Wolverley

Status

Ancient Parish [25]
Cookley was created from this parish in 1849.[57] [25]

Location

O.S. Ref: SO829793
2 miles north of Kidderminster
Blakeshall is 1 mile north; Kingsford, 1½ miles N by W. & Horseley, 2 miles N.W.; The Sladd, 1 mile W by N & Little Hoboro, 1 mile N.W. and Broadwaters, 1 mile south are hamlets. [57]

Parish Church

St. John Baptist

Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction

Peculiar of the Dean & Chapter of Worcester [1] Archdeaconry & Diocese of Worcester until 1921, Archdeaconry of Dudley & Diocese of Worcester (1921 - *) [25]

Hundred

Extends into Upper Halfshire Hundred and forms a detached portion of Lower Oswaldslow Hundred near Bewdley [44] [70]

Poor Law Union

Kidderminster [3] [25]

Adjoining Parishes

Kinver (Staffordshire); Churchill; Kidderminster; Upper Arley (Staffordshire); Romsley (Shropshire) [1]

Parish Registers at Worcestershire Archives

[Contact details]

		Coverage	Source
Microform	Christenings	1539-1967	[5]
	Marriages	1540-1967	[5]
	Burials	1539-1967	[5]
	Banns	1754-1811, 1879-1923	[5]

Bishops' Transcripts

Begin 1616 Worcestershire Archives [22]

International Genealogical Index (IGI)

[19]

		Coverage
Parish Registers	Births / Christenings	1743-1828
	Marriages	1743-1837
Bishops' Transcripts	Marriages	1616-1640; 1660-1700 (66%)

Register Copies

At BMSGH Reference Library [7]
Baptisms and Marriages1539-1759 and Burials 1539-1760
Baptisms and Marriages1760-1837 Burials 1761-1837

At BMSGH Shop:
St John the Baptist:
Part 1. Christenings & Marriages 1539-1759 Burials 1539-1760
Part 2. Christenings & Marriages 1760-1837 Burials 1761-1837

At Society of Genealogists [68] :-
WOLVERLEY : Christenings 1539-1659, Marriages 1539-1643, 1657, 1659, Burials 1539-1646, 1654-59: Worcestershire registers, vol. 1 [Typescript.] IN: Worcestershire registers, vol. 1 Published , 1989-90 Author Wolverley & Cookley Historical Society (transcription.) Source D: Wolverley & Cookley Historical Society

WOLVERLEY : Christenings, Marriages & Burials 1660-1860 [Photocopy.] Published , 1990 Source
D: Wolverley & Cookley Historical Society

WOLVERLEY (St. John the Baptist) : Christenings, Marriages & Burials 1539-1644, 1653-1837 [Microfiche.] Published : Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry, Nd. Author Wolverley & Cookley Historical Society (transcription.) - Published , 1989-90 - Author Wolverley & Cookley Historical Society (trans.)

Nonconformist

Drakelow Methodist: Marriages 1945-1958 Worcestershire Archives [30]

War Memorials

For the names of those included on a War Memorial at Wolverley Memorial Hall see:
http://www.rememberthefallen.co.uk/memorial/wolverley-memorial-hall/

For the names of those included on a WW1 Memorial at St John the Baptist Church see:
http://www.rememberthefallen.co.uk/memorial/wolverley-st-john-the-baptist-church-ww1-memorial//

For the names of those included on a WW2 Memorial at St John the Baptist Church see:
http://www.rememberthefallen.co.uk/memorial/wolverley-st-john-the-baptist-ww2-memorial//

For a War Memorial for William Hancocks at St John the Baptist Church see:
http://www.rememberthefallen.co.uk/memorial/wolverley-st-john-the-baptist-hancocks-memorial//

For a War Memorial Guy Cunninghame Knight at St John the Baptist Church see:
http://www.rememberthefallen.co.uk/memorial/wolverley-st-john-the-baptist-knight-memorial//

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:
1841-1901 - including Cookley at Worcestershire Archives [14]

1851 census Worcestershire, vol. 2 Kidderminster : transcript & surname index: Chaddesley Corbett, Rushock, Stone, Broom, Churchill, Wolverley - Published Birmingham : Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry, 1992 - Author: Friend, A F (trans.) Society of Genealogists

Search Services (Fee paying) - BMSGH and Independent

Burial 1660-1840 Worcestershire Burial Index
Marriage see Worcestershire Marriage Index

Manorial Records

Worcestershire Archives [50]
Court books 1669-89, 1694-1941; Presentment books 1733-1801, 1802-28

Parish Records on microform

At Worcestershire Archives [13]
Will of John Smith of Blakeshall (extract) 1824
Affidavits of men & women requiring publication of Banns 1822
Affidavits for burials in wool 1678-81
Broadwaters School cashbook 1896-1903
Sebrights School cashbook 1896-1903
Wolverley Church faculty & plan 1760
Wolverley parish boundaries late 18th cent.

Schools Records

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.

Other Sources

Sebright School, Wolverley : a history Published Cambridge W Heffer & Sons Ltd. 1953 Author Murray, Athol L Source D: M Herber Society of Genealogists

Directories

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

WOLVERLEY, a parish partly in the upper division of the hundred of HALISHIRE, but chiefly in, and forming, a detached portion of, the lower division of the hundred of OSWALDSLOW, county of WORCESTER, 2 miles (N. by W.) from Kidderminster, containing 1529 inhabitants. The living is a vicarage, in the peculiar jurisdiction and patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Worcester, rated in the king's books at £ 13. 6.8. The church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, was erected in 1772 5 it is a neat brick structure, occupying an elevated site. At Cookley there is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists; there are also manufactures of iron and tin ware. The Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal, and the river Stour, pass through the parish. William Sebright, Esq., in 1618, erected a free school, in support of which, and for other public purposes, he bequeathed two houses in Mark-lane, London, with twenty acres of land at Bethnall Green, now producing a considerable income, from which he directed that the master should receive £20 a year, and the overplus be applied to the increase of that stipend, and the repair of the church and bridges, &c: in 1816 the Madras system of education was introduced, on which about ninety boys and seventy girls are taught, by a master and a mistress, who have each a salary and a rent-free residence. John Baskerville, an eminent printer, was born here, in 1706; he died in 1775.

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