Himley, Staffordshire Genealogy

England Staffordshire



Parish History
Himley St Michael and All Angels is an Ancient parish.

HIMLEY (St. Michael), a parish, in the union, and N. division of the hundred, of Seisdon, S. division of the county of Stafford, 3¾ miles (W.) from Dudley; containing 409 inhabitants. It comprises 1185½ acres, of which 600 are park surrounding Himley Hall, and the remainder arable. The surface is undulated, the soil good, and the scenery pretty; and the village, which is pleasant, is situated on the road from Stourbridge to Wolverhampton: the inhabitants are entirely agricultural. Courts leet and baron are held annually, and there is a copyhold court. The Hall, a splendid mansion in the Italian style, standing in the midst of a rich and extensive park, is the seat of Lord Ward, relative of the gifted Earl of Dudley, late the owner, who died in 1833; several of the apartments are spacious, elegantly decorated, and enriched with valuable pictures. In the grounds are a magnificent sheet of water, and many picturesque eminences, rising gradually towards the horizon, and finely clad with ancient and modern foliage. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £3. 13. 4., and in the patronage of Lord Ward: the tithes have been commuted for £316, and the glebe comprises 15 acres, with a glebe-house. The church is a neat brick edifice, erected in 1764, by the first lord Dudley and Ward. A large parochial school is supported by Lord Ward; and the poor have the produce of 3½ acres of land, purchased with several benefactions in 1681.

A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 512-514. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51032 Date accessed: 27 April 2011.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection

Census records
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Poor Law Unions
Seisdon Poor Law Union, Staffordshire

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Staffordshire Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
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