Manchester Cathedral baptism

[Terrianne]

Could anyone including the poor have been baptised in Manchester Cathedral, or was it only for the well to do? This would have been in the late 1700's. I have found a baptism on the IGI which looks
promising but before I dig deeper I need to know if this would have been likely.

[Anne in Carlisle]

There were loads of baptisms and marriages in Manchester Cathedral. I have a marriage certificate for one - they were very poor people.

Anne

[David B]

I concur lol

[Jen~Ealogy]

Me too, I have several marriages for Manchester cathedral, including my great grandmother, and she was born and raised in Shropshire but ran off with her future OH to Manchester where they lived together before they married.

[Vicky the Viking]

yes, all & sundry went there, it was the "local" parish church for much of Manchester well before it got the status of a cathedral. It would have been the only C of E church for miles around until the massive Victorian building spree which saw loads of new churches built.

It was made a cathedral in 1847 according to Wikipedia.

Apparently St Anns Church in central Manchester was also around at this time, being built in the early 18th C; I hadn't realised it was that old. The 2 are about half a mile apart. I suppose most people still went to "t'owd church" as it was the parish church.

[Little Nell]

Lots of my folk were baptised in St. Saviour, now Southwark Cathedral, and St. Mary's, now Chelmsford Cathedral. Although posh folk would have had pews to sit in and be deferred to, the poor wouldn't be excluded from any of the ceremonies, in fact they would have been encouraged to have their children baptised.

[Terrianne]

Thanks everyone for your replies, now to prove I have the correct person!

[Vicky the Viking]

I think most old (ie pre Victorian) churches had pews that were paid for; the poor people just stood up. This wasn't just cathedrals, it seemed to be even in the smaller country villages. The Lord of the Manor (if he didn't have his own private chapel) would have a paid-for pew, as would any yeomen & others who could afford it. One of my lot is minuted in the churchwardens' accounts for wanting a pew to be built specially for himself & his family. They thought it was too big & asked him to scale it down a bit!