Feckenham

Status

Ancient Parish [25]
Ecclesiastical boundary altered as follows:
In 1850 to help create Headless Cross Ecclesiastical Parish (with Ipsley Ancient Parish & Tardebigge Ancient Parish)
In 1950 to help create (with Headless Cross Ecclesiastical Parish) Astwood Bank with Crabbs Cross Ecclesiastical Parish [25].
Astwood a separate parish in 1981.[5]
Civil boundary altered:
In 1894 to create Feckenham Urban Civil Parish from the part of Feckenham Ancient Parish in Redditch Urban District. [25]

Location

O.S. Ref: SP009616
7½ miles east of Droitwich along the B4090
Callow Hill, 2 miles north & Ham Green 1½ miles north form a district of scattered houses. Hunt End, 2½ miles N.E. and 2 south from Redditch is a village in Feckenham parish. Astwood Bank is a large and pleasant village and hamlet, in the parish of Feckenham, 2 miles N.E. from Feckenham, 3 south from Redditch and 1½ west from Studley and Astwood Bank ... [57]

Parish Church

St. John Baptist, The Square, Feckenham

Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction

Archdeaconry & Diocese of Worcester until 1974, Archdeaconry of Dudley & Diocese of Worcester (1974 - *) [25]

Hundred

Upper Halfshire [11] [25] [28]

Poor Law Union

Alcester, pt Redditch [25]

Adjoining Parishes

Tardebigge; Redditch; Ipsley (Warwickshire); Hanbury; Coughton (Warwickshire); Inkberrow; Bradley [1]

Parish Registers at Worcestershire Archives

[Contact details]

		Coverage	Source
Microform	Christenings	1538-1940	[5]
	Marriages	1538-1950	[5]
	Burials	1538-1957	[5]
	Banns	1809-1912	[5]
Transcripts	Christenings	1538-1899	[27]
	Marriages	1538-1900	[27]
	Burials	1538-1894	[27]
Originals	Banns	1754-86	[12]

Bishops' Transcripts

Begin 1609 Worcestershire Archives [22]

International Genealogical Index (IGI)

[19]

		Coverage
Parish Registers	Births / Christenings	1538-1875
Astwood Baptists	"	1788-1837

Register Copies

At BMSGH Reference Library [7]
Baptisms 1538-1899, Marriages 1538-1900, Burials 1538-1894
Baptisms, Marriages and Burials 1538-1899

At Society of Genealogists [68]
FECKENHAM (St. John the Baptist) : Christenings 1538-1899, Marriages 1538-1900, Burials 1538-1894 (3 vols) Published Feckenham Parochial Church Council 1997 Author Atkins, Elizabeth A et al. (transcriptions) Source D: C Loveridge. FECKENHAM (St. John the Baptist): Christenings 1538-1940, Marriages 1538-1950, Burials 1538-1957, banns 1754-86, 1809-1912 [Microfilm.] Published Salt Lake City Genealogical Society of Utah 2004 Source D: J C Tatlow & A Monks.

Monumental Inscriptions and Associated Documents

At BMSGH Shop
St.John the Baptist

At BMSGH Reference Library [7]
St.John the Baptist

At Worcestershire Archives [51]
St.John the Baptist

At Society of Genealogists [59] :-
FECKENHAM (St. John the Baptist) : Monumental Inscriptions: Worcestershire monumental inscriptions, vol. 7 [Typescript.] IN: Worcestershire monumental inscriptions, vol. 7 Published Birmingham : Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry, 1989 Author Bushell, L (transcriptions) Author Farmer, G R (transcriptions) Source D: BMSGH

War Memorials

For the names of those included on a war memorial at St. John the Baptist Church see:
http://www.rememberthefallen.co.uk/memorial/feckenham-st-john-the-baptist-church/

Census Records

All the censuses between 1841 and 1901 are now available on a number of fee-paying (Subscription or PayAsYouGo) sites including Ancestry.co.uk, FindMyPast.co.uk, thegenealogist.co.uk and genesreunited.co.uk. The 1911 census is available in full or in part on some of these sites. We are unable to advise on the choice of site since researchers' personal preferences will be influenced by the content and search facilities offered by each site. Some sites offer a free trial.

Access to the library edition of Ancestry.co.uk is widely available at most record offices, including Worcestershire Archives, and some libraries. You are advised to book time on their computers before making a visit.

A free-to-view site is being developed at freecen.org.uk for the 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871 and 1891 censuses. Coverage of Worcestershire parishes is rather sparse at this time.

Census returns can usually be viewed at Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' Family History Centres.

Some repositories offer census details on microform, disc or printed copy. These include:

1841 51 1901 at Worcestershire Archives [14]

1851- 91 Redditch Library

1861- 91 Warwickshire County Record Office

1841 51 81 91 Stratford upon Avon Library & Information Centre

Callow Hill 1881 Stratford upon Avon Library & Information Centre

Warwickshire 1891 census returns: Alcester registration district RG 12/2480-2483 [Microfilm.] - Published London Public Record Office 2003 Society of Genealogists

Search Services (Fee paying) - BMSGH and Independent

Burial1660-1840 Worcestershire Burial Index
Marriage see Worcestershire Marriage Index

Manorial Records

Worcestershire Archives [50]
Account of the boundaries of the manor 31 Eliz; Court book 1706-18; Court rolls, various dates 1377-1588

Parish Records on microform

At Worcestershire Archives [13]
Overseers accounts 1675-1821
Churchwardens accounts 1742-1932
Bastardy accounts 1836-37
Examination book for poor relief 1831-36
Paupers pay accounts 1836-43
Parish houses rent book 1840-48
Vestry minutes 1803-37
Select vestry minutes 1818-25
Vestry minutes 1825-1947

Schools Records

The following school records are original documents. Note reference number and contact staff at Worcestershire Archives:
Feckenham C E School
Log book - 1914-58 - Ref: BA 2409

The records of schools and other educational establishments in this parish are detailed in a handlist available at Worcestershire Archives. The list refers to original documents so you will need to note the reference number and contact staff.

Directories

An extract from the Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1831:

FECKENHAM, a parish in the upper division of the hundred of HALFSHIRE, county of WORCESTER, 7 miles (E. by S.) from Droitwich, containing 2383 inhabitants. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Worcester, rated in the king's books at £9, endowed with £400 private benefaction, £400 royal bounty, and £1500 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of the Rev. Edward Neal. The church is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. There is a place of worship for Independents. A free grammar school was founded by Sir Thomas Cookes, Bart., and endowed with £ 50 per annum, arising out of lands in the neighbourhood, a regular attendance at which for two years renders young men eligible to scholarships established by the founder in Worcester College, Oxford; but preference is given to those educated at the school at Bromsgrove. This place gave name to an adjoining forest, and has long been noted for the manufacture of needles and fish hooks. There are fairs for cattle on March 26th and September 30th: a court leet is held in October, when a constable is chosen. John de Feckenham, an eminent Roman Catholic divine, and the last abbot of Westminster, was born here; he held disputations with Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer, but performed kind offices for many others of the persecuted protestants in the reign of Mary.

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