Didsbury is a suburb of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey, 5 miles south of Manchester city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 26,788. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, there are records of Didsbury existing as a small hamlet as early as the 13th century. Its e…Didsbury is a suburb of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey, 5 miles south of Manchester city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 26,788. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, there are records of Didsbury existing as a small hamlet as early as the 13th century. Its early history was dominated by being part of the Manor of Withington, a feudal estate that covered a large part of what is now the south of Manchester. Didsbury was described during the 18th century as a township separate from outside influence. In 1745 a section of the Jacobite army including the Duke of Perth crossed the Mersey at Didsbury in the Jacobite march south from Manchester to Derby.