Manchester, Gorton St. Francis of Assisi RC Church, Baptisms 1863-1903 (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 9,313 baptisms performed and an index to the 40,203 names of children, parents and godparents which appear in the register.

St Francis of Assisi, West Gorton

The Franciscan Fathers arrived in Manchester in 1861, after initially taking over the Mission of St Anne, Fairfield, they acquired a four-acre plot in Gorton Lane for the erection of a Friary. The foundation stone of the first part of the residential block was laid in June 1863, although it was built in stages and not completed until 1877. The church of St Francis was then planned, designed by Edward Welby Pugin, the foundation stone was laid 9 June 1866 and it was opened 28 September 1872 by Cardinal Manning, with the sanctuary and high altar being added in 1885 and the steeple in 1911.

The Franciscans resigned the Manchester Mission in 1988 and with the refusal of the Diocese to assume responsibility for the church it was closed up and put up for sale. A new modern church was then opened in a neighbouring housing estate.