England
& Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index |
The ParishThe parish of Whitwick lies in northwestern Leicestershire not too far from its border with neighbouring Derbyshire. Whitwick is located about 5 miles east of the market town of Ashby de la Zouch and sits a couple of miles south of the A512 road which connects Ashby de la Zouch with Loughborough. Whitwick sits on the western edges of Charnwood Forest, a geological intrusion of ancient rocks into the normally sedimentary strata of the area, creating an area of poor soils and rougher hilly terrain. Whitwick does also, however, sit above extensive coal measures and towards the latter part of this transcript period mines were sunk and the area developed spectacularly. The industrial town of Coalville grew up to Whitwick's south and what was once a rural area is today covered by housing. The poorer soils of Charnwood Forest were only suitable for pastures, much of the "Forest" being extra-parochial it was a haunt in mediaeval times for banditry, whilst the lower parts of the parish were mainly arable. Today Whitwick is very much a town rather than a village, granted a market in 1838 it is a local centre for shopping and its proximity to the nearby M1 motorway has to some extent mitigated the closure of the coal mines. A series of small brooks drains the parish northwards and then east to join the Soar at the border with Derbyshire, thence to the Trent and eventually the North Sea through the Humber Estuary. Whitwick is sited at around 140 metres but land rises steadily towards the southeast onto the Warren Hills which rise to almost 250 metres. Whitwick parish was one of the larger within the county, it covered just over 6,400 acres, reminiscent of a northern upland parish, and would have supported a population rising towards 4,300 parishioners by the end of this transcript period. In Domesday times Whitwick was a small and wholly insignificant place, held by Hugh de Grandmesnil it could barely register an asset to its name, just a share in a single plough and a small wood. |
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Register No | Covering Dates | Deposited With | Register Style | Quality Standard | Comments |
1 | 1st April 1754 - 26th December 1769 | Leicestershire & Rutland Record Office - Reference - DE1760/8 | Plain & ruled book containing combined Banns & Marriages | Grade 2 Register - not a perfect read but with a low likelihood of misreads | None |
2 | 29th January 1770 - 31st December 1776 | Leicestershire & Rutland Record Office - Reference - DE1760/9 | Plain unruled book containing combined Banns & Marriages | Grade 2 Register - not a perfect read but with a low likelihood of misreads | None |
3 | 11th February 1777 - 25th November 1793 | Leicestershire & Rutland Record Office - Reference - DE1760/10 | Standard preprinted and self-numbered Marriage register with 3 entries per page | Grade 2 Register - not a perfect read but with a low likelihood of misreads | None |
4 | 9th December 1793 - 26th October 1808 | Leicestershire & Rutland Record Office - Reference - DE1760/11 | Standard preprinted and self-numbered Marriage register with 4 entries per page | Grade 2 Register - not a perfect read but with a low likelihood of misreads | None |
5 | 20th December 1808 - 23rd December 1812 | Leicestershire & Rutland Record Office - Reference - DE1760/12 | Standard preprinted and self-numbered Marriage register with 4 entries per page | Grade 3 Register - there are sufficient quality issues with this register to indicate that some misreads will occur albeit few in number | Poor handwriting at times within this register may lead to one or two misreads |
6 | 4th January 1813 - 29th June 1837 | Leicestershire & Rutland Record Office - Reference - DE1760/14 | Standard Rose style preprinted and prenumbered Marriage register | Grade 2 Register - not a perfect read but with a low likelihood of misreads | None |
Worthington
St Matthew
Breedon on the Hill St Mary & St Hardulph |
Osgathorpe
St Mary
Belton St John the Baptist |
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Coleorton
St Mary
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Shepshed
St Botolph
Woodhouse St Mary in the Elms |
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Ravenstone
with Snibston St Michael
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Ravenstone
with Snibston St Michael
Hugglescote St John the Baptist |
Markfield
St Michael
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1755 1760 1765 1770 1775 1780 1785 1790 1795 1800 1805 1810 1815 1820 1825 1830 1835
Corrections to Tinstaafl Transcripts