evening Post.
An index to holdings of North West newspapers is available on the Museums, Libraries and Archives website
Lancashire Lantern includes an index to stories from local newspapers covering several areas of the county.
Contrebis Vol. 1, No. 1, May 1973 - (Lacks isolated issues).
CHETHAM SOCIETY. Remains...., 1st. series No. 1- New series No. 27, 1844 - 1980 (imperfect run).
CUMBERLAND AND WESTMORLAND ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY. Transactions, New Series, Vols 47,48,55,58,82-91 and Newsletter, Nos. 2-15 (lacks no. 4), 1984 - 1991.
CUMBRIA FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY. Newsletter, Vol 1- ,1976 -
HISTORIC SOCIETY OF LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE. Transactions, Vol. 7 -, 1854/5 - (imperfect run).
Lancashire ( LANCASHIRE FAMILY HISTORY AND HERALDRY SOCIETY), Feb. 1984 -
Lancashire Local Historian No. 1- , 1983 -
LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY. Transactions, Vol. 1- , 1884 - (imperfect run).
Local Historian Nov. 1987 -
LONSDALE HISTORICAL SOCIETY Vol 1- , 1982 -
Morecambe Bay gas and oil activity bulletin (LANCASTER CITY COUNCIL) 1989 -
Mourholme magazine of local history, Vol. 1, No. 1- , Autumn 1982 - (covers Warton and its neighbourhood).
RECORD SOCIETY OF LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE. No. 1- , 1879 - . (Imperfect run).
Ordnance Survey maps
6" to 1 mile : a photocopy of 1st edition (surveyed 1844-5) of local sheets is held, together with a number of later editions on the same scale.
25" to 1 mile : a number of sheets on the 25" scale are held from 1891 onwards.
British Geological survey
1:10,000 series c.1992, sheets SD 45NW, 46NE, 46SE, 46SW, 47SE, 55NW, 56NW, 56SW, 57SW, 66NW.
Land utilisation survey
First survey. Sheet 24, Lancaster and Barrow (1931-2).
Second survey . Sheet 713, Lancaster (1961).
Hydrographic charts
Charts are held of Morecambe Bay (1968), Heysham Lake (1969), Barrow Head to Liverpool (1973), Morecambe Bay sheet 2010 (1991) and Ports in Morecambe Bay sheet 1552 (1991).
Other maps
Yates, William. Map of the County Palatine of Lancaster, 1786 (modern reprint).
Tithe map of Poulton-le-Sands, 1824 (Photocopy). See next entry for other tithe maps available.
Brindle collection Now within main sequence where retained
The Brindle collection of local history material includes a plan of Heysham Harbour (1955) at a scale of 1" to 40', a Lancashire and Western Sea Fisheries Joint Committee chart, 1968, and photocopies of tithe maps for Heysham (1838), Overton (1844), Middleton (1844), Torrisholme (1839), Bare (1839), Poulton-le-Sands (1839) and Bolton-le-Sands (1846).
Swain collection What little source data there was retained, rest disposed
A collection of loose cards, maps, photographs and transcripts from documents in the Lancashire Record Office, Preston, which were collected for a study of field names in the Morecambe area. Unfortunately, the study was incomplete when Mrs. Swain died but her sister kindly donated the collection to Morecambe library where Mrs. Swain had intended her project to be deposited on completion. It is currently in the process of being sorted, catalogued and indexed to make the information available for public use.
14. Council minutes and minutes of official bodies
CENTRAL ELECTRICITY GENERATING BOARD. Heysham Power Station Local Liaison Committee. Minutes, 17 May 1974 - 1990 (complete run). (See also NUCLEAR ELECTRIC PLC)
HEYSHAM NEIGHBOURHOOD COUNCIL. Minutes, 25 April 1985 -
LANCASTER CITY COUNCIL. Minutes. Last three months only; earlier Minutes at Lancaster Library.
LANCASTER COMMUNITY HEALTH COUNCIL. Minutes, 1984 -
LANCASTER POLICE AND COMMUNITY FORUM (LANCASTER DISTRICT POLICE LIAISON COMMITTEE). Agenda and Minutes, 1988 -
MORECAMBE AND HEYSHAM BOROUGH COUNCIL. Accounts, 1946 - 73.
MORECAMBE AND HEYSHAM BOROUGH COUNCIL. Minutes, November 1924 - 74.
MORECAMBE FISHERMEN'S PROTECTION SOCIETY (later Morecambe Fishermen's Association). Minutes, 2 December 1893 - 1901, 1920 - 84, photocopy (continuing).
MORECAMBE NEIGHBOURHOOD COUNCIL. Minutes, 17 May 1990- .
MORECAMBE PLEASURE BOAT COMPANY. Minutes, 19 September 1919 - 27 May 1943; Accounts, September 1919 - February 1939 (photocopy).
NUCLEAR ELECTRIC PLC. Heysham land 2, Minutes of the Local Community Liaison Council, 1990 -
SLYNE WITH HEST PARISH COUNCIL. Newsletter, No. 1- , November - December 1977 - . This is the official organ of the Parish Council.
Many photographs and postcards are included in the collection. Most of the items relate to Morecambe and Heysham, but there are a few illustrations of neighbouring areas. A few engravings and one oil painting (of Middleton Towers Holiday Camp) are also held.
The Library is currently developing an online database of photographs from the 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 .
Brindle collection. A collection of local history material. The items relate to Morecambe and Heysham and the collection is especially rich in information on the fishing industry and Heysham Harbour.
Kelly collection A collection of ring binders containing transcripts and indexes from local census returns and parish registers and folders of local surnames.
Spalding collection A box file of articles used in the compilation of Poulton-le-Sands: a history of Morecambe.
Index to Spalding collection (above).
‘Mike’s Morecambe’ – letters, photographs etc of old Morecambe from Morecambe Visitor.
Two microfilm readers, one microfiche readers, photocopier, reader/printer copier for both microfilm and microfiche, CD-ROM computer terminal- Use PNet.
21. Books useful as introductory reading
ARMSTRONG, R.G. The rise of Morecambe, 1820 - 1862. Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, Vol. 100, 1948.
BAINES, E. The history of the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster. Vol. 5 (Heywood, 1893).
* BINGHAM, R.K. Lost resort? The flow and ebb of Morecambe. Cicerone Press, 1990.
* CUNLIFFE, H. The story of Sunderland Point, from the early days. Author, 1984.
* GRIME, Beverley Ann. Morecambe, alias Poulton le Sands; a dip into the past. Mayoh Press, 1985.
* HOGARTH, F.W. History of Heysham. Printed by the Morecambe Visitor, 1934.
* HOGARTH, F.W. St. Patrick, Heysham and Christianity in Britain. Bath: MacBrooke Printers, 196 -.
PAPE, T. The Sands of Morecambe Bay. Morecambe Visitor, 1951.
* POTTER, T.F. The growth of Morecambe. Morecambe Visitor, 1976.
* QUICK, R.C. Morecambe and Heysham past and present. Morecambe Times, 1962.
* SPALDING, J.R. Poulton-le-Sands: a history of Morecambe. Unpublished transcript with photographs, 1974.
* Miss TOMLINSON. A guide to Heysham. Wigley, 1926.
VICTORIA history of the county of Lancaster. Vol. 8. Constable, 1914.
22. Other family history sources
All our libraries provide free access to the Ancestry website which gives access to Census Records for England, Wales and Scotland 1841-1901) and indexes to Births, Deaths and Marriages for England and Wales (1837-2005).