KEMPSEY

Descriptive Notes:

Directories:
KEMPSEY, a parish in the lower division of the hundred of OSWALDSLOW, county of WORCESTER, 4¼ miles (S.) from Worcester, containing 1129 inhabitants. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Worcester, rated in the king's books at £6. 18. 9, and in the patronage of the Bishop of Worcester. The church is dedicated to St. Mary. The village is agreeably situated near the eastern bank of the river Severn, and contains several genteel dwellinghouses. There is an unendowed free school, in which ten boys are taught to read and write. A monastery which existed here so early as 799 was subsequently united to the church of Worcester. At this place Henry II held his court; and in 1265, shortly before the battle of Evesham, Simon de Montfort was quartered at the Bishop's palace here, with his prisoner, Henry III. Near to the church are the remains of an ancient encampment. [Topographical Dictionary of England 1831 by Samuel Lewis]

Status:
Ancient Parish [25]
Including chapel at Norton juxta Kempsey, which had a separate civil identity early and was a separate Ecclesiastical Parish in1781 & a chapel at Stoulton, which had a separate civil identity early and was a separate Ecclesiastical Parish in 1794 [25]

Location:
O.S. Ref: SO849491
4 miles south of Worcester on the A38
Napleton, ½ mile east; Kerswell, 1½ miles S.E.; Stonehall, 2 miles east are hamlets. [57]

Parish Church:
St.Mary the Virgin

Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction:
Peculiar of the Dean & Chapter of Worcester. [1] Archdeaconry & Diocese of Worcester [25]

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

Poor Law Union:
Upton-upon-Severn [3] [25]

Adjoining Parishes:
Worcester St John the Baptist Bedwardine; Worcester St Peter; Whittington;Norton Juxta Kempsey; Pershore Holy Cross; Pirton; Severn Stoke; Powick [1]

Parish Registers:

		Coverage	Source
Microform at WLHC	Christenings	1688-1980	[5]
	Marriages	1690-1950	[5]
	Burials	1688-1950	[5]
	Banns	1754-1812	[5]
Transcripts at WLHC	Marriages	1690-1812	[27] [20]
Originals at WRO	Marriages	1690-1986	[12]
	Banns	1823-1911, 1934-66	[12]

Marriages 1896-1906 are missing.[5]

Bishops' Transcripts:
Begin 1608 Worcestershire Library and History Centre [22]

International Genealogical Index (IGI):
[19]

		Coverage
Parish Registers	Births / Christenings	1688-1875
	Marriages	1608-1687; 1690-1885
Bishops' Transcripts	Births / Christenings	1608-1640 (75%); 1660-1687

Register Copies:
Marriages 1690-1812 Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Records Office [71]

At Society of Genealogists [68] :
Marriages 1690-1812: Phillimore's parish register series, vol. 22 - Worcestershire, vol. 1 [CD-ROM] - Published London : Phillimore & Co Ltd, 1901 - Authors: Phillimore, W P W ed. & Carter, W F ed.
St. Mary: M 1967-75, B 1874-1950 [Microfilm.] - Published Salt Lake City : Genealogical Society of Utah, 1984

Monumental Inscriptions and Associated Documents:
St. Mary BMSGH microfiche [53]
St. Mary Worcestershire Library and History Centre [51]
St. Mary: Worcestershire monumental inscriptions, vol. 7 [Typescript.] - Published Birmingham : Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry, 1990 - Author Stratford, J et al. (trans.) Society of Genealogists [59]

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]

Search Services (Fee paying) - BMSGH and Independent:
Burial 1688-1851 Worcestershire Burial Index
Marriage see Worcestershire Marriage Index

Manorial Records:
Worcestershire Record Office [50]
Compotus rolls 1508-9, 1514-5, 1521-6, 1661-2; Court books 1724-78, 1779-1888; Note book containing lists of holdings 1857; Court papers 1765-1811; Court rolls 1394-1656 (with gaps); Rentals [1577 or 1578], 1585, 1598, 1622; 1695-1702, 1759-69, 1769-1805; Rent rolls 1681; Manor books 1781-1860, 18th cent; Stewards' accounts 1808-33; Surveys, valuations, manor books, rent rolls etc 17th-19th cents; Accounts 17th-18th cents Kempsey with Aston Episcopi: Court rolls

Schools Records:
The following school records are original documents. Note reference number and contact staff at Worcestershire Record Office:
Kempsey
Boys' School Log Books - 1871 - 1918 - Ref: BA 1038 / 2
Girls' School Log Books - 1871 - 94 - Ref: BA 1038 / 3
Infants' School Log Books - 1873 - 1919 - Ref: BA 1038 / 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.

Other Sources:
The Winslows of Kempsey : in Family history tracts, vol. 51 - Published Kempsey, 1953 - Author Winslow, Kenelm D Society of Genealogists

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© Arthur Lewis and contributors 2008
Comments, additions, corrections etc to Arthur Lewis
Last updated on 31st March 2008

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