BADSEY

Descriptive Notes:
Badsey is a large, working village in the Vale of Evesham. Within the same parish is the smaller village of Aldington [75]

Status:
Ancient Parish [25]
Originally a chapel to Evesham Abbey. A separate parish from the Dissolution. Included the hamlet of Aldington, which was a separate Civil Parish in 1866. Not separate ecclesiastically, hence this parish ecclesiastically called 'Badsey with Aldington' [25]

Location:
O.S. Ref: SP071431
In the Vale of Evesham, 2 miles east of Evesham

Parish Church:
St.James, High St, Badsey

Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction:
Archdeaconry & Diocese of Worcester [1]

Hundred:
Upper Blackenhurst [11] [28]

Poor Law Union:
Evesham [3]

Adjoining Parishes:
Offenham; Bretforton; Willersey (Gloucestershire); Broadway; Wickhamford; Bengeworth; Evesham All Saints [1]

Parish Registers:

		Coverage	Source
Microform at WLHC	Christenings	1538-1949	[5]
	Marriages	1538-1963	[5]
	Burials	1538-1906	[5]
	Banns	1755-86	[5]
Originals at WRO	Banns	1824-78	[12]

Bishops' Transcripts:
Begin 1614 Worcestershire Library and History Centre [22]

International Genealogical Index (IGI):
[19]

		Coverage
Parish Registers	Births / Christenings	1538-1877
	Marriages	1538-1876

Register Copies:
At Society of Genealogists [68] :-
BADSEY : Christenings(I) 1538-1812 [Microfilm.]   Published Salt Lake City : Genealogical Society of Utah, Nd.   Author Genealogical Society of Utah (trans.)

BADSEY : Marriages 1538-80, 1587-1665, 1686, 1697-1708, 1733: Collections for Gloucestershire   IN: Collections for Gloucestershire   Published : Thomas Payne, 1861   Author Payne, Thomas

BADSEY : Marriages(Index) 1539-1733: Boyd's marriage index [Typescript.]   IN: Boyd's marriage index Published , 1925-55   Author Boyd, Percival ed.       Acc. no. Boyd 3990   Source D: P Boyd.  

Transcriptions of baptism, marriage and burial registers from 1538 to early 20th century appear on www.badsey.net/history

Monumental Inscriptions and Associated Documents:
At BMSGH Shop
St.James

At BMSGH Reference Library [7]
Badsey and Aldington Monumental inscriptions
St.James

St.James Worcestershire Library and History Centre [51]

Transcript: Survey of Burial Registers, Interments & Monumental Inscriptions at St James July 2002 Worcestershire Library and History Centre [27]

BADSEY (St. James) : Monumental Inscriptions: Worcestershire monumental inscriptions, vol. 7 [Typescript.]   IN: Worcestershire monumental inscriptions, vol. 7   Published Birmingham : Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry, 1989   Author Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry (trans.)  Society of Genealogists [59]

Survey by Peter Stewart, details of which can be found at www.badsey.net/mis.

A CD containing a PDF copy of a book on Badsey Church, its Registers & Monumental Inscriptions and a copy of the Badsey Burial Index 1538-2008 is available. See www.badsey.net/mis

War Memorials:
For the names of those commemorated on a war memorial at  St.James' Church see::
http://www.rememberthefallen.co.uk/Casualties/ListByMemorial/Badsey St James's Church
and
For the names of those included on a war memorial at  Badsey Council School see:
http://www.rememberthefallen.co.uk/Casualties/ListByMemorial/Badsey Council School

Census Records:
All the censuses between 1841 and 1901 are now available on a number of fee-paying (Subscription or PayAsYouGo) sites including Ancestry.co.uk, FindMyPast.co.uk, thegenealogist.co.uk and genesreunited.co.uk. The 1911 census is available in full or in part on some of these sites. We are unable to advise on the choice of site since researchers' personal preferences will be influenced by the content and search facilities offered by each site. Some sites offer a free trial.

Access to the library edition of Ancestry.co.uk is widely available at most record offices, including Worcestershire Library and History Centre, and some libraries. You are advised to book time on their computers before making a visit. 

A free-to-view site is being developed at freecen.org.uk for the 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871 and 1891 censuses.  Coverage of Worcestershire parishes is rather sparse at this time.

Census returns can usually be viewed at Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' Family History Centres.

Some repositories offer census details on microform, disc or printed copy. These include: 
1841-1901 at Worcestershire Library and History Centre [14]
1841-1901 [CD-ROM] The Badsey Society 2003 Society of Genealogists

Transcriptions of the 1841-1911 census returns appear on www.badsey.net/history.

Search Services (Fee paying) - BMSGH and Independent:
Burial 1538-1906 Worcestershire Burial Index
Marriage see Worcestershire Marriage Index

Parish Records on microform at Worcestershire Library and History Centre [13]
Names of those taking protestation 10.3.1641
Notes on parsonage land & church 1785-1812
Burial fees-Manor farm 1813-1906
Printed churchwardens accounts 1525-71
Churchwardens, 'surveyors' constables & overseers accounts (Print GR only) 1525-1795
Churchwardens, surveyors, constables of overseers accounts 1783-1825
Churchwardens & overseers accounts 1801
Poor relief assessments and vestry meeting minutes 1821-38
Churchwardens accounts 1833-66
Vestry meeting minutes (inc Churchwardens accounts) & Belfrey minutes 1844-90
Churchwardens accounts 1898-1902 Vestry & joint vestry & parish meetings minutes 1899-1902

Schools Records:
A handlist of the records of schools and of other educational establishments held by Worcestershire Record Office for this parish can be found here.

Transcriptions of late 19th century and early 20th century admissions registers appear on www.badsey.net/history. 
“Heads and Tales:  A History of Badsey Schools” by Maureen Spinks, published by The Badsey Society, 2004. A book about the history of schools in the village from 1854. See http://www.badsey.net/bsp/

Other Sources:
The Badsey Society has produced a number of publications and DVDs which may be ordered online at http://www.badsey.net/bsp/:

A Brief History of Badsey and Aldington, T C Sparrow, 2002
Heads and Tales:  A History of Badsey Schools, Maureen Spinks, 2004
Aldington and Badsey:  Villages in the Vale, A Tapestry of Local History, ed Richard Phillips, 2009, £6
Digging for a Living:  Market Gardening in Badsey and Aldington, T C Sparrow, publication date 21 May 2011
Asparagus:  Traditional Asparagus Growing in the Vale of Evesham – DVD
Beyond the Blossom:  a survey of a traditional plum orchard on Knowle Hill in the Vale of Evesham – DVD
Badsey Society Tea Towel based on the Aldington and Badsey Enclosure Maps of 1807 and 1812 and artist’s recreation of the village of 200 years ago
Badsey Society Photographic Survey 1968 & 2008 (photos of every single house in the parish), computer discs

A brief history of Badsey & Aldington - Sparrow, T C - The Badsey Society Society of Genealogists

Valuation Office Survey Records - Between the years 1910 and 1915, a comprehensive survey of land ownership in England and Wales was undertaken, the like of which had not been seen since the Domesday Book of 1086.  The survey (sometimes referred to as the “New Domesday”) was conducted by the Board of Inland Revenue Valuation Office under the Finance (1909-10) Act, 1910.  Three series of records relating to the survey survive, two at Worcestershire Record Office and one at The National Archives:
The Valuation précis (also known as Domesday Books, but properly entitled “Duties on Land Values”), prepared by the Inspector of Taxes.  The books contain entries for each hereditament in England and Wales, providing basic information relative to the valuation of the property, including the valuation assessment number, map reference, owner, occupier, situation, description and extent.  The original documents may be viewed at Worcestershire Record Office:  BA 8585, Parcel 1, Reference 009:5, No 6 (Aldington, Badsey, Wickhamford) and BA 8585, Reference 009:5, Parcel 1, No 22 (Offenham – for Blackminster which is now part of Badsey).
The Field Books, the next series in order of compilation, were prepared by the Valuation Office, and normally contain all the information about individual hereditaments to be found in the Domesday Books plus, in some instances, additional details descriptive of the premises.  The original documents may be viewed at The National Archives in series IR58.  Maps associated with the Field Books may be viewed at IR 129.
The Forms 37–Land contain information extracted from the Domesday Books, though in a different format.  The original documents may be viewed at Worcestershire Record Office:  BA 8585, 009:5, Parcel 4 (Aldington, Badsey, Wickhamford) and BA 8585, 009:5, Parcel 10 (Offenham – for Blackminster).
A full transcription of the information contained in the above three records may be viewed at www.badsey.net/history/vs, together with details of what the Valuation Survey and why it was conducted. [81]

Tithe and Enclosure Maps – Badsey was enclosed in 1815 following an Act of Parliament in 1812.  The following records relate to Enclosure:
"An Act for inclosing Lands in the Parish of Badsey in the County of Worcester", 1807 – copy at Worcestershire Record Office and a transcription at www.badsey.net/enclosure.
Enclosure Commissioners’ Award Schedules for Badsey, 1815 - original at Christ Church College, Oxford and a transcription at www.badsey.net/enclosure.
Enclosure Map, 1807 - original at Worcestershire Record Office and a transcription at www.badsey.net/enclosure.
www.worcestershire.gov.uk/cms/environment-and-planning/archaeology/information-and-advice/historic-environment-record/tithe-and-inclosure-map-project.aspx providing on-line access to digitised 18th and 19th century maps in the county.  There is a special link for the Badsey GIS which links to a separate site containing further historical information about the parishes of Badsey and Aldington. [81]

Directories:
BADSEY, a parish in the upper division of the hundred of BLACKENHURST, county of WORCESTER, 2¼ miles (E. by S.) from Evesham, containing, with the hamlet of Aldington, 421 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the peculiar jurisdiction of the Bishop of Worcester, rated in the king's books at £5. 6. 8, and in the patronage of the Dean and Canons of Christ Church, Oxford. The church is dedicated to St. James. The navigable river Avon runs along the border of the parish, and receives here a small brook, which in its course turns several mills, including a silkmill. There is a small endowed school for the instruction of poor boys. Within the limits of the parish are some mineral springs, but their properties are not thoroughly known. [Typographical Dictionary of England 1831 by Samuel Lewis]

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© Arthur Lewis and contributors 2008
Comments, additions, corrections etc to Arthur Lewis
Last updated on 9th December 2011

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