Worcester St Oswald's Hospital, Worcestershire Genealogy

Guide to Worcester St Oswald's Hospital, Worcestershire ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
Worcester St Oswald's was a chapel attached to St Oswalds Hospital. Although the foundation of the hospital is usually ascribed to St. Oswald himself, there is no charter or evidence existing to prove the truth of the statement. The first mention of the house comes when it had already become a hospital, when in 1268 William de Beauchamp left 10s. for the infirm of the hospital of St. Oswald. In 1296 William de Molendiniis, who was also a benefactor of St. Wulstan's hospital, died before he could finish the church he was building to St. Oswald, evidently in connexion with the hospital. In 1539 Nicholas Udal, then master of the hospital, leased the same with the chapel, chapel yard, etc., to John Hereford. Thus the house was saved from the ordinary dissolution, although its revenue was alienated. The advowson of the chapel was granted in 1542 to the dean and chapter of Worcester. From this time the hospital,having lost its ecclesiastical aspect, has survived as a charitable institution, which exists at the present day practically on the lines of its reorganization in 1664 and 1753. The hospital was rebuilt in 1873.

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
The original records are held at the Worcestershire Record Office, City Centre Branch (otherwise known as the "Worcestershire Library and History Centre) Trinity Street Worcester WR1 2PW England Tel: 01905 765922 Fax: 01905 765925 Email: [mailto:WLHC@worcestershire.gov.uk WLHC@worcestershire.gov.uk ] Website: www.worcestershire.gov.uk/records/" For complete information, including map and hours of operation, see www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archon/searches/locresult_details.asp?LR=781

The Family History Library has microfilmed the parish registers and the bishop's transcripts. To find the microfilm numbers for the parish registers, look in the FamilySearch Catalog under England, Worcester, Worcester and find St. Oswald's Hospital mixed in with other parishes for the city of Worcester. The Bishop's Transcripts for Worcester are not filed by parish, but by year for the whole county. Thus, each year's transcripts are on a different microfilm. An FHL finding aid giving FHL film numbers by parish is available as FHL book 942.4 K29bt, also available on microfiche at Family History Centers, fiche 6035756 (2 fiches).

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

Websites
Worcester Branch of the Birmingham and Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.