Greater London tops the list as one the most populated counties in the country of England. This is because of the sheer magnitude of its population and massive layout of its cities, boroughs, and towns and villages. Couple this with the fact that it is also comprised of various portions of five counties in pre-1900 history-- including all of the counties of the city (proper) of London and Middlesex, Northeast Surrey, Northwest Kent and a very few parishes in the County of Essex.
Also at the top of the list of populated counties is Lancashire. Did you know that from ancient times it possessed only approximately 69 ancient parishes? By 1601, Lancashire had just over 120,000 inhabitants. By the 1861 census, Lancashire had a population of approaching 2 and a half million people (compare to Yorkshire's 1.5 million). Imagine--one of the most populated counties by the mid-19th century--had only 69 ancient parishes!
So what was behind the dramatic increase in populations from 1700 to 1900? More than any other county in England, the impact of the industrial revolution pounded especially Lancashire with dramatic and constant growth. The influx of migrants into Lancashire's borders ran into literally hundreds of thousands through two centuries! This caused officials of the Church of England to scramble to try to cover all the bases in meeting the needs and nurturing its member patrons. Thus from early to mid-18th century, up until the early portion of the 20th century, Lancashire's population grew exponentially. By 1851 one of its largest cities--Liverpool possessed 249,000 inhabitants; Manchester possessed 529,000 inhabitants. Lancashire's newer churches--some built in earlier times--were known as chapels of ease or chapelries; after 1840 many were built that were referred to as district churches or chapels--as well as many were chapelries. A chapelry--often mistaken for a 'parish', is a smaller division or district within the boundaries of an ancient parish, possessing its own church building, with registers of at least christenings and burials; and sometimes marriages, was assigned its own rector or vicar.
The tapestry and layout of Lancashire's churches is starkly different from just about all other England counties. By 1900 this county possessed well over 400 chapelries of the established church (the Church of England). The county is comprised of 84 percent chapelries and 16 percent parishes! No other County compares with it, except for certain portions of Greater London. No better example of the Industrial Revolution's profound impact can be shown than in Lancashire's populated township parish of Greater Manchester.
Here's a breakdown of Manchester's amazing church-growth throughout its history prior to the year 1851:
By 1700 - 8 total chapelries and parish (Cathedral)
By 1740 - 11 chapelries and parish
By 1770 - 16 chapelries and parish
By 1800 - 23 chapelries and parish
By 1830 - 31 chapelries and parish.
By 1851 - 68 (Religious Census) - chapelries and parish
By 1880 - 106 chapelries, district churches and parish
Thus we see that from 1740, to 1851 there were close to about 60 chapelries created during the height of the Industrial Revolution for the city. Especially note that between 1800 and 1851 there were about 45 churches constructed following especially the parliamentary passage of the Church Building Act of 1818.
For your research purposes and interest*, here is a comprehensive list of (Greater) Manchester's chapelries and parishes from ancient times to 1880. If you are searching in mid to late 19th century Manchester you must search all relevant chapelries (below) in this parish in order to conduct a thorough investigation for finding ancestry in this very large civil parish:
Manchester All Saints - 1819
Manchester St Andrew 1831 (see Ancoats St Andrews)
Manchester St Ann - 1736
Manchester St Barnabas Oldham Rd - 1842
Manchester St Clement Lever St - 1793
Manchester St George Oldham Rd - 1798
Manchester St Mary, St Dennis & St George (Cathedral) - 1573
Manchester St James George St - 1784
Manchester St John Deansgate - 1769
Manchester St Jude & St Simon - 1842
Manchester St Luke - 1804 (a non-"consecrated chapel")
Manchester St Mary - 1754
Manchester St Matthew - 1825
Manchester St Michael Angel Meadow - 1791
Manchester St Paul's New Cross - 1765
Manchester St Peter - 1795
Manchester St Philip's Church - 1850
Manchester St Philip Church, Bradford - 1816
Manchester St Simon & St Jude's - 1842
The following chapelries were included as part of and came under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Parish of Manchester:
Ancoats Christ Church - 1824 (became Bible Christian)
Ancoats All Souls - 1840
Ancoats St Andrews - 1831
Ancoats St James - 1867
Ancoats St Jude's - 1837
Ancoats St Peter - 1860
Ancoats St Martin - 1865
Ardwick St Matthew - 1865
Ardwick St Silas - 1842
Ardwick St Thomas - 1740
Beswick Christ Church - see Bradford Church Church - 1862
Beswick - extra-parochial - 1878
Birch St James - 1752 (also known as Birch-in-Rusholme)
Blackley St Andrews - 1866
Blackley St Peter - 1655
Brindle Heath St Anne - 1866
Broughton-cum-Kersal - 1839
Burials online - 1850-present
Burnage St Margaret - 1873
Campfield St Matthew - see Manchester St Matthew
Cheetham St Luke - 1839
Cheetham St Thomas, Redbank - 1844
Cheetham St Mark, Redbank - 1794
Chorlton-upon-Medlock All Saints - 1814
Chorlton cum Hardy St Clement - 1737
Chorlton-upon-Medlock St Luke - 1805
Chorlton-upon-Medlock St Matthias -
Chorlton-upon-Medlock St Paul - 1862
Chorlton-upon-Medlock St Saviours - 1836
Chorlton-upon-Medlock St Stephen - 1854
Clayton St Cross - 1874
Collyhurst Albert Memorial Chapel - 1861
Collyhurst St Catherine - 1859
Collyhurst St James - 1873
Collyhurst St Oswald - 1855
Crumpsall St Thomas - 1863
Denton St Lawrence - 1695
Denton Christ Church - 1848
Denton St George, Danebank - 1841
Didsbury St James - 1561
Droylsden St Mary - 1848
Failsworth - 1845
Failsworth Woodhouses Church, Ashton Rd - 1871
Gorton St James - 1600
Gorton St Mark - 1862
Heaton-Mersey St John The Baptist - 1850
Heaton-Norris St Thomas - 1769 - known also as Heaton Chapel
Heaton-Norris Christ Church - 1846
Harpurhey Christ Church - 1838
Hulme Christ Church 1835 (burials only; write the Lancashire Record Office for searching additional years and events)
Hulme Holy Trinity - 1843
St Gabriel - 1862
Hulme St George - 1828
Hulme - St John the Baptist - 1856
Hulme St Mark - 1847
Hulme St Mary - 1858
Hulme St Michael - 1861
Hulme St Paul - 1855
Hulme St Philip - 1859
Hulme St Stephen - 1863
Kersall Moor St Paul - 1852
Levenshulme St Peter - 1854
Longsight St John - 1846
Moss-Side - 1850
Newton All Saints - 1655 (sometimes referred to as "Newton-Heath"; see also Birch in Rusholme)
Miles Platting St John - 1854
Miles Platting St Luke - 1871
Openshaw St Barnabas - 1839 - see also Newton Heath All Saints
Ordsall St Clement - 1877
Paddington St Paul - 1846
Pendlebury St John the Evangelist - 1842
Pendleton St George -
Pendleton St Paul - see Paddington St Paul
Pendleton St James - by 1860
Pendleton St Ann - see St Anne's Brindle Heath
Pendleton St Luke - by 1865
Pendleton near Salford St Thomas - 1776
Rushulme Holy Trinity - 1846 - see also Birch St James[-in-Rusholme]
Salford, Christ Church - 1831
Salford Sacred Trinity - 1636
Salford St Bartholomew - 1842
Salford St Matthias - 1842
Salford St Philip - 1826
Salford St Stephen - 1794
Stretford St Matthews - 1599
Salford St Simon - 1846
Salford Stowell Memorial Chapel - 1869
Stretford St Mathews - 1598
Stretford St Thomas Blind Asylum Chapel - 1837
Victoria Park St Chrysostum - 1872
West Gorton All Saints - 1876
Whalley Range St Margaret - 1849
Withington St Paul - 1841
For a comprehensive list of Chapelries and parishes for each of Lancashire's 69 plus ancient parishes, see the familysearch wiki at http://wiki.familysearch.org/ under England, Lancashire, "Parishes" [Important note: click on the parishes with the double asterisk]
And now, 'Happy Hunting', in Lancashire is FINALLY possible!
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