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England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Hopton Castle St Mary

 

The Parish

The parish of Hopton Castle lies in the extreme southwest of Shropshire only a short distance from its border with both neighbouring Herefordshire (indeed it adjoins the area of the Herefordshire parish of Leintwardine which lies within Shropshire) and also Wales in the form of Radnorshire. Hopton Castle is located about 6 miles northeast of the Radnorshire market town of Knighton. Hopton Castle sits about a mile west of the B4385 which connects Bishop's castle with Clungunford. There is very little to Hopton Castle, it sits in a deep valley with the stream crisscrossing the road, with just a few properties lining the lane which runs west from the B4385 into hill country. Despite its remoteness and low population Hopton Castle has a long history, the castle from which it gets its name, dating from c1300, was part of the Marcher Lords lands defending the western border of England against the marauding Welsh across nearby Offa's Dyke. The castle, held by the King's men during the English Civil War eventually surrendered to Parliamentary forces who unleashed a massacre of the inhabitants. The area was a mixture of arable & pastoral farming at the time of this transcript, barley & turnips the mainstays albeit at least a third of the parish was described as waste. The village stream drains eastwards to reach the nearby River Clun and thence the Teme before joining the Severn to the south of Worcester and the Bristol Channel through the Severn Estuary. Hopton Castle is sited at 160 metres above the sea, in its valley in deeply incised landscapes local heights rise to over 440 metres on Black Hill just 3 miles west. Hopton Castle parish was fairly typically sized for its area, covering just over 2,500 acres it would have supported a population of barely 150 parishioners. In Domesday times Hopton Castle was virtually nonexistent, held by one Picot of Sai (who acquired the holding from the wonderfully named Edric the Wild) it had no discernible assets but was assessed as capable of holding 4 ploughs.


The Church

St Mary's church sits high on a hill to the north of the village lane, accessed by a rising pathway across sheep pastures. Sadly the church is a Victorian replacement for the parish's medieval original. Erected in the 1860s from a combination of grey rubble with dressings of limestone from the Bath area it is a simple structure as befits the small congregation. Pevsner offers little critical comment on the architecture albeit he is unhappy with the proportions of nave & chancel the latter, lower and long, seems to belong to another building and is a mismatch for the nave. The pathway rises steadily to the churchyard, there are few obstructions to photography once this is reached.


The Records

Register No Covering Dates Deposited With Register Style Quality Standard Comments
1 19th May 1755 - 21st April 1812 Shropshire Archives - Reference - FP/139/A/3/1 Standard preprinted and self-numbered combined Banns & Marriage register with 3 entries per page Grade 1 Register - Few issues noted and a low likelihood of misreads None
2 19th August 1813 - 9th May 1837 Shropshire Archives - Reference - FP/139/A/3/2 Standard Rose style preprinted and prenumbered Marriage register Grade 1 Register - Few issues noted and a low likelihood of misreads None


Clunbury St Swithin
Clunbury St Swithin
Clungunford St Cuthbert
Clun St George
Clungunford St Cuthbert
Bucknell St Mary
Bucknell St Mary
Bedstone St Mary
Leintwardine St Mary Magdalene, Herefordshire

1760 1770 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830

Register Reference Date Groom Forename Groom Surname Groom Status Groom Abode Bride Forename Bride Surname Bride Status Bride Abode
1 19/05/1755 Timothy DAVIES   Halford Elizabeth PUGH Single  
2 28/06/1756 Richard ROBERTS     Jane DYKE    
3 29/04/1760 Joseph COPE   Abberley, Worcestershire Susanna GRIFFITHS    
4 15/06/1760 John PRINCE     Eleanor MEYRICK    
5 06/10/1760 Philip MORRIS   Bucknell Elizabeth MASON    
6 12/01/1761 David JONES   Stokesay Mary PINCHER    
7 28/07/1763 John Hagley MASON     Elizabeth COLLEY    
8 23/07/1764 John ONIANS   Stokesay Edith SMITH    
9 25/09/1764 Thomas EVANS   Leintwardine, Herefordshire Elizabeth BROWNE    
10 17/06/1765 Thomas COATES   Leominster, Herefordshire Mary ROBERTS    
11 06/10/1766 John HERBERT   Onibury Mary EVANS    
12 19/07/1767 Thomas PRICE Single   Mary DYKE Single  
13 05/10/1767 Richard JAMES Single Wistanstow Susanna GOUGH Single  
14 20/10/1767 Thomas BIRCH Single Clunbury Mary ROBERTSON Single  
15 13/02/1768 Samuel WEAVER Single Bedstone Anne HERBERT Single  
16 19/04/1768 Edward BATCH Single Knighton, Radnorshire Mary DYKE Single  
17 25/04/1768 Samuel ANTHONY Single   Mary PINCHES Single  
18 24/05/1768 John MEREDITH Single Brampton Bryan, Herefordshire Martha DYKE Single  
19 15/05/1769 Richard ROBERTS Single   Anne SMITH Single  
20 17/04/1770 Richard DAVIES     Rebeca HOSKINS Single  
21 26/12/1770 Richard STOCKING Single Clunbury Elizabeth MEREDITH Single  
22 17/03/1771 John PRINCE Single   Susanna SQUIRE Widow Ludlow
23 04/05/1771 Thomas MARSTON Single   Rebekah PARRY Single  
24 03/10/1771 Richard BOOLE Single Lydbury North Ann WEM Single  
25 03/04/1772 Richard SAWYER Single   Elizabeth MORGAN Single  
26 06/05/1772 Henry VAUGHAN Single Leintwardine, Herefordshire Mary BORE Single  
27 18/10/1774 Thomas BOTWOOD Single   Elizabeth BEVAN Single Leintwardine, Herefordshire
28 02/04/1778 Thomas LANGSLOW Single Clungunford Elizabeth HARLEY Single  
29 16/05/1779 Thomas DODD Single   Susannah MORGAN Single  
30 01/06/1779 Thomas BEAVAN Single   Martha EATON Single  
32 23/09/1779 John GOUGH Single Aymestrey, Herefordshire Mary BROWN Single  
31 26/09/1779 Richard DAVIES     Martha MORRIS    
33 03/04/1780 Thomas BOWEN     Susanna FARMER    
34 30/10/1780 John BEVAN     Elizabeth EVANS    
35 23/06/1781 Richard DYKE Widower   Sarah PRICE Single  
36 26/07/1781 John BRIGHT Single   Rebeccah PRINCE Single  
37 20/05/1782 Richard GROVES Single   Mary HALL Single  
38 06/11/1785 John SAWYER Single   Mary HARDING Single  
39 10/02/1786 Thomas HICKMAN Single Clunbury Susanna BROWN Single  
40 05/09/1786 Thomas EDWARDS Single Clunbury Charlotte SOLEY Single  
41 12/05/1787 Thomas JAMES Single   Ann POWELL Single  
42 16/05/1787 Thomas WILLIAMS Single Bucknell Elizabeth POWELL Single  
43 20/12/1789 Edward HOGGINS Single Clungunford Ann PUGH Single  
44 23/12/1792 William HARDING Single   Mary DAINES Single  
45 21/12/1795 Aaron GRIFFITHS Single   Elizabeth LINGING Single  
46 16/05/1796 Evan JONES Single   Frances ANTHONY Single  
47 25/06/1799 Richard STOCKTON Single   Mary PUGH Single  
48 22/12/1803 James PRICE Single   Sarah EDMUNDS Single  
49 10/05/1804 Evan JONES Widower   Mary BOWEN Single  
50 01/10/1805 Thomas EVANS Single   Martha LINGIN Single  
51 18/12/1806 Thomas HARDMAN Widower Ludlow Mary ROBERTS Single  
27/04/1809 Thomas JONES Single Bromyard, Herefordshire Mary CARTWRIGHT Single  
21/04/1812 Richard DAVIES   Clun Elizabeth BRIGHT    
1 19/08/1813 John HUFFER   Clun Elizabeth THOMAS    
4 30/05/1814 John DAVIES   Knighton, Radnorshire Mary JACKS    
7 24/04/1815 John RUDGE Single Pontesbury Priscilla HARRIS Single  
10 04/06/1816 Richard POWELL     Ruth CORFIELD    
13 24/02/1817 John GOODALL Single Norbury Ann BRADLEY Single  
16 07/04/1818 Edward WILKS     Mary HABBERLEY    
19 02/04/1819 Thomas LEWIS Single Welshpool, Montgomeryshire Elizabeth GELL    
20 03/05/1819 Henry THOMAS Single   Jane LYSTER Single  
21 04/10/1819 John GRIFFITHS Single   Elizabeth PUGH   Lydbury North
22 11/09/1820 Orlando MARSTON Single Shelve Ann THOMAS    
23 10/05/1821 Samuel PREECE Widower   Ann GRIFFITHS Single  
24 10/08/1822 Thomas VAUGHN Single Ratlinghope Martha RICE   Ratlinghope
25 15/07/1823 John WATKINS   Lydham Susan BRADLEY    
26 12/11/1823 John DAVIES     Mary THOMAS    
27 14/08/1825 Edward TANNER Single Lydbury North Elizabeth EVERALL    
28 03/11/1826 John BRADLEY Single   Priscilla POPPETT Single  
29 20/11/1826 Richard THOMAS Single   Elizabeth BRUNT Single  
30 22/01/1827 Henry FRANCIS     Margaret BEAMOND    
31 08/05/1827 Joseph BEAMOND Single   Sarah BROWN Single  
32 15/10/1827 John JAMES     Elizabeth GRIFFITHS    
33 14/01/1828 William MEDLICOT Single   Mary EVANS Single  
34 07/05/1828 John MATTHEWS   Bishops Castle Elizabeth LEWIS    
35 07/07/1829 William PEPLOW     Elizabeth MELLINGS   Church Stoke, Montgomeryshire
36 12/01/1830 John JONES Single   Mary BEAMOND Single  
37 01/02/1830 John BITHILL Single   Clara CARTWRIGHT Single  
38 23/11/1830 William BROMLEY Single Worthen Anne TOMLINS Single  
39 29/12/1830 Joseph WHITTAL Single   Elizabeth WILKES Single  
40 20/01/1831 John WARDMAN Single   Jane PRINCE Single  
41 17/10/1831 William THOMAS     Mary DOWNES    
42 23/01/1832 Benjamin BENNETT     Sarah FRANCIS    
43 08/08/1832 Thomas PRICE   Wentnor Sarah THOMAS    
44 09/05/1833 Richard POWLTER Single   Elisabeth JAMES Widow  
45 09/05/1833 Thomas WAINWRIGHT Single   Ann GOFF Single  
46 20/07/1833 James BRUNT Single   Mary MELLINGS Single  
47 02/12/1833 John JONES Single   Elizabeth BEAMOND Single  
48 02/04/1834 Arthur WATTERS Single Hyssington, Montgomeryshire Hannah JONES Single  
49 31/01/1835 Charles JONES Single   Elizabeth COLLINS Single Hyssington, Montgomeryshire
50 24/05/1836 John MELLINGS Single   Anne THOMAS Single  
51 31/05/1836 John HARRIS Widower   Ann RUSCOE Single  
52 20/07/1836 Thomas LEWELLIN Single Church Stoke, Montgomeryshire Mary JONES Single  
53 09/05/1837 Edward NICHOLAS Single Hyssington, Montgomeryshire Hannah WARDMAN Single  

Corrections to Tinstaafl Transcripts