Gornal, Staffordshire Genealogy

Parish History
Gornal or Lower Gornall St James is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Staffordshire, created in 1824 from Sedgley, Staffordshire Ancient Parish.

GORNALL, LOWER, an ecclesiastical district, in the parish of Sedgley, union of Dudley, N. division of the hundred of Seisdon, S. division of the county of Stafford, 2 miles (W.) from Dudley; containing 5000 inhabitants. The surface is much undulated; the district abounds with coal-works, and chains and nails are made to a great extent. The church, dedicated to St. James, was built at a cost of £1500, raised by subscription, aided by Queen Anne's Bounty, on a site given by the late Lord Dudley and Ward, by whom, also, the living was endowed with £15 per annum; it was consecrated in 1823, and enlarged in 1837. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of Lord Ward; total income, £150. There are places of worship for Baptists, Primitive Methodists, and Wesleyans; and attached to the church is a national school.

From: 'Goodneston - Gosforth', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 315-319. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50985 Date accessed: 24 March 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.

Church records
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Census records
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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
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