Elford, Staffordshire Genealogy

Parish History
Elford St Peter is an Ancient Parish.

ELFORD (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Lichfield, S. division of the hundred of Offlow and of the county of Stafford, 5 miles (E. by N.) from Lichfield; containing 434 inhabitants. It is said to have derived its name from the great number of eels with which the river here formerly abounded. Before the Conquest the manor belonged to Earl Algar, and in the reign of Henry III. was held by William de Alderne, whose descendants continued to enjoy it until the marriage of the heiress of Sir John Alderney with the Stanleys, when the property passed to that family. It afterwards came by a succession of female heirs to the Stantons, Smiths, Huddlestons, and Bowes family, with which last it remained for several generations, and from which it devolved, also by marriage, to the Howards. The parish is bounded on the south-west by the river Tame, and comprises about 1800 acres of highly cultivated land, most of which was open common until 1766; the surface is gently undulated, and the soil a rich loam, mostly arable. Elford Hall is a handsome mansion, erected about 1758. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £13. 6. 8., and in the patronage of the family of Howard; income, arising from 240 acres of glebe, £405. The church is a fine old edifice, and has an ancient stained-glass window, brought from the continent in 1828, representing Christ turning the Water into Wine. A school, now conducted on the national plan, was founded in the reign of James I. by the Rev. John Hill. Two lowes here, evidently sepulchral, were probably the burial-places of the slain in some battle fought during the Saxon heptarchy.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 154-158. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50943 Date accessed: 13 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
Deposited parish registers at Staffordshire Record Office Bap 1558-2006 Mar 1558- 2005 Bur 1558-2006 Lichfield Record Office holdings of Bishop's Transcripts Bap1663-1864 Mar 1663-1845, 1871 Bur 1663-1864

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.