Redditch St Stephen
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- Status
- Location
- Parish Church
- Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction
- Hundred
- Poor Law Union
- Adjoining Parishes
- Parish Registers at Worcestershire Archives
- Bishops' Transcripts
- International Genealogical Index (IGI)
- Register Copies
- War Memorials
- Census Records
- Search Services (Fee paying) - BMSGH and Independent
- Manorial Records
- Schools Records
- Other Sources
- Directories
Status
A chapel in Worcestershire (Halfshire Hundred) and in Tardebigge Ancient Parish, which was Worcestershire and Warwickshire until 1844 but entirely Worcestershire thereafter. It was a separate Ecclesiastical Parish in 1855 and a separate civil parish in 1866. [25]
In 1902 Redditch St George ecclesiastical parish was created from Redditch St Stephen parish. [25]
In 1964, Redditch was designated a New Town to reduce overcrowding in Birmingham. In 1974 Redditch became a district within the new County of Hereford & Worcester & later gained Borough status when a Royal Charter was signed on 1st May 1980.
Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction
Archdeaconry & Diocese of Worcester (1855-1921), Archdeaconry of Dudley & Diocese of Worcester (1921 - *) [25]
Parish Registers at Worcestershire Archives
[Contact details]
Parish Registers of St. Stephen :
[27] [20]
| Coverage | Source | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Microform | Christenings | 1770-1972 | [5] |
| Marriages | 1808-1973 | [5] | |
| Burials | 1770-1970 | [5] | |
| Banns | 1899-1908, 1913-27, 1937-80 | [5] | |
| Transcripts | Marriages | 1808-12 | [27] [20] |
| Originals | Christenings | 1770-1982 | [12] |
| Marriages | 1808-1983 | [12] | |
| Burials | 1770-1970 | [12] |
There is a gap in the burial registers for the period 1906-67. [5]
Parish Registers of Batchley St David:
Batchley St Davids comes under Redditch St Stephen. Its registers were filmed with Redditch St Stephen registers. [5]
| Coverage | Source | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Microform | Christenings | 1955-66 | [5] |
St David's House, an extra care housing project, now stands on St David's Church's former site.
International Genealogical Index (IGI)
| Coverage | ||
|---|---|---|
| Parish Registers | Births / Christenings | 1770-1875 |
| Marriages | 1808-1882 |
Register Copies
At BMSGH Reference Library [7]
Bishops' Transcripts 1858
Worcestershire Parish Registers Marriages Vol.1 - Alstone 1550-1805, Kington 1588-1836, Redditch 1808-1812
At Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Records Office [71]
Marriages 1808-12
At Society of Genealogists [68] :
REDDITCH : Marriages 1808-11: Phillimore's parish register series, vol. 22 - Worcestershire, vol. 1 [CD-ROM] IN: Phillimore's parish register series, vol. 22 - Worcestershire, vol. 1 Published London : Phillimore & Co Ltd, 1901 Author Carter, W F ed. Author Phillimore, W P W ed.
REDDITCH (St. Stephen) : banns 1899-1908, 1913-27, 1937-80 [Microfilm.] Published Salt Lake City : Genealogical Society of Utah, 1982 & 2001
REDDITCH (St. Stephen) : Christenings 1770-1805, 1807-1972, Marriages 1808-11, 1813-1973, Burials 1770-1900, 1905-06, 1967-70, list of Redditch Volunteers (militia?) 1806 [Microfilm.] Published Salt Lake City : Genealogical Society of Utah, 1982 & 2001 Source S: (part) J Tatlow.
Batchley St David
REDDITCH (St. David) : Christenings 1955-68 [Microfilm.] Published Salt Lake City : Genealogical Society of Utah, 1982
At [FreeREG]
Free Internet searches of baptism, marriage and burial records, transcribed from parish and non-conformist registers of the U.K., are available at: http://www.freereg.org.uk/cgi/Search.pl
FreeREG is a new project. The database currently contains a few million records only, so you should not expect to find all your ancestors in the database.
The coverage for this parish currently stands at: Marriages:1808-11
Further records may have been added since this posting
War Memorials
For the names of those included on a War Memorial at St. Stephen's Church see:
http://www.rememberthefallen.co.uk/memorial/redditch-st-stephens-church/h
For the names of those included on Redditch War Memorial located outside St Stephen's Church see:
http://www.rememberthefallen.co.uk/memorial/redditch-war-memorial/
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 Archives, 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 Archives [14]
1851 - 81 Redditch Library
1871 Stratford upon Avon Library & Information Centre
At Society of Genealogists:
1851 Census Worcestershire, vol. 10 Bromsgrove transcript & surname index : part 1 Stoke Prior & Bromsgrove (part); part 2 Belbroughton, Clent, Hagley, Pedmore, Frankley, Hunnington, Romsley, Tutnall & Cobley, Bromsgrove (part); part 3 Tardebigg, Tutnal & Cobley, Bentley Pauncefoot, Webheath, Redditch & Alvechurch - Published Birmingham : Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry, 1993-5 - Author Friend, A F (trans.)
Search Services (Fee paying) - BMSGH and Independent
Burial 1770-1840 Worcestershire Burial Index
Marriage see Worcestershire Marriage Index
Schools Records
The following school records are original documents. Note reference number and contact staff at Worcestershire Archives:
Bates Hill Sunday School
Admission register - 1926 - 28 - Ref: BA 10535/29 (xii)
Birchensale Middle School
Log book - 1972 - 92 - Ref: BA 11116/1 (i)
Photographs of pupils, staff, school events, outings, shows, sport days etcNote this contains an autographed coloured photograph of international swimmer Jo Deakins - [1980 - 91] - Ref: BA 11116/2 (i) - (xiii), 6 (ii), 10 (ii) - (iv)
Photographs of the staff - [1997] - Ref: BA 12451/ (iii) - (iv)
County Primary Infants' School
Admission Registers - 1896 - 1935 - Ref: BA 3838
Admission Registers - 1935 - 1960s - Ref: BA 3771/2
Infants School
Log book. Note the school closed on 21 December 1960 - 1932 - 1960 - Ref: BA 3478
Log books - 1896 - 1932 - Ref: BA 931/23
National Half-Time School (mixed)
Log book - 1886 - 1893 - Ref: BA 13414/2 (ii)
St Stephen's National School
Log books for boys school - 1863 - 1932 - Ref: BA 13414/1 (iii) , 2(i) - (iii)
Log books for girls school - 1863 - 1928 - Ref: BA 13414/1 (i) & (ii) St Stephen's Infants C E School - Log books - 1863 - 1928 - Ref: BA 4876
The records of schools and other educational establishments in this parish are detailed in a handlist available at Worcestershire Archives. The list refers to original documents so you will need to note the reference number and contact staff.
Other Sources
The history of Redditch & the locality - Brewin Books - BMSGH Shop
Redditch on old picture postcards - Book - BMSGH Shop
The history of Redditch & the locality Published Studley : K A F Brewin Books, 1984 Author Land, Neville Source D: I J Marker. Society of Genealogists
Directories
An extract from the Topographical Dictionary of England 1831 by Samuel Lewis:
REDDITCH, a chapelry in that part of the parish of TARDEBIGG which is in the upper division of the hundred of HALFSHIRE, county of WORCESTER, 5¾ miles (E. S. E.) from Bromsgrove. The population is returned with the parish. This nourishing village, which has the appearance of a small market town, is pleasantly situated on a commanding eminence near the Warwickshire border, on the new line of road from London to Birmingham, and contains, besides a neat modern chapel of ease, places of worship for Independents and Wesleyan Methodists. The principal articles of manufacture, for which it has long been famous, are needles and fish-hooks, which have been brought to perfection, and afford employment to about four thousand persons in the village and neighbourhood. There are fairs for cattle, on the first Monday in August, and third Monday in September, and it is in contemplation to petition the legislature for the privilege of holding a weekly market. A National school is attended by about ninety boys, and supported by the Earl of Plymouth, who has an elegant mansion in the vicinity, and holds a court leet annually in October, as lord of the manor, at which a constable and other officers are appointed. A Cistercian abbey of considerable note formerly existed at Bordesley, near this place, some slight remains of which may still be traced : it was founded, in 1138, by the Empress Matilda, in honour of the Blessed Virgin, and was valued at the dissolution at £392. 8. 6., when it was granted to Lord Windsor, one of the ancestors of the present Earl of Plymouth .
Last Updated: 31/10/2016
