Oldbury, Worcestershire Genealogy

England Worcestershire



Parish History
Oldbury is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Worcestershire, created in 1715 from Halesowen, Worcestershire Ancient Parish.

OLDBURY, a township, in the parish of HalesOwen, union of West Bromwich, Upper division of the hundred of Halfshire, Hales-Owen and E. divisions of Worcestershire, 4 miles (N. N. E.) from Hales-Owen; containing 7301 inhabitants. This place is situated in the heart of a district abounding with ironstone and coal, which are raised for the supply of the neighbourhood. The iron-trade is carried on to a very considerable extent, and there are some steel-works and alkali-works. The Birmingham canal, which nearly surrounds the town or village, affords a facility of conveyance to the principal towns in the vicinity. The old part of the town is irregular, but the more modern streets are spacious, and contain some highly respectable shops and houses; the whole is lighted with gas from the works at West Bromwich, and the inhabitants are supplied with fine spring water from the Fountain Well, an inclosed reservoir on the north side of the town. Courts leet and baron are held annually; and there is a prison for the confinement of debtors: the powers of the county debt-court of Oldbury, established in 1847, extend over part of the registration-districts of West Bromwich and King's Norton. Here is a church, erected by grant from the Parliamentary Commissioners, and by voluntary contributions; it was opened in 1841, and is in the later English style, with a tower, and capable of accommodating upwards of 1500 persons. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £156; patron, the Vicar of Hales-Owen; impropriator, Lord Lyttleton. The great tithes, including those of Langley, have been commuted for £123. 5., and the vicarial for £158. 19. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, Wesleyans, and others. Edmund Darby, in the year 1659, bequeathed lands for various charitable uses, among which were the erection and endowment of a school.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 472-476. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51192 Date accessed: 03 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 West Midlands BMD and Staffordshire BMD

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

Census records
Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

Poor Law Unions
West Bromwich 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 Worcestershire 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
Worcester Branch of the Birmingham and Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.