Trentham, Staffordshire Genealogy

England Staffordshire

Parish History
Trentham St Mary and All Saints is an Ancient Parish.

TRENTHAM (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Stone, N. division of the hundred of Pirehill and of the county of Stafford; containing, with the two chapelries or parishes of Blurton with Lightwood-Forest, and Handford, and the townships of Butterton, ClaytonGriffith, and Handchurch, 2567 inhabitants, of whom 655 are in Trentham township, 4 miles (S. S. E.) from Newcastle. This place, anciently Trichingham, at a very early period of the Saxon era had a small nunnery, of which St. Werburga, sister of Ethelred, King of Mercia, was abbess. She died in 683, and the establishment appears to have subsequently gone to decay; but in the 12th century it was refounded as a priory, for canons of the order of St. Augustine, by the second Earl of Chester; and its possessions were augmented by several of his successors, so that at its dissolution in the reign of Henry VIII., it was valued at £121. 3. 2. per annum. The revenue arose chiefly from land in the vicinity, which was granted by the king to William, Duke of Suffolk, and which was subsequently purchased, together with the site of the priory, by the Leveson family, whose heiress carried their large possessions to the family of Gower. The parish, which altogether comprises 7236a. 1r. 3p. of land, was lately divided into three distinct and separate parishes, under the 16th section of the act 58th George III. The Trent and Mersey canal passes through the district, and the road from Newcastle to Stone also intersects it. The village is small but handsome, and lies on the east bank of the river Trent, whence the name of the parish. Trentham Hall, the superb mansion of the Duke of Sutherland, is delightfully situated near the village and the river. It was erected somewhat more than a century ago, after the model of the then Buckingham House, in St. James' Park; but was considerably altered and improved by the first Marquess of Stafford, from the chaste and elegant designs of Holland, who gave new and magnificent features to the whole. The building is constructed chiefly of brick, the front being covered with Egyptian cement, similar to stone; the interior harmonizes with the splendid exterior, and the fine suite of state apartments contain a most valuable collection of paintings, though his grace's picture-gallery is at his town residence. The park comprises 500 acres, with extensive gardens and pleasure-grounds. The river expands within it into a fine lake, whose banks are in some places thickly covered with trees, that hang over the margin of the water, and produce a picturesque effect. Near the eastern side of the mansion is an orangery, close to which the lake is crossed by a handsome iron bridge of one arch 90 feet in span. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £113; patron and impropriator, the Duke of Sutherland. The church, which was originally a part of the monastery already mentioned, stands close to the Hall, and is a small edifice accommodating about 450 persons: the tower was taken down about a century since. Besides this church and the churches of Blurton and Handford, is an incumbency at Butterton. Near the high road is a mausoleum erected by the late duke as the family cemetery, a massive pyramidal pile of stone, two stories in height, the upper part having a bell, and surmounted by a cross: in the interior are twenty catacombs on each side, faced with marble, and an apartment for the funeral service. Lady Katharine Leveson in 1670 left £400 for instruction; the interest, £20 yearly, is paid by the duke to a schoolmaster, who teaches all the poor children of the parish at reduced charges. The same lady left £30 per annum towards clothing and maintaining three widows, and £20 a year for apprenticing boys. There are several other charities. Trentham gives the title of Viscount to the Duke of Sutherland.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 390-392. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51353 Date accessed: 04 May 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 Staffordshire BMD

Church records
Trentham St Mary and All Saints Ancient Parish

Deposited parish registers at Staffordshire Record Office Bap 1558-1950 Mar1558-1956 Bur 1558-1947 Lichfield Record Office holdings of Bishop's Transcripts Bap 1670-1852 Mar 1670-1852 Bur 1670-1852

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Poor Law Unions
Stone 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
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
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Web sites
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