Bournemouth (city), Hampshire Genealogy

Guide to Bournemouth history, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.



History
While Bournemouth was relocated a number of times by the British Government in the late twentieth century, it was always historically part of Hampshire, and has been left with its historic county.

Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town on the south coast of England directly to the east of the Jurassic Coast, a 96-mile (155 km) World Heritage Site. Bournemouth is about 94 miles (151 km) southwest of London. The borough borders the neighboring boroughs of Poole and Christchurch to the west and east respectively and the East Dorset District to the north.

The word bourne, meaning a small stream, is a derivative of burna, old English for a brook. From the latter half of the 16th century "Bourne Mouth" seems to be preferred, being recorded as such in surveys and reports of the period, but this appears to have been shortened to "Bourne" after the area had started to develop.

Bronze Age burials near Moordown, and the discovery of Iron Age pottery on the East Cliff in 1969, suggest there may have been settlements there during that period. Hengistbury Head, added to the borough in 1932, was the site of a much older Palaeolithic encampment.

In the 12th century the region around the mouth of the River Bourne was part of the Hundred of Holdenhurst. The hundred later became the Liberty of Westover when it was also extended to include the settlements of North Ashley, Muscliff, Muccleshell, Throop, Iford, Pokesdown, Tuckton and Wick, and incorporated into the Manor of Christchurch. Although the Dorset and Hampshire region surrounding it had been the site of human settlement for thousands of years, Westover was largely a remote and barren heathland before 1800. In 1574 the Earl of Southampton noted that the area was "Devoid of all habitation", and as late as 1795 the Duke of Rutland recorded that "... on this barren and uncultivated heath there was not a human to direct us".

Anticipating that people would come to the area to indulge in the newly fashionable pastime of sea-bathing, an activity with perceived health benefits, Tregonwell built a series of villas on his land between 1816 and 1822, which he hoped to let out. The common belief that pine-scented air was good for lung conditions, and in particular tuberculosis, prompted Tregonwell and Tapps to plant hundreds of pine trees. These early attempts to promote the town as a health resort meant that by the time Tregonwell had died in 1832, Bournemouth had grown into a small community with a scattering of houses, villas and cottages. The town would ultimately grow up around the scattered pines and tree-lined walk to the beach, later to become known as the Invalids' Walk.

The Bournemouth Improvement Act of 1856 granted greater financial autonomy to the town and a pier was approved that year. A number of wooden structures were built before an 838 feet (255 m) cast iron design by Eugenius Birch was completed in 1880. Under the Act, a board of 13 Commissioners was established to build and organize the expanding infrastructure of the town, such as paving, sewers, drainage, street lighting and street cleaning.

The arrival of the railways in 1870 precipitated a massive growth in seaside and summer visitors to the town, especially from the Midlands and London. In 1880 the town had a population of 17,000, but by 1900, when railway connections to Bournemouth were at their most developed, the town's population had risen to 60,000 and it had become a favorite location for visiting artists and writers. The town was improved greatly during this period through the efforts of Sir Merton Russell-Cotes, the town's mayor and a local philanthropist, who helped to establish the town's first library and museum. The Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum was housed in his mansion, and after his death it was given to the town. Bournemouth became a municipal borough in 1890 and a county borough in 1900.

The town escaped heavy bombing during the Second World War, but the sea front incurred great damage when it was fortified against invasion. The cast iron lampposts and benches along the front were removed and melted down for munitions, as was much of the superstructure from both Bournemouth and Boscombe piers before they were breached to prevent their use by enemy ships. The large amounts of barbed wire and anti-tank obstacles along the beach, and the mines at the foot of the chines, took two years to remove when peace was finally achieved.

In 1993, the IRA orchestrated a terrorist attack in the town center. The only injuries sustained were minor ones but over £1 million in damage was caused.

Cemeteries (Civil)
The Bournemouth Government office relating to Cemeteries and Crematoria follows:


 * Bournemouth Council: Cemeteries and Crematoria

Wimborne Road Cemetery Wimborne Rd Bournemouth BH9 2EG Phone: +44 1202 526238

Kinson Cemetery 28 S Kinson Dr Bournemouth BH11 8AB

North Cemetery and Crematorium 27 Strouden Ave Bournemouth BH8 9HX Phone: +44 1202 526238

East Cemetery Bournemouth BH7 6LP

For help in finding specific graves, consider using the following:


 * FindAGrave: Wimborne Road Cemetery


 * FindAGrave: East Cemetery


 * Commonwealth War Graves Commission: Bournemouth Cemeteries

Parishes
St Peter's Church address: 4 Hinton Rd Bournemouth BH1 2EE Phone: +44 1202 290986

St Saviour's Church address: 32 Colemore Rd Bournemouth BH7 6RZ Phone: +44 1202 430078

St Francis of Assisi Church address: Charminster Road Bournemouth BH8 9SH Phone: +44 1202 529336

St Barnabas' Church address: Mount Pleasant Dr Bournemouth BH8 9JN Phone: +44 1202 430078

St Michael's Church address: Poole Rd Bournemouth BH2 5QU Phone: +44 1202 556645

St John the Evangelist Church address: Holdenhurst Village Rd Bournemouth BH8 0EE Phone: +44 1202 247588

St Andrew's Church address: 53 Bennett Rd Bournemouth BH8 8QQ Phone: +44 1202 397452

St Christopher's Church address: Arnewood Rd Bournemouth BH6 5DW Phone: +44 1202 418394

St Thomas' Parish Church Church address: 5 Western Ave Bournemouth BH10 Phone: +44 1202 519735

St Mark's Church address: Talbot Village Wallisdown Rd Bournemouth BH10 4HY Phone: +44 1202 529349

Christ Church, Westbourne Church address: Alumhurst Rd Bournemouth BH4 8EL Phone: +44 1202 760952

Non Conformists
Other Christian and non-christian groups follow:


 * Baptist
 * Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
 * Destiny Life Church
 * First Church of Christ Scientist
 * Jehovah's Witness
 * Methodist
 * Presbyterian
 * Roman Catholic

Non Christian groups that meet regularly in Bournemouth include:


 * Buddhist
 * Hindu
 * Jewish
 * Muslim
 * Sikh

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. Bournemouth Town Council does have its own BMD source. The following links provide access for Bournemouth:


 * Bournemouth Borough BMD records


 * UKBMD: Bournemouth


 * FreeBMD: Bournemouth

Local Histories

 * VisitBournemouth: History


 * LocalHistories: Bournemouth


 * Just Bournemouth by Keith Rawlings


 * Bournemouth Then and Now by John Needham

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Google Maps: Bournemouth


 * Oldmapsonline: Bournemouth


 * Bournemouth street map


 * Bournemouth Gazetteer


 * History and Gazetteer for Hampshire

Newspapers

 * Bournemouth Daily Echo

Societies

 * Hampshire Family History Society


 * Dorset Family History Society


 * Bournemouth.2day: Family History


 * Bournemouth and District Family History Group

Archives

 * Bournemouth University Archives Hub


 * The National Archives: Bournemouth Library


 * Hampshire.gov: Archives


 * Dorset County Archives

Websites
Because of the major changes the UK Government has recently made relative to Bournemouth's county associations, both Hampshire's and Dorset's websites are listed below.


 * Wikipedia: Bournemouth


 * Bournemouth Borough Council


 * Hampshire County Council


 * Dorset County Council