BIRLINGHAM

Descriptive Notes:
Birlingham is situated on a loop in the River Avon which surrounds it to the north, east and south.

Status:
Ancient Parish [25]
Originally a chapel in Nafford Ancient Parish. Nafford early in ruins & Birlingham then the parish church. The parish thereafter civilly called 'Birlingham', and ecclesiastically called 'Birlingham with Nafford'.[25]

Location:
O.S. Ref: SO932431
2 miles south of Pershore along the A4104.

Parish Church:
St. James the Great

Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction:
Archdeaconry & Diocese of Worcester [1]

Hundred:
Upper Pershore [11] [25] [28]

Poor Law Union:
Pershore [3] [25]

Adjoining Parishes:
Besford; Pershore St Andrew; Great Comberton; Eckington; Defford [1]

Parish Registers:

		Coverage	Source
Microform at WLHC	Christenings	1566-1894	[5]
	Marriages	1566-1959	[5]
	Burials	1566-1907	[5]
Transcripts at WLHC	General	1566-1812	[27]
Originals at WRO	Banns	[1754]-89, 1918-[86]	[12]

Bishops' Transcripts:
Begin 1611 Worcestershire Library and History Centre [22]

International Genealogical Index (IGI):
[19]

		Coverage
Parish Registers	Births / Christenings	1566-1835
	Marriages	1566-1895
Bishops' Transcripts	Births / Christenings	1602-1702

Register Copies:
At BMSGH Reference Library [7]
Baptisms, Marriages and Burials 1566-1782, Baptisms and Burials 1783-1812, Baptisms 1813-1894, Marriages 1754-1959, Burials 1813-1907

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

At BMSGH Reference Library [7]
St James

At Worcestershire Library and History Centre [51]
St. James 

At Worcestershire Library and History Centre [51]
Notes of monuments, brasses etc in church & churchyard (c 1950) 

At Society of Genealogists [59]
BIRLINGHAM (St. James) : Monumental Inscriptions: Worcestershire monumental inscriptions vol. 13 [Typescript.]   IN: Worcestershire monumental inscriptions vol. 13   Published Birmingham : Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry, 1994   Author Farmer, G R (trans.)  Source D: Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry

War Memorials:
For the names of those commemorated on a War Memorial at  Birlingham see:
http://www.rememberthefallen.co.uk/Casualties/ListByMemorial/Birlingham War Memorial 

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]

Manorial Records:
Worcestershire Record Office [50]
Court rolls 1448, 1551, 1554[/55]; Recognizances of tenants 1454[/55];
Birlingham with Defford: Court roll with view of frankpledge and court baron 1714

Parish Records on microform at Worcestershire Library and History Centre [13]
Inclosures plan 1774

Schools Records:
The following school records are original documents. Note reference number and contact staff at Worcestershire Record Office:
Birlingham C E School
Admission register - 1912 - 62 - Ref: BA 3985/2
Log books (2 vols) - 1897 - 1963 - Ref: BA 3985/1

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

Directories:
BIRLINGHAM, a parish in the upper division of the hundred of PERSHORE, county of WORCESTER, 3 miles (S. S.W.) from Pershore, containing 327 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Worcester, rated in the king's books at £9. 17.11 and in the patronage of A. Luders, Esq. The church is dedicated to St. James. The navigable river Avon forms a boundary to the parish. [Topographical Dictionary of England 1831 by Samuel Lewis]

NAFFORD, formerly a parish, but now in the parish of ECKINGTON, upper division of the hundred of PERSHORE, county of WORCESTER. The church, which was dedicated to St. James, has been demolished, and the living consolidated with that of Eckington. [Topographical Dictionary of England 1831 by Samuel Lewis] (But see Status as defined by Youngs)

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© Arthur Lewis and contributors 2008
Comments, additions, corrections etc to Arthur Lewis
Last updated on 1st January 2012

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