Withiel, Cornwall Genealogy

Guide to Withiel, Cornwall ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
WITHIEL (St. Uvell), a parish, in the union of Bodmin, E. division of the hundred of Pyder and of the county of Cornwall, 5 miles W by S from Bodmin.

Withiel (Cornish: Gwydhyel) St Clement is an Ancient parish in the county of Cornwall. The name Withiel is derived from the Cornish word Gwydhyel, meaning wooded place.

The parish church, dedicated to St Clement, is situated in the village of Withiel and dates back to the 13th century. It has recently had a new roof due to the fundraising efforts of the residents of Withiel and its surrounding area. The modern parish is part of the Roche and Withiel, United Benefice in the Diocese of Truro.

Civil Registration
Births, 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 Free BMD.

Church records
Withiel parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

To find the names of the neighboring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.

Records are also available at the Cornwall Record Office.

Cornwall Online Parish Clerks
An extremely useful resource is the Cornwall Online Parish Clerks page for the parish with a series of images of the church.

Census records
Cornwall Online Census Project

Poor Law Union
Bodmin Poor Law Union

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Cornwall 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
There are many maps and gazetteers showing English places. Valuable websites are:


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Websites
Withiel in GENUKI