Gentleshaw, Staffordshire Genealogy

Parish History
Gentleshaw is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Staffordshire, created in 1840 from Longdon Ancient Parish and Cannock Ancient Parish. Other places in the parish include: Gentleshaw, Cannock, Cannock Wood, Hednesford and Leacroft.

In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Gentleshaw like this:

GENTLESHAWE, a chapelry in Longdon and Cannock parishes, Stafford; in Cannock Chase, 4 miles E of Cannock r. station, and 5 S of Rugeley. It was constituted in 1840; and it has a post office under Rugeley. Rated property, £1, 400. Pop., 625. Houses, 138. Pop. of the Longdon portion, 311. Houses, 73. The property is divided among a few. The surface is aggregately very high; and includes the eminence of Castlehill, which commands a view of parts of nine counties. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £100.* Patron, alternately the Bishop of Lichfield and the Dean and Chapter. The church was reported in 1859 to need repair.

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
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
Penkridge 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.