Lydbury North, Shropshire Genealogy

Guide to Lydbury North, Shropshire ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish register transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
LYDBURY, NORTH (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Clun, hundred of Purslow, S. division of Shropshire, 3 miles (S. E.) from Bishop's-Castle.

At the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, the priest was William the Clerk. The current stone church, dedicated to St Michael and All Angels, was built in the 12th and 13th centuries, and about 1580, the Bishop exchanged the parish with Elizabeth I for other properties.

Henry III granted a Charter to the town of Lydbury North providing for a weekly Market every Friday and an annual Fair 28-30th August.

In 1662, John Shipman bequeathed £200 towards the support of a free school. This parochial school for boys and girls was supported by an annual endowment of £16 plus voluntary contributions. It was based in the school room above the Walcot Chapel in the church until the present school was built in 1843.

The Countess of Powis established a free library for the benefit of those residing in the parish. The parish had annual charities worth £58 in 1863.

Walcot Park was built by Lord Clive of India and still contains extensive collections of Indian curiosities. It is a brick building set in extensive grounds and was the occasional residence of the Earl of Powis.

Plowden Hall is the seat of the Roman Catholic Plowden family. It is an ancient wooden building containing a fine collection of family portraits. A Roman Catholic chapel with residence for the priest and a school was erected in 1868.

Totterton Hall is a modern brick building which was the seat of the Bright family, vicars to Lydbury North in the 19th century.

About a mile and a half from the town of Lydbury North is Bury Ditches, the well preserved remains of an Iron Age hill fort, now under the control of English Heritage.

The rivers Onny and Kemp run through the parish.

Census Records
The parish of Lydbury North formed part of the Clun Registrar's District.

Civil Records
Births, marriages and deaths in Lydbury North are recorded in the GRO indexes as:

Church Records
Lydbury North parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

Websites
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SAL/LydburyNorth/index.html


 * Lydbury North Church website
 * Census Returns (1841-1901)
 * Monumental Inscriptions (1667-1949)
 * 1851 Samuel Bagshaw's History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Shropshire
 * 1868 Slater's Royal National Commercial Directory and Topography of the Counties of Gloucester, Hereford, Monmouth, Shropshire and North and South Wales, and of the City of Chester
 * 1871 Edward Cassey's History, Gazetteer and Directory of Shropshire
 * 1880 Slater's Royal National Commercial Directory of North and South Wales, Monmouthshire, Shropshire and the Cities of Bristol and Chester
 * 1891 Kelly's Directory of Shropshire
 * 1895 Kelly's Directory of Herefordshire and Shropshire