BMSGH HomeHARTLEBURY
Descriptive Notes:
Hartlebury
Castle has been home to the Bishops of Worcester for more than 1000
years. Worcestershire County Museum occupies the north wing, but there
is uncertainty about the castle’s future with the news that
the
Bishops will no longer live at the castle after the retirement of Dr
Peter Selby in September 2007. [www.hartlebury.org.uk/index.html
- accessed 6th March 2008]Directories:
HARTLEBURY, a parish
comprising the hamlet of Upper Mitton, in the lower division of the
hundred of HALFSHIRE,
but chiefly in the lower division of the hundred of OSWALDSLOW, county
of
WORCESTER, 2 miles (E. by S.) from Stourport, and containing 1857
inhabitants.
The living is a rectory, in the peculiar jurisdiction of the Rector,
rated in
the king's books at £30, and in the patronage of the Bishop
of Worcester. The
church, dedicated to St. James, has considerable portions in the Norman
style
of architecture and some in the decorated style. The free grammar
school is one
of the five in the county having alternately the right of presentation
to six
scholarships in Worcester College, Oxford, founded by Sir Thomas
Cookes, Bart:
the exact period of its establishment is unknown, but it existed in
1400: in
the 1st of Elizabeth it was by charter made a royal foundation, when
twenty
discreet men of the parish were constituted a body corporate, with a
common seal,
for the management of its funds, &c.; there are now, however,
only seven
trustees : its possessions consist of about one hundred and eighty-four
acres
of land, the rental of which is about £120: the head master
and the
under master have, in addition to their salary, each a good house, and
liberty
to take boarders. A school for twelve girls was founded and endowed
with £200,
by Mrs. Hannah Eyre, in 1726; and a Sunday school, under the patronage
of the
Bishop, was established in 1824, which is supported by voluntary
contributions,
and attended by about ninety children. Hartlebury castle has long been
the
residence of the diocesans, to whom it was given by Burthred, King of
Mercia:
the present is a neat brick mansion, erected about the time of the
Restoration,
the ancient castle having been taken by Colonel Morgan in 1646, and
destroyed during the great rebellion.:
The Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal passes through the
northwestern
part of the parish. [Topographical Dictionary of
England 1831 by Samuel Lewis]
Ancient Parish [25]
The township
of 'Hartlebury' in Lower Oswaldslow Hundred, included in Lower
Halfshire
Hundred, the hamlet Upper Mitton, which was a
separate Civil Parish
in 1866) [25]Bishops Wood was a Chapel of Ease to Hartlebury. A building was licensed for service in 1882. In 1974 the title of the parish became Hartlebury with Bishops Wood. It later reverted to just Hartlebury.[5]
Location:
O.S. Ref: SO841709
2½ miles east of Stourport-on-Severn & 3½ miles south of Kidderminster
The principal hamlets are Crossway Green 1½ miles south; Norchard, 1 south and Waresley, ½ south; Chadwick, 1 mile S.W.; Titton, 1½ miles S.W. and Lincomb, 2 miles S.W. near the river Severn; and Charlton, 2 miles N.W. and Upper Mitton, 1½ miles N.W.; Torton and Low Hill, ½ mile north. [57]
Parish Church:
St. James
Bishop's Wood (chapel of ease): St. Mary
Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction:
Peculiar of the incumbent [1] Archdeaconry & Diocese of Worcester [25]
Hundred:
Part in Lower Oswaldslow & part in Lower Halfshire, until 1866 when entirely in Lower Oswaldslow [11] [25] [28]
Poor Law Union:
Droitwich [3] [25]
Adjoining Parishes:
Kidderminster; Stone; Elmley Lovett; Ombersley; Astley; Areley Kings; Lower Mitton [1]
Parish Registers:
| Coverage | Source | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Microform at WLHC | Christenings | 1540-1969 | [5] |
| Marriages | 1540-1968 | [5] | |
| Burials | 1540-1969 | [5] | |
| Banns | 1754-1803 | [5] | |
| Transcripts at WLHC | General | 1540-1754 | [27] |
| Originals at WRO | Banns | 1803-1893 | [12] |
No Parish Registers for Bishops Wood are held at Worcestershire Library and History Centre . The original registers are still at the church.[5]
Bishops' Transcripts:
Begin 1614 Worcestershire Library and History Centre [22]
International Genealogical Index (IGI):
[19]
| Coverage | ||
|---|---|---|
| Parish Registers | Births / Christenings | 1540-1842 |
| Marriages | 1540-1886 |
Register Copies:
Christenings, Marriages & Burials 1540-1812 BMSGH microfiche [9]
At Society of Genealogists [68] :-
Births 1657-60, Christenings 1540-1711, 1745-1812, Marriages 1540-1711, 1746-1812, banns 1654-59, Burials 1540-1711, 1745-1812 [Typescript.]
Births 1657-60, Christenings, Marriages & Burials 1540-1812, banns 1654-59 [Microfiche.]
St. James: Christenings, Marriages & Burials 1540-53/54, 1560-1754, Christenings
& Burials 1755-1969, Marriages 1755-1968, banns 1754-1944, vestry minutes & parish accounts 1667-1726 [Microfilm.] - Published Salt Lake City Genealogical Society of Utah 2004
Nonconformist:
United Reform Congregational:
Originals: Marriages 1906-1975 Worcestershire Record Office[12]
Monumental Inscriptions and Associated Documents:
Plan re provision of additional burial ground Worcestershire Record Office[12]
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]
Bishops Wood may be included in the Hartlebury returns
Search Services (Fee paying) - BMSGH and Independent:
Burial1755-1840 Worcestershire Burial Index
Marriage see Worcestershire Marriage Index
Manorial Records:
Worcestershire Record Office [50]
Court papers 1764-1809; Court leet and court baron records 1727-1836; Court rolls 1394-1558, 1661-63, 1649-58, 1702 (gaps); Manor books 1781-1860, 18th cent.; Rent rolls 1605, 1611, 1616; Rental 1695-1702, 1759-69, 1769-c.1805; Stewards' accounts 1808-33; Surveys and particulars of property 17th-18th cents; Surveys, valuations, manor books, rent rolls etc 17th-19th cents; Compotus roll [1524-25]; Surveys and particulars of property 17th-19th cents
Parish Records on microform at Worcestershire Library and History Centre [13]
Vestry meeting minutes & parish accounts 1667-1733
Amounts collected for briefs 1689-1739
Vestry minutes & parish accounts and rates 1734-8
List of officers 1700-1823/4
Bastardy bonds 1750-1850
Schools Records:
The following school
records are original documents. Note reference number and contact staff
at Worcestershire
Record Office:
St Gilberts (Waresley House)
Admission and progress register
- 1964
- 71 - Ref: BA 10590
Admission
and progress registers with index - 1939
- 64, 1972 - 86 - Ref:
BA 9948 / 7 (i) - 10 (i)
Discharge books - 1971 - 72 - Ref: BA 9948 / 10
(ii) (iii)
A handlist of other records of schools and of other
educational establishments held by Worcestershire
Record Office
for this parish can be found here.
Vestry minute book, various parish accounts 1667-1838, briefs 1689-1739, overseers 1700-85, 1758-1823, churchwardens 1700-48, constables 1700-1811, supervisors 1700-85 [Microfilm.] - Published Salt Lake City : Genealogical Society of Utah, 1969 Society of Genealogists
© Arthur Lewis and contributors 2008
Comments, additions, corrections etc to Arthur Lewis
Last updated on 30th March 2008