Walmley, Warwickshire Genealogy

England   Warwickshire



Parish History
Walmley is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Warwickshire, created in 1845 from Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire Ancient Parish.

The origins of Walmley are unknown, however, it is believed it may have formed as a community for workers at the nearby halls of Langley Hall, New Hall Manor, Penns Hall and Peddimore Hall. It may have originally began at a point near Penns Hall as it had major influence in the area, employing many for its activities in Penns Mill and other industries. A small community of Langley developed on the Fox Hollies Road and was mentioned in the Domesday Book, however, it was nothing more than a hamlet with no church, inn or community meeting centre.

John Vesey, Bishop of Exeter, played a small role in Walmley's early development through the construction of several buildings in the area. These were some of 51 stone cottages built by the Bishop who was concerned with the deteriorating state of Sutton Coldfield as a whole. One of these cottages was the ford keeper's house on the banks of Plants Brook, which enabled travellers to pass along Wylde Green Road and over the ford in safety. The building is now listed.

Walmley developed in the 19th century into a prominent area of Sutton Coldfield. It become one of four ecclesiastical districts formed from the parish of Sutton Coldfield, with the others being Boldmere, Hill and Sutton Coldfield. Walmley's first church, St John the Evangelist Church, was built in 1845. The ecclesiastical parish of Walmley was formed in 1846 with St John the Evangelist Church becoming the parish church. Walmley developed into a ward of the Sutton Corporation, covering an area of 4,424 of the total 13,030 acres (52.7 km2) of Sutton Coldfield. Despite being part of the Sutton Corporation area, Walmley was incorporated into the Erdington postal area. Walmley Ash, in the southern part of Walmley, was incorporated into the Minworth postal area.

Sutton Coldfield...

The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £33. 9. 2., and in the patronage of William Riland Kirkpatrick Bedford, Esq., by whose family the advowson has been held since the year 1691; net income, £2500. The tithes were commuted for land and cornrents in 1824. The church is an ancient structure, originally built in the 12th century, but subsequently enlarged, and combines various styles of architecture; the aisles were added by Bishop Vesey, and part of the nave which fell down about 70 years since has been rebuilt by the corporation, at an expense of £1500. In the chancel is a recumbent figure of the bishop (who died in 1555, at the age of 103, and was buried here), with a mitre on his head, and a crosier in his right hand. There are separate incumbencies at Hill and Warmley, in the parish; and the Roman Catholics have a chapel.

From: 'Sutton-Basset - Sutton-Wick', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 274-280. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51320 Date accessed: 22 February 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

Church records
Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, non conformist 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
Aston Poor Law Union, Warwickshire

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Warwickshire 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