Maer, Staffordshire Genealogy

Parish History
Maer is an Ancient Parish in the county of Staffordshire.Other places in the parish include: Maerway Lane.

MAER (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Newcastle-under-Lyme, N. division of the hundred of Pirehill and of the county of Stafford, 7 miles (S. W.) from Newcastle; containing 559 inhabitants, of whom 287 are in the township of Maer, and 272 in the hamlet of Maerway-Lane. This place derives its name from a natural lake or mere, which occupies about 22 acres, at the foot of the village, and is the source of the Tern. The parish comprises by measurement 2614 acres. On the north side are several rocky hills, rising abruptly to a considerable elevation, and rendered highly picturesque by their summits being covered with plantations. Maer heath, an extensive rugged moor lying west of the village, was inclosed, and divided among the freeholders, upwards of twenty years ago; but a large portion of it is still in a state of nature, and much of it is planted with trees. There are two sandstone-quarries, which are worked for rough building. The Whitmore station on the Liverpool and Birmingham railway is within half a mile. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of Josiah Wedgwood, Esq., who is also impropriator: the great tithes have been commuted for £45, and the small for £160; the glebe comprises about an acre, with a house. The church, mostly rebuilt in 1610, is a neat structure in the later English style, with an embattled tower; in the chancel is a handsome monument to Sir John Bowyer, Knt., and his lady.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 208-216. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51128 Date accessed: 11 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.

See also Staffordshire BMD

Church records
Maer St Peter Ancient Parish

Deposited parish registers at Staffordshire Record Office Bap 1558-1874 Mar 1558-1996 Bur 1558-1909 Lichfield Record Office holdings of Bishop's Transcripts Bap 1674-1873 Mar 1674-1878 Bur 1674-1878

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
Newcastle under Lyme 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
Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.