Willenhall Holy Trinity, Staffordshire Genealogy

England Staffordshire

Parish History
Willenhall Holy Trinity is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Staffordshire, created in 1846 from Wolverhampton St Peter, Staffordshire Ancient Parish. Other places in the parish include: Portobello.

WILLENHALL, a chapelry, in the parish and union of Wolverhampton, S. division of the hundred of Offlow and of the county of Stafford, 3 miles (W.) from Walsall, on the road to Wolverhampton; containing 8695 inhabitants. This place, at the period of the Norman survey, was called Winehala, the Saxon term for victory, probably from the great battle fought near it in 911. The village began to thrive in the reign of Elizabeth, when, from the extensive mines of ironstone and coal in the neighbourhood, the iron manufacture was first established here: at present it is noted for its collieries and its flourishing trade in locks, the latter of which it produces to a greater extent than any other place of its size in Europe. Many other articles of hardware are made, particularly currycombs, gridirons, screws, &amp;c. The township comprises 2050a. 3r. 17p., in nearly equal portions of arable and pasture: the soil varies exceedingly. The Tame brook passes through; also the Wyrley and Essington canal; and the Liverpool and Birmingham railway has a station here. Courts leet and baron are annually held. In the neighbourhood are the remains of an old Hall, the seat of the maternal ancestors of the Duke of Cleveland. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £300; patrons, the Inhabitants: the tithes, which belong to the duke, have been commuted for £640. The chapel, dedicated to St. Giles, was rebuilt about 1748, and repaired in 1844. Two districts, named respectively St. Stephen's and Holy Trinity, were endowed in 1846 by the Ecclesiastical Commission: each contains a population of about 3000, and the living of each is a perpetual curacy; net income, £150; patrons, the Crown and the Bishop of Lichfield, alternately. There are places of worship for Baptists and Wesleyans; and national and British schools.

From: 'Willand - Willian', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 577-579. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51408 Date accessed: 29 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.

See West Midlands BMD and Staffordshire BMD

Church records
Contributor: 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
Contributor: 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
Wolverhampton 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 Rutland 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
Contributor: add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.