Birmingham St Philip, Warwickshire Genealogy

England   Warwickshire

Parish History
Birmingham St Philip is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Warwickshire, created in 1708 from Birmingham St Martin, Warwickshire Ancient Parish.Other places in the parish include: Birmingham Christ Church.

The living of St. Philip's is a rectory not in charge; patron, the Bishop of Worcester. The church, erected in 1725, unfortunately of a perishable kind of stone, is a handsome building combining the Corinthian and Doric orders, with a tower supporting a dome surmounted by a cupola; the churchyard, which is very spacious, is surrounded with elegant buildings of modern date.

From: 'Birkenshaw - Birmingham', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 255-263. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50802&amp;amp;strquery=birmingham all saints Date accessed: 23 February 2011.

The Cathedral Church of Saint Philip is the Church of England cathedral and the seat of the Bishop of Birmingham. Built as a parish church and consecrated in 1715, St Philip's became the cathedral of the newly-formed Diocese of Birmingham in the West Midlands in 1905. St Philip's was built in the early 18th century in the Baroque style by Thomas Archer and is located on Colmore Row, Birmingham, England. The cathedral is a Grade I listed building. St Philip's is the third smallest cathedral in England after Derby and Chelmsford.

St Philip's Church was planned when the nearby medieval church of St Martin in the Bull Ring became insufficient to house its congregation because of the growing population of Birmingham. The land, previously named The Barley Close, was donated by Robert Philips in 1710. It is one of the highest points in the district and is said to be at the same level as the cross on St Paul's Cathedral in London. Following an Act of Parliament, construction commenced in 1711, to the design of Thomas Archer, and was ready for consecration in 1715, when it was dedicated to the Apostle Philip as a tribute to the benefactor Robert Philips. It appears to have been Archer's first church, apart from a rebuilt chancel at Chicheley attributed to him. Construction was estimated to cost £20,000, however, the final figure was only £5,012. (£660,000 as of 2011), This was because many of the materials were donated and transported to the site at no cost. St Philip's served as a Parish church from 1715 to 1905.

The church contained a theological library which was bequeathed to the church by the Revd William Higgs. In 1792, a library room was constructed next to the parsonage house by the Revd Spencer Madan and was named the Parochial Library.

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
Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, non conformist 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
Contributor: 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.

Index for the Census may be searched at FamilySearch Historical Records

http://www.1881pubs.com/ for details of public houses in the 1881 census

Poor Law Unions
Birmingham_Poor_Law_Union,_Warwickshire

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Warwickshire 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
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
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