If your ancestors were Catholic, you may find that you struggle to find parish records online. The National Archives has provided a guide to help in research. Between 1754 (Marriage Act) and 1837 it was a legal requirement for all marriages to take place in an Anglican church. Many Catholics also married in a Catholic church, with the record of this marriage never being handed in to the authorities. Because of this, some Catholic baptism and burial records that were contained in the same register might also be missing. It is not unusual to find that a couple married in…
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Euxton in Lancashire was home to two of Lancashire’s oldest Catholic families, the Andertons and the Molyneuxs. The Molyneuxs were the biggest landowners in the area, while the Andertons initially leased and later purchased Euxton Hall from them. One branch of my maternal family, the Higginson were Catholics from Euxton who worshipped in secret at Euxton Hall during Catholic persecution in the 17th century. Euxton Hall History St Mary’s Catholic Church, Euxton There has been a Catholic church in Euxton since at least the 1500s. Following the Reformation, and from the persecution of Elizabethan times, Catholics in Euxton practised at…