Gornal, Staffordshire Genealogy

England Staffordshire



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.

See West Midlands BMD and Staffordshire BMD

Church records
Lower Gornal St james ; for earlier regiseters see Sedgley,_Staffordshire

Dudley Archives has deposited Parish registers Bap 1823-1964 Marr 1838-1950 (Microfilm until 1937) Bur 1823-1958

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
Dudley 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