Ware, Hertfordshire Genealogy

England   Hertfordshire   Hertfordshire Parishes

Parish History
WARE (St. Mary), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Braughin, county of Hertford, 2¼ miles (E. N. E.) from Hertford, and 21 (N.) from London; containing 4653 inhabitants. This place, anciently called Guare, derived both its origin and name from a weare, or dam, constructed on the river Lea, and strongly fortified by the Danes in 894, in order to defend their vessels, which Alfred, by draining the bed of the river, is said to have stranded. His son Edward built a town here, which was, however, of no importance till the reign of John, when Sayer de Quincy forced the thoroughfare of the bridge over the Lea, by breaking the chain placed there until toll was paid to the king's bailiff at Hertford. This led to the diversion of the northern road through this town, instead of Hertford, which essentially conduced to its prosperity. In the time of Henry III., a tournament was held here by Gilbert Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, in which he was killed; and in the same reign, a Benedictine priory was founded by Margaret, Countess of Leicester, as a cell to the monastery of Ebralf, at Uttica, in Normandy: it was eventually bestowed by Henry V. on the Carthusian monastery of Sheen, in Surrey. Here was also a house of Franciscan friars. The town is situated in a valley, on the east side of the river Lea, and consists of several streets, the principal of them extending about a mile along the high road from London to Cambridge. It is lighted, well supplied with both river and spring water, and is in a state of general improvement. A public library was established in 1795. The place was formerly subject to floods; but by diverting into the river the water that flowed through Baldock-street to near the centre of the town, the inconvenience has been removed. The trade is chiefly in malt, which is made to a very great extent; most of the London breweries are supplied from this town, which has above seventy malting establishments. The river is navigable hence to Hertford and to London, furnishing ample facilities for the conveyance of malt and corn to the metropolis, and for bringing back coal and manure; the. Hertford branch of the railway from London to Cambridge passes by the town, and has a station here. The market is on Tuesday; fairs take place on the last Tuesday in April, and the Tuesday before September 21st, for cattle. A market-house, supported on sixteen arches, and containing an elegant assembly-room, was completed in 1827, on a site given by the lord of the manor. The town is under the superintendence of four constables and three headboroughs; the county magistrates hold a petty-session every alternate Tuesday, and a court baron occurs annually. The parish comprises 4493 acres, exclusive of waste land. The living is a vicarage, with that of Thundridge annexed, valued in the king's books at £20. 10.; patrons and impropriators, the Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge. The great tithes of Ware and Thundridge have been commuted for £1620, and the small for £404; the impropriate glebe consists of 172 acres, and the vicarial of 5 acres. The church, which is situated in the centre of the town, is an ancient cruciform edifice, with two sepulchral chapels, and a west tower surmounted by a low spire; it has an antique font in the later English style. In the churchyard is a tombstone bearing an inscription to the memory of William Mead, M.D., "who departed this life on the 28th day of October, 1652, aged 148 years, 9 months, 3 weeks, and 4 days." A church has been erected at English-Hall, containing 500 sittings, 380 of which are free, the Incorporated Society having granted £400 in aid of the expense; and a district church, dedicated to the Trinity, has just been completed near the hamlet of Wareside, in the Norman style, by subscription. The living of Trinity church is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Vicar, with a net income of £100. There are places of worship for Independents, Wesleyans, the Society of Friends, and Roman Catholics; also an old school-house belonging to the governors of Christ's Hospital, with a range of buildings for the accommodation of the nurses and children. Here are seventeen almshouses for widows and others, some of which have small endowments; and bequests to the amount of about £300 per annum have been left for the poor. The union of Ware comprises fifteen parishes or places, and contains a population of 15,528. Near the town are two springs of excellent water, called the Chadwell Spring, or New River Head, and the Amwell Spring, which, under the superintendence of the New River Company, supply part of the metropolis. In the grounds of Amwell House is a beautiful grotto. The "great bed of Ware," sufficiently capacious to accommodate six couples, is of uncertain and conjectural origin; at the head is carved the date 1453. Four stone coffins were found in 1802, in Bury field, at the south-west corner of the town, which is supposed to have been the burial-place of the priory

From: Lewis, Samuel A., A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848)

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
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Census records
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Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Hertfordshire 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
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Web sites
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