CHADDESLEY CORBETT

Descriptive Notes:
Harvington Hall, 1½ miles N.W. of Chaddesley Corbett, a moated manor house, dates from Tudor times and was occupied by a branch of the Babington family, who were Recusants. The Hall was a centre for Catholicism throughout the years of persecution. It has a maze of secret passages and "holes" designed by St. Nicholas Owen to shelter Catholic priests. In the late 17th century the Hall passed to the Throckmorton's and in 1743, a separate chapel was built and Mass and the sacrements were celebrated here until the 1820's. St . Mary's R.C. Church was rebuilt by Sir George Throckmorton in 1825.

Directories:
CHADDESLEY-CORBETT, a parish in the lower division of the hundred of HALFSHIRE, county of WORCESTER, 5 miles (W.N.W.) from Bromsgrove, containing 1343 inhabitants. The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Worcester, rated in the king's books at £17. 3. 4, and in the patronage of the Crown. The church, dedicated to St. Cassyon, is a fine spacious edifice of red freestone, combining different styles of English architecture, with some Norman portions, of which latter, the font is a fine specimen. Here is a free school, endowed with land and tenements, out of the annual produce of which the master is entitled to a salary of £40, and an usher to one of £10, but only a master is appointed; the remainder, amounting on an average to about £170 per annum, is applied towards the support of the poor; the present schoolroom was built in 1809. Mrs. Margaret Delabere erected and endowed an almshouse for five aged widows, who receive £10 per annum each. At the hamlet of Harvington, in this parish, is a Roman Catholic chapel, the rebuilding of which was completed in 1825, by subscription, the late Sir Charles Throckmorton, Bart, being the chief contributor. The same benevolent individual founded a school, and endowed it with a rent-charge upon the Harvington estate; it is kept in a building adjoining the moated manor-house, which is now the residence of a farmer; about thirty boys and girls, principally the children of Roman Catholics, are instructed on the Lancasterian plan, and provided with books and stationery. [Topographical Dictionary of England 1831 by Samuel Lewis]

Status:
Ancient Parish [25]
Including a chapel at Rushock, which was a separate parish by 1535 and a chapel at Stone, which was a separate parish by 1535 [25]

Location:
O.S. Ref: SO891736
Some 4 miles N.W. from Bromsgrove along the A448

The village of Chaddesley Corbett is located within the Parish of the same name, in the Wyre Forest area of rural Worcestershire, half way between Bromsgrove and Kidderminster. Apart from the village, the parish also includes Barnett Brook (2 miles NbyW), Bellington (2 miles NNW), Bluntington (½ mile N.E.), Bournes Green (1½ mile E.N.E.), Brockencote (½ mile west), Cakebole (1½ miles S.W.), Dor Hall (1 mile N), Drayton (about 2 miles N.N.E), Harvington (1½ miles N.W.), Hill Pool (1½ mile N), Longmore (1 mile SW), Lower Chaddesley (½ mile S), Mustow Green (1½ miles N.W.), Outwood (1¼ miles S.E.), Sion Hill (2 miles N), Tanwood (1mile N.E.), Woodrow (1 mile N) [57] and [www.chaddesley-corbett.co.uk (7 Feb 2008)]

Parish Church:
St. Cassian

Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction:
Archdeaconry & Diocese of Worcester until 1921, Archdeaconry of Dudley & Diocese of Worcester (1921 - *) [25]

Hundred:
Lower Halfshire [11] [25] [28]

Poor Law Union:
Kidderminster [3] [25]

Adjoining Parishes:
Churchill; Broom; Belbroughton; Bromsgrove; Upton Warren; Elmbridge; Rushock; Elmley Lovett; Stone; Kidderminster [1]

Parish Registers:

		Coverage	Source
Microform at WLHC	Christenings	1538-1964	[5]
	Marriages	1538-1964	[5]
	Burials	1538-1964	[5]
	Banns	1823-1931	[5]
Transcripts at WLHC	Marriages	M1601-25	[27]

Bishops' Transcripts:
Begin 1613 Worcestershire Library and History Centre [22]

International Genealogical Index (IGI):
[19]

		Coverage
Parish Registers	Births / Christenings	1813-1877
	Marriages	1754-1876
Bishops' Transcripts	Births / Christenings	1538-1812 (59%)
	Marriages	1538-1643; 1660-1754
Roman Catholic	Births / Christenings	1752-1824
	Marriages	1804-1817

Register Copies:
Marriages 1601-26: Worcestershire registers, vol. 1-2 [Typescript.]- Published , 1993 - Authors: Percy-Smith, H K & Homer, F A Society of Genealogists [68]

Nonconformist:
Harvington Hall Roman Catholic Chapel : Christenings 1752-1806 & 1806-23/4 Marriages 1804 & 1807-17 Deaths 1763-1804 & 1792-1828 (gaps) Confirmations 1797, 1808, 1809, 1816 & 1818 Communicants 1795, 1797, 1807-22/3 & 1828 Anniversaries 1697-1878 Catalogue of Harvington Library 1755. Worcestershire Library and History Centre [30]
Harvington Hall Roman Catholic Chapel : Christenings 1752-1824, Marriages 1804-17,  Deaths 1763-1819; includes confirmation lists 1797-1818, lists of Easter communicants 1795-1823 & a list of priests 1653-1915: in Miscellanea, 10: Catholic Record Society publications, vol. 17 - Published London : Catholic Record Society, 1915 - Author: Burton, Edwin Hubert Society of Genealogists

Census Records:
Access to all the censuses between 1841 and 1901 is now widely available on the library edition of Ancestry.co.uk at most record offices. You are strongly advised to book time on their computers before making a visit.
Many commercial organisations have issued CDs and DVDs covering all the censuses from 1841 to 1901. Some repositories offer census details on microfiche as listed below:
1841-1901 at Worcestershire Library and History Centre [14]
1851 census Worcestershire, vol. 2 Kidderminster : transcript & surname index: Chaddesley Corbett, Rushock, Stone, Broom, Churchill, Wolverley - Published Birmingham : Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry, 1992 - Author Friend, A F Society of Genealogists

Search Services (Fee paying) - BMSGH and Independent:
Burial 1660-1882 Worcestershire Burial Index
Marriage see Worcestershire Marriage Index

Parish Records on microform at Worcestershire Library and History Centre [13]
A copy of the General Parish Register 1538-1727 with indexes & historical notices. Transcribed 1897
Bastardy bonds 1683-1808
Examination papers 18th cent.
Settlement & removal papers 18th cent.
Indentures of apprenticeships 17th & 19th cent.

Schools Records:
The following school records are original documents. Note reference number and contact staff at Worcestershire Record Office:
Hill Pool Top Council School
Admission registers, progress and withdrawal (2 vols.) - 1882-1950 - Ref: BA 1095

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

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© Arthur Lewis and contributors 2008
Comments, additions, corrections etc to Arthur Lewis
Last updated on 27th March 2008

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