England
& Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages
1754 - 1837
Handsworth St Mary
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England
& Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index |
The ParishThe parish of Handsworth lies in the extreme south of Staffordshire forming an extensive stretch of the border with neighbouring Warwickshire. Handsworth is sited about 3 miles north west of the city of Birmingham and is, today, one of the suburbs of this vast metropolis. Pevsner's 1966 edition of Warwickshire included Handsworth as it had been added to the Birmingham Metropolitan area in 1911, this edition described the original Handsworth as "a large parish with no defined village centre, the population widely dispersed in farms and cottages"; a bucolic Handsworth far removed from today's sea of housing and industry. The A41 heads northwestwards out of Birmingham heading for Wolverhampton, much of the original Handsworth lies to the northeast of this road. Once a farming district with a mixed farming regime offering both pastoral and arable farming, the industrial revolution brought industry to the parish. Pre-industrial revolution it had evolved into a genteel suburb where retired industrialist from Birmingham lived out a rural idyll, this was not to last as those same founded metal bashing industries in the parish. No mention of Handsworth would be complete without mentioning William Boulton who established a highly lucrative mint in the parish . The arrival of railways in 1837 sparked a spectacular growth in population and area of development resulting in today's suburb which is contiguous with the Greater Birmingham Metropolitan area. Handsworth is drained by the River Teme which heads east and then north to reach the Trent near Alrewas, here continues a long journey to reach the North Sea through the Humber Estuary. Handsworth is sited at around 110 metres above the sea by the church, land rises westwards away from the Teme reaching 160 metres within a couple of miles. Handsworth parish was extensive for a lowland parish, covering almost 7,600 acres it was more reminiscent in size to a northern, upland, parish. Within that parish the population grew immensely, the volume of marriages in the first 40 years of this transcript is consistent with a population of close to 6,000 parishioners, by the end it was many times more. In Domeday times Handsworth was a small and relatively insignificant holding of one William the son of Ansculf, a meagre 10 households were supported by 3 ploughs, small meadows and woodland but there was a mill. |
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St Mary's church lies in the area marked on Ordnance Survey maps as
Handsworth Wood, it sits on the western side of the B4124, Hamstead
Road opposite its junction with Church Hill Road. This church has
received so much modification in the 19th century that even Pevsner
found it difficult to tease out its architectural history. The
underlying fabric dates back to the cusp of 12th and 13th century, a
period when the Decorated style of architecture was fashionable.
This style predominates throughout being replicated by its Victorian
restorers. There are influences from the Perpendicular period of the
15th century notably the upper stage of the tower, which is
something of a curiosity being placed to the south of the main body
rather than in the traditional western position. It is to the
Georgian and Victorian restorers, however, that much of the building
is owed. Restorations in 1820, 1826 & the 1870s saw huge change
to the building turning it into what Pevsner described as "Gothick".
For students of the industrial revolution St Mary has a great
significance being the final resting of not only Boulton# but also
Watt. It is in the side-street of Church Hill Road that visitors
should seek parking. The church sits in an extensive site behind a
tall brick wall with a churchyard having no obstacles to
photography. |
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| Register No | Covering Dates | Deposited With | Register Style | Quality Standard | Comments |
| 1 |
29th May 1754 - 16th July 1776 |
Birmingham City Archives - Reference - EP86/3/1 |
Standard preprinted and self-numbered combined Banns &
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 |
Fading of this register may lead to one or two misreads |
| 2 | 29th July 1776 - 24th August 1788 | Birmingham City Archives - Reference - EP86/3/2 | 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 |
| 3 | 26th August 1788 - 29th March 1804 | Birmingham City Archives - Reference - EP86/3/3 | Standard preprinted and self-numbered Marriage register with 4 entries per page | Grade 5 Register - the condition of this register is such that the transcript carries a "health warning" as to the likelihood of being substantially incorrect | This register is so badly faded that many entries are unreadable or at best pure guesswork, the BTs were consulted to attempt to fix missing information but there will be errors throughout due to the poor condition of this register and the BTs. Users should treat with complete caution despite the best efforts of the transcriber. |
| 4 | 2nd April 1804 - 29th December 1812 | Birmingham City Archives - Reference - EP86/3/4 | 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 | Fading of this register may lead to one or two misreads |
| 5 | 8th January 1813 - 28th December 1815 | Birmingham City Archives - Reference - EP86/3/5 | Standard Rose style preprinted and prenumbered Marriage register | Grade 3 Register - there are sufficient quality issues with this register to indicate that some misreads will occur albeit few in number | Fading of this register may lead to one or two misreads |
| 6 | 3rd January 1816 - 1st November 1819 | Birmingham City Archives - Reference - EP86/3/6 | Nonstandard Rose style preprinted Marriage register, it is nonstandard in not being pre-stamped with its numbering that being left to the clerk to complete | Grade 3 Register - there are sufficient quality issues with this register to indicate that some misreads will occur albeit few in number | Fading of this register may lead to one or two misreads |
| 7 | 1st November 1819 - 19th April 1824 | Birmingham City Archives - Reference - EP86/3/7 | Nonstandard Rose style preprinted Marriage register, it is nonstandard in not being pre-stamped with its numbering that being left to the clerk to complete | Grade 2 Register - not a perfect read but with a low likelihood of misreads | None |
| 8 | 19th April 1824 - 31st December 1827 | Birmingham City Archives - Reference - EP86/3/8 | Standard Rose style preprinted and prenumbered Marriage register | Grade 2 Register - not a perfect read but with a low likelihood of misreads | None |
| 9 | 31st December 1827 - 1st September 1831 | Birmingham City Archives - Reference - EP86/3/9 | Standard Rose style preprinted and prenumbered Marriage register | Grade 1 Register - Few issues noted and a low likelihood of misreads | None |
| 10 | 1st September 1831 - 14th April 1834 | Birmingham City Archives - Reference - EP86/3/10 | Standard Rose style preprinted and prenumbered Marriage register | Grade 1 Register - Few issues noted and a low likelihood of misreads | None |
| 11 | 14th April 1834 - 13th June 1836 | Birmingham City Archives - Reference - EP86/3/11 | Standard Rose style preprinted and prenumbered Marriage register | Grade 2 Register - not a perfect read but with a low likelihood of misreads | None |
| 12 | 16th June 1836 - 28th June 1837 | Birmingham City Archives - Reference - EP86/3/12 | Standard Rose style preprinted and prenumbered Marriage register | Grade 1 Register - Few issues noted and a low likelihood of misreads | None |
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West
Bromwich All Saints
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Sutton
Coldfield Holy Trinity, Warwickshire
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West
Bromwich All Saints
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Sutton
Coldfield Holy Trinity, Warwickshire
Aston St Peter & St Paul, Warwickshire |
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Harborne
St Peter
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Birmingham
St Philip, Warwickshire
Birmingham St Martin, Warwickshire |
Birmingham
St Philip, Warwickshire
Birmingham St Martin, Warwickshire |
Yearly date links: 1754
1755 1756
1757 1758
1759 1760
1761 1762
1763 1764
1765 1766
1767 1768
1769 1770
1771 1772
1773 1774
1775 1776
1777 1778
1779 1780
1781 1782
1783 1784
1785 1786
1787 1788
1789 1790
1791 1792
1793 1794
1795 1796
1797 1798
1799 1800
1801 1802
1803 1804
1805 1806
1807 1808
1809 1810
1811 1812
1813 1814
1815 1816
1817 1818
1819 1820
1821 1822
1823 1824
1825 1826
1827 1828
1829 1830
1831 1832 1833
1834 1835
1836 1837
Corrections to Tinstaafl Transcripts