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England Stratford Upon Avon (city)

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



HISTORY
Stratford Upon Avon (Stratford) has Anglo-Saxon origins, and developed as a market town during the medieval period. In 1196 Stratford was granted a charter from King Richard I to hold a weekly market in the town, giving it its status as a market town. As a result, Stratford experienced an increase in trade and commerce as well as urban expansion., making Stratford over 800 years old. The name is a combination of the Old English strǣt, meaning "street", and ford, indicating a site at which a road forded a river.

Stratford is located on the broad central alluvial plain of central England. To the west, the land drops off slowly toward the River Severn valley. It is at the lowest place on the River Avon that can be forded at most times of the year. The River Avon itself slowly winds down to Tewkesbury where it enters the Severn River. The districts around Stratford have been famous for generations for fruit tree growing and sheep herding.

During Stratford's early expansion into a town, the only access across the River Avon into and out of the town was over a wooden bridge, thought to have been constructed in 1318. However, the bridge could not be crossed at times due to the river rising and was described by antiquarian John Leland as "a poor bridge of timber and no causey [causeway] to it, whereby many poor folks and other refused to come to Stratford when Avon was up, or coming thither stood in jeopardy of life." In 1480, a new masonry arch bridge was built to replace it called Clopton Bridge, named after Hugh Clopton who paid for its construction. The new bridge made it easier for people to trade within Stratford and for passing travelers to stay in the town.

For most of its history, Stratford lay in the shadow of larger towns and cities in the area. Such places as Warwick, Leamington Spa, and Worcester were of much greater significance. The town itself was the central market town for local produce from neighboring villages such as Snitterfield, Aston Cantlow, Hampton Lucy, and Luddington.

It was not until 1769 when the actor David Garrick organized a 3 day extravaganza of Shakespeare's works, that the phenomenon of "Bardolatry" was started, and that has continued to this day.

Stratford is located on the broad central alluvial plain of England. To the west, the land drops off slowly toward the River Severn valley. It is at the lowest place on the River Avon that can be forded at most times of the year. The River Avon itself slowly winds down to Tewkesbury where it enters the Severn River. The districts around Stratford have been famous for generations for fruit tree growing and sheep herding.

RELIGION
While Stratford is not known for its religious history, it was always a conservative area, but shifted its image to associate with Oliver Cromwell's faction during the civil war. There are a number of critical churches in the town, such as the following:

Stratford-upon-Avon Holy Trinity Church St Gregory's Catholic Church St Andrew's Church Shottery Stratford-upon-Avon United Reformed Church Stratford-upon-Avon Methodist Church

TOURISM
The regular large influx of tourists is the major source of the town's prosperity. In 2010 the District Council spent £298,000 on tourism promotion.

Stratford's only real claim to fame is that it was the birthplace of its most famous resident, William Shakespeare. While not yet a World heritage Center, it is a British Heritage center.

Shakespeare's family actually originated in Snitterfield, a small village approximately 3.5 miles to the east. However his father moved to Stratford before he was born. The family home, shown below, was a large, well built, edifice, demonstrating the family was part of the upper class.



Major tourist attractions within the town include five houses relating to Shakespeare's life, which are owned and cared for by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. These include Hall's Croft (the one-time home of Shakespeare's daughter, Susanna, and her husband Dr. John Hall) and Nash's House, which stands alongside the site of another property, New Place, owned by Shakespeare himself, wherein he died. Near to the town are Anne Hathaway's Cottage at Shottery, the home of Shakespeare's wife's family prior to her marriage, and Mary Arden's House (Palmer's Farm), the family home of his mother.

Other tourist attractions include medieval fairs. Each year on 12 October (unless this is a Sunday, in which case 11 October) Stratford hosts one of the largest mop fairs in the country. Then, on the second Saturday following, the smaller Runaway fair is held.

INDUSTRY
Except for a brief period at the start of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, Stratford has never been considered to be part of the Industrial scene.

Late in the Eighteenth century, The British parliament approved the construction of a narrow lock canal that linked the major manufacturing centers around Birmingham to Stratford.

Goods could now travel directly south to the River Avon, down the River Avon to the River Severn, and thence to Bristol for world-wide transhipment.

This activity did not last for more than about 75 years, as competition from the new railways undercut canal company profits, and very little goods continued to travel the canal system.

Today the Stratford canal is only used for recreational purposes.

CIVIL REGISTRATION
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The following link provides access for Stratford:


 * Stratford Registration office

CENSUS RECORDS

 * Stratford Census Records

PROBATE RECORDS
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. See the following link for Stratford:


 * Probate records

CEMETERIES AND GRAVES

 * Ancestry.com


 * Find A Grave


 * Stratford Cemetery

GENEALOGY SOCIETIES AND GENEALOGY

 * Forebears.io


 * Roots-Boots.net


 * on avon Ancestry.com


 * UK Government Stratford records


 * Genuki for Warwickshire