Macclesfield library local and family history resources
Macclesfield library has a wide range of free-to-use local history resources. Staff will be happy to help you find information and suggest resources.
Some resources are on microfilm or microfiche or on CD. For resources on microfilm or microfiche, contact Macclesfield library to book a session with a microfilm or microfiche reader. For resources on CD, bring your own device or book a public computer session.
Macclesfield and Cheshire local history books
Macclesfield and Cheshire publications and newspapers
- journals and magazines including Cheshire Life magazine from the 1940s to today
- every edition of the Macclesfield Courier / Express / Advertiser series from its origin in 1811 to the present (microfilm)
- Macclesfield Times from 1905 – 1951 (microfilm)
- trade directories for Macclesfield, Cheshire and Derbyshire from the 19th and 20th centuries (hard copy and microfiche)
- Cheshire Sheaf (historic and antiquarian articles - CD)
- historical society transactions
Macclesfield and Cheshire maps
- Macclesfield area maps from the 19th century to the present - including historical Ordnance Survey maps, tithe maps with apportionments and Goad plans (historic street maps)
- Macclesfield town map of 1871 (CD)
- Wincle tithe map and apportionments
- county maps from the 16th to the 18th century
- geological maps
- Ordnance Survey maps of Cheshire 1900 – 1912 (CD)
- historical Ordnance Survey maps, 6 inch county series (CD)
You can also see Cheshire tithe maps online
Cheshire wills
- Register of Cheshire Wills 1858 – 1948 (microfilm)
- Cheshire Wills Index 1492 - 1857 (hard copy)
Photographs
Collection of photographs of Macclesfield. For online images, see Cheshire image bank.
Parish records for Macclesfield and surrounding area
We hold a variety of parish records on microfilm. The records contain lists of baptisms, marriages and burials. For full details, see Macclesfield Parish Records (PDF, 76KB).
Records come from the following churches and chapels:
- Macclesfield - St. Alban’s Catholic Church (transcript on CD)
- Macclesfield - Baptist Chapel
- Macclesfield - Christ Church
- Macclesfield - St. John’s
- Macclesfield - King Edward Street Unitarian Chapel,
- Macclesfield - St. Michael’s
- Macclesfield - St. Paul’s
- Alderley - St. Mary’s
- Bollington - Grimshaw Lane New Connexion Chapel
- Bollington - High Street Primitive Methodist Chapel
- Bollington - St. Gregory
- Bollington - St. John the Baptist
- Bollington - Wellington Road Wesleyan Methodist Chapel
- Capesthorne with Siddington - Holy Trinity
- Chelford - St. John the Evangelist
- Chorley - St. Philip
- Disley - St. Mary’s
- Gawsworth Parish Church
- Gawsworth - St. James the Great
- Henbury - St. Thomas
- Hurdsfield - Holy Trinity
- Macclesfield Forest with Wildboarclough
- Marton - St. James and St. Paul
- Pott Shrigley - St. Christopher’s
- Prestbury - St. Peter’s
- Rainow - Holy Trinity
- Rainow - Wesleyan Methodist
- Saltersford - St. John the Baptist (Jenkin Chapel)
- Siddington - All Saints
- Sutton - St. George
- Wincle - St. Michael’s
Census information
- census returns1841 – 1901 for Macclesfield and the surrounding area (microfilm/fiche)
- 1851 census for Macclesfield, Hurdsfield, Bollington and Sutton (CD)
- 1881 census transcript and surname index for Cheshire compiled by the Genealogical Society of Utah
Other lists and records
- electoral registers for Macclesfield from 1945 - 2000 (hard copy; incomplete)
- soldiers who died the Great War and Second World War (CD)
- memorial inscriptions: Macclesfield District of East Cheshire (CD) and also for many plots in Macclesfield cemetery and other graveyards (microfiche)
- Bertram Merrell's Marriage Index of Cheshire 1756 - 1837 (microfiche)
- 1851 census of East & West Macclesfield, Sutton, Hurdsfield & Bollington (CD)
- Omerod, History of the County Palatine & City of Chester (book and CD)
- Macclesfield Canal Society records (CD)
- National Burial Index for England and Wales (CD)
- International Genealogical Index (IGI) for the British Isles (microfiche)
Online family tree research
Library members get free access to Ancestry.com and FindmyPast.co.uk when using library computers. FindmyPast includes the Cheshire Collection of local records dating back to 1538.
More local history resources
Page last reviewed: 18 March 2024
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