Norton Canes, Staffordshire Genealogy

Parish History
Norton Canes is an Ancient Parish in the county of Staffordshire. Other places in the parish include: Little Wyrley and Brownhills.

NORTON-UNDER-CANNOCK (St. Margaret), a parish, in the union of Penkridge, S. division of the hundred of Offlow and of the county of Stafford, 8½ miles (W. by S.) from Lichfield; containing, with the township of Little Wyrley, 755 inhabitants. The parish comprises 4077a. 2r. 14p., of which 2529 acres are inclosed, and the remainder open common. It abounds with coal and ironstone, and of the former, which is of excellent quality, there is an extensive mine in operation at Brown Hills, opened about a century ago, and the property of the Hussey family, leased to William Hanbury and Son: clay, also, for brick-making, is obtained in abundance. The Wyrley and Essington canal passes through the parish. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £94; patron, the Bishop of Lichfield: the tithes have been commuted for £353. 16. The church is a handsome structure of Tixall stone, with a tower and pinnacles; it was built by subscription, in 1832, at a cost of £1220. R. Gildart and P. Hussey, Esqrs., in 1776 founded a school, and, with the consent of the freeholders, inclosed 55 acres of land from the common, for the purpose of increasing the endowment, as well as the stipend of the minister: out of the rent, now £40 per annum, £30 are paid to the schoolmaster, and £10 to the minister. There is likewise a school supported by subscription.

WYRLEY, LITTLE, a township, in the parish of Norton-under-Cannock, union of Penkridge, S. division of the hundred of Offlow and of the county of Stafford, 7¼ miles (W. S. W.) from Lichfield; containing 61 inhabitants. This is a township of scattered farms, lying on the Pelsall road. Several persons are employed in the Brownhill coal-mine; the shaft is 90 yards in depth, and the strata three yards thick. Wyrley Grove is the ancient seat of the Husseys, who obtained it in marriage with the heiress of the family of Fowke: the mansion stands at the head of a fine lawn, and is a noble and picturesque specimen of ancient architecture.

From: 'Wyke - Wyvill', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 703-707. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51435

From: 'Norton, Bishop's - Norton, Wood', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 442-446. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51186 Date accessed: 22 March 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.

Church records
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Census records
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Poor Law Unions
Penkridge 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
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
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