Hammerwich, Staffordshire Genealogy

Parish History
Hammerwich st John the Baptist is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Staffordshire, created in 1737 from chapelry in Lichfield St Michael, Staffordshire Ecclesiastical Parish.

HAMMERWICH (St. John), a parish, in the union of Lichfield, S. division of the hundred of Offlow and of the county of Stafford, 3 miles (S. W. by W.) from Lichfield; containing 239 inhabitants. This parish, which is on the south-eastern verge of Cannock Chase, comprises about 2000 acres, of which about half is uninclosed common, and the remainder mostly arable, with some pasture and meadow. It stands elevated; the soil is very good, and the scenery extensive and beautiful, embracing views of several counties, with Lichfield cathedral and fourteen churches. There is an excellent stone-quarry, the property of William Middleton, Esq., which supplied the material used in the restoration of the cathedral just mentioned. The manufacture of nails is carried on to a small extent. The Wyrley and Essington canal passes through the parish. The living is a perpetual curacy, net income, £70; patrons, certain Trustees; appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield. The church is a small structure, standing alone upon a verdant eminence: the rent of five houses and about nine acres of land, amounting to upwards of £30 per annum, is appropriated to keeping the edifice in repair. A Sunday school is in connexion with the church; and there are various benefactions for the poor of the parish.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 387-391. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51001 Date accessed: 14 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.

Staffordshire BMD have indexes for births marriages and deaths. Due to March 2011 reorganisation of the registration service for South Staffordshire districts the historical registration indexes for this district have been located at the Newcastle under Lyme registration district (formerly held at Lichfield) and applications for certificates need to be directed there. Please refer to the "Updates" page of Staffordshire BMD for further information.

Church records
Hammerwich St John the Baptist was formed in 1737 and was formerly a chapelry of Lichfield St Mary, Staffordshire until 1729 and of Lichfield St Michael, Staffordshire from 1729-1737 Deposited parish registers at Staffordshire Record Office Bap 1724-1970 Mar 1724-1967 Bur 1724-1950 Lichfield Record Office holdings of Bishop's Transcripts Bap 1727-1865 Mar 1727-1835 Bur 1727-1865

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
Lichfield 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
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
Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.