Wrexham, Denbighshire, Wales Genealogy

Wales

Wrexham

Denbighshire Parishes

Wrexham

Wales

Wrexham

Parishes of Historic Flintshire

Wrexham

Wrexham (Welsh: Wrecsam) is a town and ecclesiastical parish and the heart of the County Borough of Wrexham in Wales. It is the largest town in the north of the country and is situated between the mountains and the lower Dee valley, close to the border with England.

Before 1974 the town was in the historic county of Denbighshire. Between 1974 and 1996 it was in the County of Clwyd. In 1996 it became part of the modern County Borough of Wrexham.

The town is divided into the communities of Abenbury, Acton, Caia Park, Offa and Rhosddu.

History

Wrexham Parish
Jurisdictions
County bef 1974	add here
County 1 Apr 1974-31 Mar 1996	add here
County 1 Apr 1996 -	add here
Civ Reg District	Wrexham (1881)
Reg Sub-district	N/A (1881)
Probate Court	add here
Diocese	St. Asaph (1864)
Rural Deanery	Wrexham (1864)
Chapelry	add here
Poor Law Union	Wrexham
Hundred	BROMFIELD
Province	Canterbury (1864)
Hamlets	add here

The remains of Offa's Dyke can be seen on the western outskirts of Wrexham. This massive earthwork, stretching from Chepstow in the south to Prestatyn in the north, was constructed in the late 8th century by Offa, King of Mercia, as a boundary between Saxon Mercia and Celtic Wales. Traces of an earlier dyke, Wat's Dyke, can be seen on the eastern side of the Wrexham. The land bewteen was mainly settled by Saxons and it would be several centuries before Wrexham and the lands to the east of Offa's Dyke would be returned to Wales.

The town is first mentioned in 1161 when reference is made to a Norman motte and bailey castle at Wristlesham. This castle is assumed to be the one in the grounds of the Erddig estate. In 1282 the area became part of the Marcher Lordship of Bromfield and Yale.

Wrexham became the main town in the area and grew wealthy with its markets. Following the Act of Union between Wales and England, it became part of the county of Denbighshire when it was created in 1536. Wrexham was divided into two distinct townships, Wrexham Regis (which was under the control of the King) and Wrexham Abbot (generally the older parts of the town, which originally belonged to Valle Crucis Abbey at nearby Llangollen).

The parish church of St. Giles stands in the centre of the town. There is known to have been a church on the site since the 13th century, but the original church was destroyed by fire in 1463 and was rebuilt by 1472. Other parish churches were later built within the town as the population increased: St. John's; St. Mark's; St. Michael's and St. Peter's.

The Roman Catholic Church of St. Mary's, which was built in 1857, was later promoted to a cathedral. It is now the seat of the Bishop of Wrexham.

The ancient parish of Wrexham comprised the townships of:

• Abenbury Fawr
• Abenbury Fechan
• Acton
• Bersham
• Bieston
• Broughton
• Brymbo
• Borras Hwfa
• Esclusham Above
• Esclusham Below
• Gourton
• Minera
• Stansty
• Wrexham Abbot
• Wrexham Regis

Within the parish were two other townships, Erddig and Erlas, however, these were exclaves of the neighbouring parish of Gresford.

As the population grew the parish became sub-divided into new parishes of Minera (1844), Brymbo (1844), Gwersyllt (1851), Esclusham (1879), Rhosddu (1886), Broughton (1909), Southsea (1921) and Bersham (1934).

The town has always been associated with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, who were based in the Hightown area.

In the 18th century Wrexham had a substantial leather industry with many skinners and tanners based in the town. However, in the late 18th century Wrexham was transformed by the coming of the industrial revolution. It began when John ("Iron Mad") Wilkinson took over the Bersham Ironworks in 1762.

Both lead and coal mining were important industries in the western parts of the parish with brickmaking with bricks being produced in Abenbury, on the outskirts of the town.

One of the other main industries associated with the town was brewing and there were several large breweries in the town, together with numerous smaller breweries situated at the back of local inns. All commercial brewing in Wrexham has now ceased.

In the latter half of the 20th century, Wrexham (like most other part of Wales) began a period of depression with much of the traditional industries closing. A major regeneration programme was begun to provide alternative, modern industries in the area.

Following the reorganisation of local government in Wales in 1996, Wrexham became a County Borough.

For more information on Wrexham see: Wrexham at GENUKI

Administration

Years	County
before 1536	Powys Fadog
1536 - 31 March 1974	Denbighshire
1 April 1974 - 31 March 1996	Clwyd
from 1 April 1996	Wrexham

Census
Year	Pop.	%±
1801		—
1811		—
1821		—
1831		—
1841		—
1851		—
1861		—
1881		—
1891		—
1901		—
1911		—
SOURCE

Resources

Census Records

Census records from 1841 to 1911 are available online. For access, see England Census Records and Indexes Online. Census records from 1841 to 1891 are also available on film through a FamilySearch Center or at the FamilySearch Library.

Church Records

• 1876-Onward Wales, Denbighshire, Wrexham Burials at MyHeritage — index ($)

Parish Registers

Church of Wales Chapels and Parish Registers
Parish		Baptisms		Marriages		Burials
PARISH NAME		[URL YEARS]		[URL YEARS]		[URL YEARS]
PARISH NAME		[URL YEARS]		[URL YEARS]		[URL YEARS]
PARISH NAME		[URL YEARS]		[URL YEARS]		[URL YEARS]
Bishop's Transcripts
Bishop Transcripts: Christenings, Marriages, Burials and Christenings and Burials		[URL YEARS]

Parish Chest

Vestry minutes (DATES) are at the [URL ARCHIVE].

Church warden accounts (DATES) are at the [URL ARCHIVE].

Tithe Records

The tithe agreement date for Wrexham was DATE.

Nonconformist Chapel Records

XXXX-XXXX denotes that the information has not been compiled yet.

Chapel	Denomination	Year Founded	Baptism	Marriage	Death
CHAPELNAME	DENOMINATION	[URL YEARS]	[URL YEARS]	[URL YEARS]	[URL YEARS]
CHAPELNAME	DENOMINATION	[URL YEARS]	[URL YEARS]	[URL YEARS]	[URL YEARS]
CHAPELNAME	DENOMINATION	[URL YEARS]	[URL YEARS]	[URL YEARS]	[URL YEARS]
CHAPELNAME	DENOMINATION	[URL YEARS]	[URL YEARS]	[URL YEARS]	[URL YEARS]
CHAPELNAME	DENOMINATION	[URL YEARS]	[URL YEARS]	[URL YEARS]	[URL YEARS]
CHAPELNAME	DENOMINATION	[URL YEARS]	[URL YEARS]	[URL YEARS]	[URL YEARS]
CHAPELNAME	DENOMINATION	[URL YEARS]	[URL YEARS]	[URL YEARS]	[URL YEARS]
CHAPELNAME	DENOMINATION	[URL YEARS]	[URL YEARS]	[URL YEARS]	[URL YEARS]

Civil Registration

The Civil Registration District for Wrexham is DATES AND NAMES CIV REG.

Poor Law Unions

Visit the England and Wales Poor Law Records page for more information.

Research Facilities

Cemeteries

• Ruthin Road Burial Ground (now closed), Wrexham
• Dissenter's Burial Ground (now closed), Rhosddu
• Wrexham Cemetery, Ruabon Road, Wrexham

Maps and Gazetteers

• Wrexham at Vision of Britain
  

Bibliography

• The Encyclopaedia of Wrexham, W Alister Williams, 2001, ISBN:187242466X

Websites

• Wrexham Parish Church at Clwyd FHS
  
• Wrexham Parish Church at CPAT
  
• Wrexham War Memorials at Clwyd FHS
  

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