Wribbenhall

Descriptive Notes

All Saints Church replaced Christ Church in 1879.

Christ Church was built on land which the then Lord Foley had bought in 1728. In 1750 he and the parishioners argued about who should hold the keys to the church. He accordingly had one door padlocked and another walled up. He claimed he was in his rights since it was private property. However, the Attorney General ruled in favour of the parishioners. Even though the church continued to be used it and its grounds were not consecrated until 1841.

Following the dispute the people of Wribbenhall decided to build a new church. The consecration of All Saints' took place on the Eve of All Saints in 1879. The land surrounding the new church had been used as a burial ground for the people of Wribbenhall since 1866. With the building of the new church, Christ Church was demolished.

Status

Ecclesiastical and Civil Parish [25]

The Ecclesiastical Parish was created in 1844 from Kidderminster Ancient Parish. The Civil Parish was created in 1901 from Kidderminster Foreign Civil Parish.[25]

Location

O.S. Ref: SO793756
3 miles S.W. of Kidderminster, on the east bank of the River Severn, which separates it from Bewdley.

Parish Church

All Saints, Kidderminster Road, Wribbenhall, Bewdley
All Saints Church replaced Christ Church in 1879 (See Descriptive Notes above)

Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction

Archdeaconry & Diocese of Worcester until 1921, Archdeaconry of Dudley & Diocese of Worcester (1921 - *) [25]

Hundred

Lower Halfshire [15][44]

Poor Law Union

Kidderminster (1901-30) [3]

Parish Registers at Worcestershire Archives

[Contact details]

		Coverage	Source
Microform	Christenings	1723-1914	[5]
	Marriages	1730-1945	[5]
	Burials	1841-1903	[5]
	Banns	1893-1961	[5]
Transcripts	General	1723-1814	[27]
Originals	Marriages	1730-1976	[12]
	Burials	1841-1980	[12]
	Banns	1920-78	[12]

Bishops' Transcripts

Begin 1841 Worcestershire Archives [22]

International Genealogical Index (IGI)

[19]
See Kidderminster

Register Copies

At Society of Genealogists [68] :
WRIBBENHALL : Christenings (extracts) 1622, 1628, Christenings 1723-54, 1763, 1796-1814, Burials (extracts) 1571-1631; Ribbesford church extracts: Christenings 1594, 1718, Burials 1598; Monumental Inscriptions in Dowles church; index to Worcestershire fines 1649-1714, national schools, church plate, recent gifts to the church, the legend of Blackstone Rock, the "Devil's spadeful", some Wribbenhall families Published Kidderminster, 1902 Author Chesshire, R S P ed.

At [FreeREG]
Free Internet searches of baptism, marriage and burial records, transcribed from parish and non-conformist registers of the U.K., are available at: http://www.freereg.org.uk/cgi/Search.pl

FreeREG is a new project. The database currently contains a few million records only, so you should not expect to find all your ancestors in the database.

The coverage for this parish currently stands at: Christenings: 1594-1814 Marriages: 1730-1845 Burials: 1571-1841

Further records may have been added since this posting

Monumental Inscriptions and Associated Documents

At BMSGH Shop
All Saints
Bewdley, Dowles & Wribbenhall Memorials

At BMSGH Reference Library [7]
Wribbenhall All Saints
Bewdley, Dowles & Wribbenhall Memorials

At Worcestershire Archives [51]
All Saints
Christchurch
List of monumental inscriptions

At Society of Genealogists [59] :-
WRIBBENHALL : Monumental Inscriptions [Typescript.] IN: Kings Norton & Wribbenhall Monumental Inscriptions (spine) Published Salt Lake City, UT (USA) : Genealogical Society of Utah, 1947 Author Gardner, Charles (transcription.)

WRIBBENHALL (All Saints) : Monumental Inscriptions: Worcestershire monumental inscriptions vol. 15 [Typescript.] IN: Worcestershire monumental inscriptions vol. 15 Published Birmingham : Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry, 1994 Author Bewdley Historical Research Group (transcription.) Source D: Birmingham & Midland Soc. for Genealogy & Heraldry

WRIBBENHALL (Christ church) : Monumental Inscriptions: Worcestershire monumental inscriptions, vol. 12 [Typescript.] IN: Worcestershire monumental inscriptions, vol. 12 Published Birmingham : Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry, 1990 Author Bewdley Historical Research Group (transcription.) Source D: Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry

War Memorials

For the names of those included on a War Memorial at All Saints Church see:
http://www.rememberthefallen.co.uk/memorial/wribbenhall-all-saints-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:
1851 71 81 1901 at Worcestershire Archives [14]
For 1861 see Kidderminster Foreign

Parish Records on microform

At Worcestershire Archives [13]
Banns register confirmation register 1893-1961
Vestry meetings signed minutes 1845-1961
Churchwardens accounts 1878-1937
Churchwardens accounts 1901-37
Graves account books 1928-53
PCC signed minutes 1920-69
Electoral rolls 1920-67
Day school managers' meetings signed minutes 1875-1957

Schools Records

The following school records are original documents. Note reference number and contact staff at Worcestershire Archives:
Wribbenhall First School
Admission register Infants - 1877 - 93 - Ref:BA 9774/2 (iii); 1911 - 32 - Ref:BA 9774/2 (iv)
Admission register - 1856 - 74 - Ref:BA 9774/2 (i)
Attendance Registers - 1914 - 1974 - Ref:BA 9689/3 (i) - (ix)
Government Evacuees attendance registers, files, accounts, letters, and other papers re - [mid 20th cent] - Ref:BA 9689/4 (ii) - (xiii)
H M I reports - 1908 and 1911 - Ref:BA 9774/2 (vIi)
Log book Infants Note: according to entries made in above log book the Infants Dept was merged into the Junior Mixed council school in 1929 - 1923 - 43 - Ref:BA 9774/1 (iii)
Log book Infants - 1880 - 1923 - Ref:BA 9689/2 (i) (ii)
Log book Juniors - 1925 - 28 - Ref:BA 9774/1 (i); 1928 - 29 - Ref:BA 9774/1 (ii)
Notes on date of birth, addresses and father's name of children [attending school] - 1920s - Ref:BA 9774/2 (vi
Photographs of School teachers and children - [1912 - Mid 20th cent] - Ref:BA 9774/3 (ii) - 4 (i) - (iii)
Photographs of Wribbenhall School children at Hartlebury Castle - 1913 - Ref:BA 9774/3 (i)
Section from attendance register - [1920s - 30s] - Ref:BA 9774/2 (v)

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 1831 by Samuel Lewis:

WRIBBENHALL, a hamlet in the parish of KIDDERMINSTER, lower division of the hundred of HALFSHIRE, county of WORCESTER, situated on the left bank of the Severn, immediately opposite Bewdley, and connected with that town by a noble bridge over the river. The population is returned with the parish. Here is a chapel for the service of the church of England, but not consecrated: it was erected in the year 1701, at the expense of the inhabitants of the hamlet, on a plot of waste land belonging to Lord Foley, and was subsequently claimed by his lordship, as lord of the manor: this gave rise to litigation, and, after various decisions, it was given in his favour. Since that period his lordship has continued to appoint the minister, who held his situation solely by virtue of such presentation, until its existence was legalized by a clause in an act of parliament which passed in the early part of the reign of George IV, relating to dissenting places of worship, which excepts from its provisions all chapels wherein the service of the church of England had previously been performed: it is exempt from all ecclesiastical jurisdiction. The inhabitants support, by voluntary subscription, and by a collection after a sermon preached for the purpose, two schools in Bewdley, for children whose parents reside in the hamlet; in these about twelve boys and twenty-five girls are instructed.

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