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England Warwickshire  Coventry

Guide to Coventry history, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.



HISTORY
The area around Coventry is located on the fertile, midland central plain of England. This location made it a natural area for development. It is largely flatland, with just a few natural hills. The plain is of a rich alluvial soil, and has been used for farming since mankind has located there.

Coventry itself is an ancient city that predates Birmingham and Leicester. It is likely that Coventry grew from a settlement of the Bronze Age near the present-day city center where Coventry's bowl-shaped topography and, at that time large flowing river and lakes, created the ideal settlement area, with mild weather and thick woods: food, water and shelter would have been easily found.

The Romans founded another settlement in Baginton and another formed around a Saxon nunnery in about 700 AD. This settlement and its surrounds was left in ruins by the attack of King Canute.

Leofric, Earl of Mercia and his wife Lady Godiva built on the remains of the nunnery and founded a Benedictine monastery in 1043 dedicated to St Mary. In time, a market was established at the abbey gates and the settlement expanded.

By the 14th century, Coventry was an important center of the cloth trade, and throughout the Middle Ages was one of the largest and most important cities in England. Coventry claimed the status of a city by ancient prescriptive usage, was granted a charter of incorporation in 1345, and in 1451 became a county in its own right.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, Coventry became one of the three main British centers of watch and clock manufacture and ranked alongside Prescot, in Lancashire and Clerkenwell in London. As the industry declined, due mainly to competition from Swiss Made clock and watch manufacturers, the skilled pool of workers proved crucial to the setting up of bicycle manufacture and eventually the motorbicycle, car, machine tool and aircraft industries.

In the late 19th century, Coventry became a major center of bicycle manufacture. The industry energized by the invention by James Starley and his nephew John Kemp Starley of the Rover safety bicycle, which was safer and more popular than the pioneering penny-farthing. The company became Rover. By the early 20th century, bicycle manufacture had evolved into motor manufacture, and Coventry became a major center of the British motor industry. The design headquarters of Jaguar Cars is in the city at their Whitley plant and although vehicle assembly ceased at the Browns Lane plant in 2004, Jaguar's head office returned to the city in 2011, and is also sited in Whitley. Today Jaguar is owned by the Indian company, Tata Motors.

During WWII, Coventry was the second most bombed city behind London. If analyzed based on area and population size, it becomes the most damaged city in England, due to the concentration of heavy industries in the area.

Cemeteries (Civil)
The City of Coventry maintains 2 cemeteries. The following web site lists addresses and contact information:


 * Coventry City cemeteries

Parishes
The Diocese of Coventry contains a list of Coventry churches. The web site follows:


 * Coventry Diocese

Non Conformists
Christian Churches:

Calvinists Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Congregationalists Eastern Orthodox Jehovah's Witnesses Lutherans Methodists Plymouth Brethren Presbyterians Roman Catholics Seventh Day Adventists

In addition, a number of non Christian churches are found within the city:

Buddhists Hindus Muslims Sikhs

Civil registration
The Coventry city office for BMD data follows:

Address: Cheylesmore Manor House Manor House Dr Coventry CV1 2ND, UK Phone: +44 24 7683 3141


 * Coventry Register Office


 * Midlands BMD office


 * Staffordshire BMD

Local Histories

 * A short history of Coventry


 * Historic Coventry

The Illustrated History of Coventry's Suburbs by David McGory. Available at Amazon.com

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Google Map of Coventry


 * Coventry Gazetteer


 * Coventry Transport Museum Gazetteer

Newspapers

 * The Coventry Telegraph


 * The Coventry Observer


 * Search Old Newspapers for Coventry

Occupations
Coventry's main industries include: cars, electronic equipment, machine tools, agricultural machinery, man-made fibers, aerospace components and telecommunications equipment. In recent years, the city has moved away somewhat from manufacturing industries towards business services, finance, research, design and development, creative industries as well as logistics and leisure. However Coventry is probably still the central city for heavy industry in the UK.

General Electric Company, Associated Electrical Company, British Oxygen Company, Aston Martin cars, Land Rover, and Jaguar are all examples of companies tied closely to Coventry.

Societies
Coventry Family History Society.

Address: 'Old Coventrians' Tile Hill Lane Coventry
 * Coventry family History Society


 * Genuki Warwickshire


 * Ancestry.com Warwickshire

Archives
Coventry History Center and Local Archives

Address: Herbert Art Gallery and Museum Jordan Well Coventry CV1 5QP Tel: 024 7623 7578


 * National Archives for Coventry


 * British Newspaper Archives for Coventry


 * Coventry History Center and Archives

Websites

 * Genuki Warwickshire


 * Genealogy Today