Swarkestone, Derbyshire Genealogy

England Derbyshire



Parish History
Swarkestone St James is an Ancient Parish.

SWARKESTONE (St. James), a parish, in the union of Shardlow, hundred of Repton and Gresley, S. division of the county of Derby, 5 miles (S. by E.) from Derby; containing 321 inhabitants. It was distinguished during the civil war by the efforts of Colonel Hastings, in 1643, to secure the passage of the Trent for the royalists; for which purpose he threw up some works at Swarkestone bridge, and placed a garrison in the house of Sir John Harpur here, which he fortified; but Sir John Gell, marching hither with Sir George Gresley's troops, after an obstinate defence, succeeded in driving the garrison from their post, and obtained the pass of the river for the parliamentarians. In 1745, some of the troops belonging to the Pretender's army came as far as the foot of Swarkestone bridge, but they returned to the army at Derby, not daring to cross the bridge. The parish comprises about 850 acres, the soil of which is a gravelly loam. The village is pleasantly situated on the river; the bridge is 1304 yards in length, comprising additional arches beyond the span of the stream, to secure a passage over the low grounds, which are usually flooded in winter. The Trent and Mersey canal is here joined by the Derby canal. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £5; net income, £182; patron, Sir John Harpur Crewe, Bart. The tithes have been commuted for land, and there is a rectoryhouse. The church is a small Norman edifice, consisting of a nave, chancel, and pinnacled tower; the body was rebuilt in 1828-9: here are monuments to the Rolleston and Harpur families.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 283-286. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51322 Date accessed: 10 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.

Shardlow registration District GRO volumes : XIX (1837-51); 7b (1852-1946); 3A (1946-74).

Registers are now held at The Register Office, Royal Oak House, Market Place, Derby, DE1 3AR. Tel: 01332 256526/35/36. Fax: 01332 256525. E-mail: registeroffice@derby.gov.uk

Church records
Derbyshire Record Office referenceD 1929 has deposited registers Bap 1604_2000 Mar 1604-1756, 1760-2001 Burials 1604-1975 Banns 1760-1789, 1827-1970

Lichfield Record Office has deposited Bishop's Transcripts Bap 1663-1868Mar 1663-1835 Burials 1663-1868

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

Poor Law Unions
Shardlow Poor Law Union, Derbyshire

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Derbyshire 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.