Lichfield Cathedral, Staffordshire Genealogy

England Staffordshire  Staffordshire Parishes

Parish History
LICHFIELD, a city and county of itself, and the headof a union, in the S. divisionof the county of Stafford,16½ miles (S. E. by E.) fromStafford,

The city comprises the parish of St. Mary, containing 2634 inhabitants; part of that of St. Chad, containing 2036; and part of that of St. Michael, containing 1887; also the liberty of the Cathedral Close, which is extra-parochial, with 190 inhabitants. The church is a modern edifice, erected on the site of an ancient structure described by Leland as "right beautiful." The whole parish of St. Chad, including the villages of Elmhurst and Curborough, comprises by measurement 2488 acres; the rural portion of it is in general land of good quality, and in profitable cultivation. The living is a perpetual curacy; patron, the Vicar of St. Mary's; net income, £179. The church, by far the oldest in Lichfield, was rebuilt on the site of an ancient one erected by Bishop Headda, in honour of St. Chad, and near his hermitage. The parish of St. Michael comprises by computation 10,400acres, of which by far the greater portion is arable; about 2000 acres are common, a part of which has been recently inclosed, and the remainder, with the exceptionof a little woodland, is meadow and pasture. Theliving is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of theVicar of St. Mary's, with a net income of £154; appropriators, the Dean and Chapter. The church issituated on an eminence called Greenhill; the nave andaisles were admirably restored in 1842-3, and nowafford exquisite specimens of the decorated and laterstyles of architecture: it contains a tablet with an inscription by Dr. Johnson, to the memory of his parents.The churchyard comprises upwards of seven acres, andis the principal cemetery of the city. At Burntwoodand Wall, in this parish, are chapels, both erected bysubscription; and a district chapel has just been builtat Leamonsley, also in St. Michael's parish. There areplaces of worship in Lichfield for Independents, Wesleyans, and Kilhamites, and Roman Catholics. The freegrammar school appears, from a small endowment payable out of the exchequer, to have been founded byEdward VI.; the school-house was erected in 1692, atthe joint expense of the corporation and the feoffees ofthe Conduit Lands. The master receives from thefeoffees £35 per annum, and the usher £10 from fundsdevised by Henry Beane, in 1546, for this and otherpurposes; the premises are also kept in repair by thefeoffees. An English free school was founded in 1677,by Thomas Minors, who endowed it with a messuage forthe school-house, and rents amounting to about £30 perannum; Andrew Newton, Esq., in 1801 bequeathed inaid of this charity the reversion of the dividends on£3333. 6. 8. three per cent. consols., and the annual income is now upwards of £135. A diocesan trainingestablishment for schoolmasters was founded in 1838.

Lewis, Samuel A., http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51106 A Topographical Dictionary of England] (1848), pp. 78-85. Date accessed: 15 May 2013. Lichfield Cathedral is the seat of the Diocese of Lichfield. It is located in the county of Staffordshire.

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. Staffordshire BMD have indexes for births. Due to March 2011 reorganisation of the registration service for South Staffordshire districts the historical registration indexes for this district have been located at the Newcastle under Lyme registration district (formerly held at Lichfield) and applications for certificates need to be directed there. Please refer to the "Updates" page of Staffordshire BMD for further information.

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

Poor Law Unions
Lichfield 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