Hi, Pauline, You are interested in "my search for my Walmsley ancestors - many of whom lived in the village of Cottam, Chipping,Lancs.". First, Cottam and Chipping are two different places. Cottam was in the westernmost township of the Parish Of Preston, in the township of Ashton, Lea, Cottam & Ingol, whilst Chipping was/is an ancient mediaeval parish roughly six miles north-east of Preston. Both had strong RC communities. The best source of information about all RC registers in the north west is "Catholic Missions and Registers 1700 - 1880, Volume 5, North West England" compiled and published by M. Gandy, 2nd Edition, 1998 (ISBN 0 9528879 2 4). This gives details of all known registers, including those that were still with the Parish Priest in 1998. This shows that there is a burial register for St. Andrew, Cottam, from 1853 and this is one of the early Cottam registers that have been deposited in the Lancashire Record Office (LRO) in Preston. The very early baptism registers for this chapel to 1834 have been by the Catholic Record Society (CRS) in "Lancashire Registers, Vol. I, The Fylde, Pt. 1" CRS Vol. 15 (1913). There do not appear to be any transcripts of the Monumental Inscriptions (MIs) for the chapel of St. Andrew - the chapel is not listed on the Lancashire Family History & Heraldry Society (LFHHS) site www.lfhhs.org.uk However, "Lancashire Graveyards & Burial Grounds" (Location, and Whereabouts of Transcribed Monumental Inscriptions) W.J. Taylor, 5th Edition, LFHHS, 2000 (ISBN 1 870277 03 1) suggests that the MIs have been transcribed by the Preston Branch. Perhaps someone knows if there is a copy available - at the Harris Library maybe. Very similar comments apply St Mary, Chipping, though in this case the MIs have been published on microfiche (C35) by LFHHS. The early baptism registers published by the CRS (Vol. 36, 1936) end in 1840, so the registers deposited in the LRO would need to be consulted, and there are gaps in these. The CRS volume lists the following WALMSLEY boys baptised in the period 1798 - 1802 13 Mar 1799 Gregory, son of Alice WALMESLY, sp. Thomas SINGLETON, Alice SALESBURY 25 Jun 1802 James, son of William and Ann WALMESLY, sp. James and Jane WALMESLY 14 Nov 1802 Charles, son of James and Margret WALMESLY, sp John WALMESLY and Mary SUMNER Hope this helps, Jim Lancaster (Bury, Lancs.) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pauline Neill" <dawsend@btopenworld.com> To: <ENG-LANCS-PRESTON-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2004 8:22 PM Subject: St Andrews Church, Cottam, Nr Preston,Lancs.