Astley Bridge, Holy Infant (RC) Church Baptisms 1879-1924 (Download)

About this Transcript

The information which is contained in this download is taken from the original registers, the originals of which are held by Lancashire Archives at Preston.

This download, which is in PDF format, contains a scanned copy of the original baptism registers complete with a transcript of the 2,103 baptisms performed and an index to the 9,567 names of children, parents and godparents which appear in the register.

About the Church

This mission was at first a chapel-of-ease to St. Mary's, Bolton, when Fr. Taylor first opened the chapel in 1877. 'The mission became separate in 1880, and the first resident priest was Fr. Maximilian Jüttner, one of the German priests recruited by Bishop Vaughan. Apart from the five years served here by Fr. P. H. O'Reilly, all the work of building up the mission was done by priests from abroad. A Dutch priest, Fr. Pius de Witte, was appointed here in 1885 and remained for three years. He worked for some fifty years in Salford diocese and then retired to Germany, where he died in 1929.

Much devoted work for the mission was done by a Belgian priest, Fr. A. M. Vantomme, who was here from 1894 to 1915. He built the new church, which was opened in 1902.

A convert from the south of England, Fr. Douglas Evershed, followed Fr. Vantomme. In more recent years the parish has been cared for by Fr. Joseph O'Shaughnessy and by Fr. N. Barre.

The above description is based on information published in "Salford Diocese and its Catholic past", a survey by Charles A. Bolton, a Priest of the above Diocese. Published 1950 on the First Centenary for the Diocese of Salford.