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Penwortham, Lancs - St Mary Church

This is the church where Dave's Foster ancestors were baptised, married and buried for 200 years up to c1880s. Virtually all the Fosters discovered so far, certainly up to 1850, seem to be descendants of Thomas Foster (origins unknown) and his wife Jenet Winterbotham (origins unknown), who married here on 5th September 1699.

Penwortham is on the south side of the river Ribble, facing Preston. The ground behind the church slopes downward, and from the rear edge of the graveyard, one can look down on the river.

In front of the church, against the railings at the right, is the grave of Dave's 2* great grandfather Roger Foster and his wife Jenny. On the far side of the church, on the flat ground before the slope starts, is a large flat horizontal gravestone under which are buried Dave's 4*great grandparents William and Ellen Foster, plus several of their children. This grave was used for burials over a period of 60 years up to 1824.

The church records started in 1632. Unfortunately, the records held in the church were lost in a fire c1850, so the only information available is from the bishop's transcripts, which have some gaps in the 18th century - and large gaps in the 17th century!

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