WICKHAMFORD

Status:
Ancient Parish [25]
Originally a chapel to Evesham Abbey. It was a separate parish at the Dissolution.[25]

Location:
O.S. Ref: SP068423
About 3 miles S.E. of Evesham on the A44

Parish Church:
St. John the Baptist

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

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

Poor Law Union:
Evesham [3] [25]

Adjoining Parishes:
Bengeworth; Badsey; Broadway; Childswickham (Gloucestershire); Hinton on the Green (Gloucestershire) [1]

Parish Registers:

		Coverage	Source
Microform at WLHC	Christenings	1538-1967	[5]
	Marriages	1556-1954	[5]
	Burials	1538-1966	[5]
	Banns	1826-1945	[5]
Transcripts at WLHC	Christenings	1538-1784	[27]
	Marriages	1536-1653, 1662-1784	[27]
	Burials	1538-1784	[27]
Originals at WRO	Banns	Listed with Aldington	[12]

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

International Genealogical Index (IGI):
[19]

		Coverage
Parish Registers	Births / Christenings	1701-1875
	Marriages	1700-1882
Bishops' Transcripts	Births / Christenings	1613-1700 (60%)

Register Copies:
At Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Records Office [71]
Christenings 1538-1784 Marriages 1556-1784 Burials 1538-1784

At Society of Genealogists [68]
WICKHAMFORD : Christenings 1538-1929, 1945-67, Marriages 1556-1954, banns 1826-1945, Burials 1538-1790, 1814-1966; surveyors accounts book 1774-1876, census notes, church rate book & other accounts 1859-89 [Microfilm.]   Published Salt Lake City : Genealogical Society of Utah, Nd.

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]
WICKHAMFORD (St. John the Baptist) : Monumental Inscriptions: Worcestershire monumental inscriptions, vol. 7 [Typescript.]   IN: Worcestershire monumental inscriptions, vol. 7   Published Birmingham : Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry, 1988   Author Bushell, L (transcription.)   Author Farmer, G (transcription.) Source D: BMSGH

War Memorials:
For the names of those commemorated on a War Memorial at St John the Baptist's Church see:
http://www.rememberthefallen.co.uk/Casualties/ListByMemorial/Wickhamford St John the Baptist Church

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]

A transcription of the 1911 census appears on www.badsey.net/history

Search Services (Fee paying) - BMSGH and Independent:
Burial 1538-1850 Worcestershire Burial Index
Marriage see Worcestershire Marriage Index

Manorial Records:
Worcestershire Record Office [50]
Court book 1632-50; Court rolls 1675, 1689-92, 1695, 1697-9, 1704, 1706 and 1710

Parish Records on microform at Worcestershire Library and History Centre [13]
Surveyor's costs 1774-1825
Census notes 1851
Churchwardens & other accounts 1859-89
Overseers of the poor accounts 1848-67
Vestry meeting minutes 1854-1919
Assessments for the relief of the poor 1857-70
Parish receipts & expenditure on the highways in the Evesham area 1870
Notices to churchwardens & overseers of the poor 1870-1

Schools Records:
The following school records are original documents. Note reference number and contact staff at Worcestershire Record Office:
Wickhamford, Badsey & Aldington National School
See Badsey, Aldington & Wickhamford National School

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

Wickhamford children attended school in Badsey.  Transcriptions of late 19th century and early 20th century admissions registers appear on www.badsey.net/history.  “Heads and Tales:  A History of Badsey Schools” by Maureen Spinks, published by The Badsey Society, 2004 describes the history of schools in Badsey from 1854. See http://www.badsey.net/bsp/ [81]

Other Sources:

Valuation Office Survey Records - Between the years 1910 and 1915, a comprehensive survey of land ownership in England and Wales was undertaken, the like of which had not been seen since the Domesday Book of 1086.  The survey (sometimes referred to as the “New Domesday”) was conducted by the Board of Inland Revenue Valuation Office under the Finance (1909-10) Act, 1910.  Three series of records relating to the survey survive, two at Worcestershire Record Office and one at The National Archives:
The Valuation précis (also known as Domesday Books, but properly entitled “Duties on Land Values”), prepared by the Inspector of Taxes.  The books contain entries for each hereditament in England and Wales, providing basic information relative to the valuation of the property, including the valuation assessment number, map reference, owner, occupier, situation, description and extent.  The original documents may be viewed at Worcestershire Record Office:  BA 8585, Parcel 1, Reference 009:5, No 6 (Aldington, Badsey, Wickhamford) and BA 8585, Reference 009:5, Parcel 1, No 22 (Offenham – for Blackminster which is now part of Badsey).
The Field Books, the next series in order of compilation, were prepared by the Valuation Office, and normally contain all the information about individual hereditaments to be found in the Domesday Books plus, in some instances, additional details descriptive of the premises.  The original documents may be viewed at The National Archives in series IR58.  Maps associated with the Field Books may be viewed at IR 129.
The Forms 37–Land contain information extracted from the Domesday Books, though in a different format.  The original documents may be viewed at Worcestershire Record Office:  BA 8585, 009:5, Parcel 4 (Aldington, Badsey, Wickhamford) and BA 8585, 009:5, Parcel 10 (Offenham – for Blackminster).
A full transcription of the information contained in the above three records may be viewed at www.badsey.net/history/vs, together with details of what the Valuation Survey and why it was conducted. [81]

Tithe and Enclosure Maps – Wickhamford has a Tithe Map dated c1843 which may be viewed on
www.worcestershire.gov.uk/cms/environment-and-planning/archaeology/information-and-advice/historic-environment-record/tithe-and-inclosure-map-project.aspx which provides on-line access to digitised 18th and 19th century maps in the county. [81]

Directories:
WICKHAMFORD, a parish in the upper division of the hundred of BLACKENHURST, county of WORCESTER, 2¼ miles (E. S. E.) from Evesham, containing 130 inhabitants. The living is a discharged perpetual curacy, in the peculiar jurisdiction of the Chancellor of the Cathedral Church of Worcester rated in the king's books at £2. 4. 4½ , endowed with £200 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Dean and Canons of Christ Church, Oxford. The church is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. Limestone in abundance is obtained in the neighbourhood. [Topographical Dictionary of England 1831 by Samuel Lewis]

---

© Arthur Lewis and contributors 2008
Comments, additions, corrections etc to Arthur Lewis
Last updated on 17th December 2011

---