WHITE LADIES ASTON

Descriptive Notes:
In the earliest days of it's existence the parish was known as Aston Episcopi [or 'Bishop's Aston' ].
The parish was named after the Cistercian Nunnery of Whistones, to the North of Worcester, which held the manor from the mid-13th century until the Dissolution. On 28th August 1651Cromwell stayed a night at a house in White Ladies Aston before the battle of Worcester.

Status:
Ancient Parish [25]
Abolished ecclesiastically in 1924 to help create White Ladies Aston with Churchill Ecclesiastical Parish. [25]

Location:
O.S. Ref: SO922527
6 miles S.E. of Worcester & 5 miles N.W. of Pershore, between the A422 & A4538

Parish Church:
St. John Baptist

Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction:
Archdeaconry & Diocese of Worcester [1] [25]

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

Poor Law Union:
Pershore [3] [25]

Adjoining Parishes:
Churchill; Upton Snodsbury; Peopleton; Stoulton; Whittington; Spetchley [1]

Parish Registers:

		Coverage	Source
Microform at WLHC	Christenings	1558-1966	[5]
	Marriages	1559-1966	[5]
	Burials	1559-1966	[5]
	Banns	1824-1948	[5]
Originals at WRO	Marriages	M1559-1975	[12]

Bishops' Transcripts:
Begin 1604 Worcestershire Library and History Centre [22]

International Genealogical Index (IGI):
[19]

		Coverage
Parish Registers	Births / Christenings	1558-1875
	Marriages	1813-1882

Register Copies:
At Society of Genealogists [68]
Christenings 1558-1840, Marriages 1559-1706, 1719-1839, Burials 1559-1709, 1718-1840: Worcestershire registers, vol. 1 [Typescript.] - Published , 1993 - Author: Mulholland, J H (trans.)

Monumental Inscriptions and Associated Documents:
At BMSGH Shop
St.John the Baptist

At BMSGH Reference Library [7]
St.John the Baptist

At Worcestershire Library and History Centre [51]
St.John the Baptist

At Society of Genealogists [59]
St. John the Baptist: Worcestershire monumental inscriptions, vol. 9 [Typescript.] - Published Birmingham : Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry, 1991 - Author: Somerton, D K (trans.)

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]

Search Services (Fee paying) - BMSGH and Independent:
Burial1660-1840 Worcestershire Burial Index
Marriage see Worcestershire Marriage Index

Manorial Records:
Worcestershire Record Office [50]
Aston Episcopi: Manor books 1781-1860, 18th cent.; Parliamentary survey 17th cent.; Surveys, valuations, manor books, rent rolls etc 17th-19th cents.
Bishop's Aston: Rental 1695-1702, 1759-c.1805
Kempsey with Aston Episcopi: Court rolls 1664
White Ladies Aston: Stewards' accounts 1808-33

Parish Records on microform at Worcestershire Library and History Centre [13]
Overseers of the poor accounts 1815-56
Poor rate assessment 1826
Vestry & parish meeting minutes 1842-83
Vestry, parish & PCC meeting minutes 1842-1948
Poor rate books 1862-64
Highway rate books 1862-64
Highway rate book 1862-64
Poor law assessment valuation 1862
List of services & preachers 1911-24

Directories:
ASTON (WHITE LADIES), a parish in the lower division of the hundred of OSWALDSLOW, county of WORCESTER, 5 miles (E. S.E,) from Worcester, containing 342 inhabitants. The living is a vicarage, in the peculiar jurisdiction of the Bishop of Worcester, rated in the king's books at £6. 17. 3½ and in the patronage of R. Berkeley, Esq. The church is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. In the manor-house Oliver Cromwell fixed his head-quarters the night before the battle of Worcester. [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 17th December 2011

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