County Library and Information Service
Community History
Guide to the Local Collections
Ormskirk Collection
West Lancs District.
Burscough Street
Ormskirk
Lancashire
L39 2EN
Tel: 01695 573448
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4. Scope and arrangement of the collection
A small collection of local studies material relating to Lancashire in general and the West Lancashire district in particular, including some general material on Liverpool and Southport. The arrangement follows the Lancashire Library Local Studies Classification Scheme for printed material in local studies collections. The main collection is a reference collection to which there is access by prior arrangement. There are also loan copies of some local studies books available in the lending library.
5. Catalogues and bibliographies
All local studies items are catalogued on the Lancashire County Library and Information Service online Talis catalogue.
Lancashire Bibliography : all volumes published to date.
Guide to the Lancashire Record Office . 1985.
Guide to the Lancashire Record Office : supplement. 1992.
BAINES, E. History, directory and gazetteer of the County Palatine of Lancaster. 2 vols., 1824-85.
MANNEX, P. & Co. History, topography and directory of mid-Lancashire, 1854.
PIGOT’s National Commercial Directory: Cumberland, Lancashire & Westmorland 1828/29.
Coverage apart from the above is poor and incomplete consisting of a few directories, mostly trades directories, for Liverpool 1766, Southport 1955 and Wigan 1869. There are photocopies of the Ormskirk pages from directories held at the Lancashire Record Office; these include various dates between 1787 and 1924.
Directories can be found on the Library's online catalogue.
Ormskirk, Aughton & Burscough: 1990 to date.
None. The main collection of rate books for the county is held at the Lancashire Record Office.
9. Census enumerators' returns
West Lancashire District for all censuses 1841 - 1901.
Name index to 1851 returns prepared by the Ormskirk & District Family History Society.
On CD-ROM: Lancashire Census 1841 - 1871, 1891; 1871, 1891 index. British Census and National Index 1881.
LANCASHIRE PARISH REGISTER SOCIETY series:
Aughton Vol. 81, 1541 - 1764
Ormskirk Vol. 13, 1557 - 1626
Vol. 98, 1626 - 1678
Rufford Vol. 115, 1632 - 1812
Halsall Vol. 105, 1606 – 1754
Vol. 108, 1603 – 1812
Parish Registers on microfiche (various dates, mainly eighteenth century)
Altcar Rainford
Aughton Rufford
Hesketh with Becconsall Scarisbrick
Mawdesley Skelmersdale
Ormskirk Tarleton
On Microfilm: various dates for the following churches – St. Anne’s RC Church, Ormskirk, St.Mary’s RC, Aughton, St. Elizabeth’s RC, Scarisbrick and St. John’s RC, Burcsough.
On CD-ROM: National Burial Index for England and Wales. 2nd edition; British Isles Vital Records Index.
The main collection of parish records for the county is held at the Lancashire Record Office.
Ormskirk Advertiser 1857 - . Not indexed. Microfilmed 1857-1995, then loose papers to date.
Southport Visitor Three month file only. Some bound volumes in Preston. Not indexed.
Lancashire Lantern includes an index to stories from local newspapers covering several areas of the county.
CHETHAM SOCIETY. Remains......., 1847 - 1945 (incomplete).
HISTORIC SOCIETY OF LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE. Transactions, 1859 - (incomplete).
Lancashire Life, one year.
Lancashire Magazine, one year.
RECORD SOCIETY OF LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE, 1878 - 1977 (incomplete).
Ordnance Survey
1: 1,250 Ormskirk & Aughton only – 1990’s.
1: 2,500 West Lancashire – various dates between 1955 and 1980’s.
1: 10,000 West Lancashire – various dates between 1955 and 1990’s.
25" to mile West Lancashire – 1890’s to 1900’s (coverage incomplete)
6" to mile West Lancashire – 1890’s to 1920’s.
All indexed on to their own grid sheet.
County of Lancaster book of railway plans.
Goad shopping plans of Ormskirk. Various dates.
Liverpool , Ormskirk and Preston Railway : Parish of Aughton - Book of reference and plans to the intended railway (1844).
LMS Railway: Liverpool and Ormskirk section electrified lines.
Ormskirk in 1609 (photocopy of map in the Public Record Office).
Ormskirk railway plans and sections 1886.
Southport Waterworks (in) Parish of Aughton - plans and book of references. 1866-67.
Speed's Map of Lancashire 1610.
Tithe maps of Ormskirk: photocopies of the 1842 and 1846 tithe awards.
Type of farm maps - Lancashire and Yorkshire. 1968.
14. Council minutes and minutes of official bodies
LANCASHIRE . County Council. Minutes. One year plus current.
WEST LANCASHIRE COMMUNITY HEALTH COUNCIL. Minutes. One year plus current.
WEST LANCASHIRE DISTRICT COUNCIL. Minutes. One year plus current.
A small cuttings file (arrangement by locality and subject - no indexes available).
Aerial photographs of Ormskirk and district dated 1959, 1970 & 1976.
Copies of photographs and some postcards, mostly of Ormskirk area 1900, but most photographs have been made and added since 1970.
A few watercolours and engravings of local interest.
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.
None.
None.
Microfilm readers; photocopier; reader/printer.
21. Books useful as introductory reading
BAGLEY, J.J. A history of Lancashire. 6th ed. Phillimore, 1976.
BAILEY, F.A. A history of Southport. Downie, 1955.
BUDDEN, Rev. C.W. An introduction to the ancient churches of the Liverpool diocese. Liverpool Diocesan Pub. Co., 1929.
BULLOUGH, Canon W.H. A guide to Halsall and its Church. 1965.
CRESSWELL, R.K. Sandy shores in South Lancashire : the geomorphology of South-West Lancashire. Liverpool University Press, 1969.
GLAZEBROOK, T.K. A Guide to Southport, North Meols in the County of Lancaster...(includes Ormskirk, Lathom House). 2nd ed., C. & J. Rivington, 1826.
LEA, G. Handbook to Ormskirk and the neighbourhood (includes Lathom House with a journal of the two sieges, Burscough Priory, Scarisbrick Hall and a detailed history and description of Ormskirk Parish Church). Ormskirk: T. Hutton, 1893. illus.
NEWSTEAD, G.C. Gleanings towards the annals of Aughton, near Ormskirk. Liverpool: C. & H. Ratcliffe, 1893, illus.
PADFIELD, H. The story of Ormskirk. Lancashire Education Curriculum Centre, Ormskirk, 1978.
SAVIDGE, J.P. et.al. eds. Travis's flora of South Lancashire. Liverpool Botanical Society, 1963.
STACEY, F.W. Ormskirk: The development of a 19th century Lancashire Market Town. Curriculum Centre, Ormskirk, 1975 (includes chapters on administration and local government, urban growth and public health, poverty and the poor law, education, religious groups, entertainment).
TAYLOR , H. The Ancient crosses and holy wells of Lancashire. Manchester, Sherratt & Hughes, 1906, illus.
VICTORIA history of the county of Lancaster. 8 vols. University of London Institute of Historical Research, 1906-14. (Vols 3 and 6 of local interest).
WALKER , F. Historical geography of southwest Lancashire before the industrial revolution. Chetham Society (N.S. 103), 1939. illus.
22. Other Family History Sources
On CD-ROM:
Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914-1919 (Version 2)
Army Roll of Honour World War II: soldiers died in the Second World War, 1939-1945.
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).