Abberley Worcestershire Family History Guide
Abberley is an Ancient Parish in the county of Worcestershire.
Civil Parish: Abberley
Abberley parish includes: Netherton, ¾ of a miles N.E.; Brook End, ½ a mile E.; High Oaks, near Bewdley, E.; Abberley Hill is on the south side of the parish.
Following the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 Abberley Parish ceased to be responsible for maintaining the poor in its parish. This responsibility was transferred to Martley Poor Law Union.
Church: St. Michael; St. Mary
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1558
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1638
Nonconformists in Abberley include: Wesleyan Methodists
Table of Contents
Adjacent Parishes
Parish History
Beeton’s British Gazetteer 1870
Abberley, a parish of England, in Worcestershire, 5 miles S.W. from Bewdley. Pop. 692.
Source: Beeton’s British Gazetteer 1870. Ward, Lock & Tyler, Paternoster Row, London.
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
Abberley, a parish in Martley district, Worcester; near the river Teme, 5 miles SW of Stourport r. station. It has a post-office under Stourport. Acres 2, 636. Real property, £4,238. Pop. 692. Houses, 132. The property is much subdivided. Abberley hills are about 800 feet high. The rocks display the caradoc formation, and include lime and coal. An ancient camp occurs at Woodbury. The poet William Walsh, the friend of Pope, was born at Abberley Lodge, and buried in Abberley church. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Hereford. Value, £249 (with habitable glebe-house). Patron, Mrs. Moillett. The church is good. Charities, £15.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
The National Gazetteer 1868
Abberley, a par. in the lower div. of the hund. of Doddingtree, union of Martley, in the co. of Worcester. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Hereford; val. £249, in the patron, of Mrs. Moillett. The church is dedicated to St. Michael. There is a small free school.
The village is pleasantly situated in a valley near the road from Worcester to Ludlow, at the distance of 4 miles to the S.W. from Stourport. There are fine prospects over the Vale of Severn from the hills around, which rise to the height of 800 feet, and on the slopes of which are sheepwalks and plantations. Limestone and good coal are obtained in the district. This village was the birth place of William Walsh, the poet, a correspondent of Pope and Addison.
Source: The National Gazetteer: a Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands compiled from the latest and best sources and illustrated with a complete county atlas and numerous maps. Vol. 1. Virtue & Co. London. 1868.
The British Gazetteer 1852
Abberley, Worcester, a parish and village in the hund. of Doddingtree, union of Martley: 144 miles from London (coach road 130), 10 from Worcester, 6 from Bewdley. Nor. West. Rail, to Droitwich, thence 11 miles: S.W. of Derby, from which take rail, to Wolverhampton, 61, thence 11 miles. Money orders granted at Worcester: London letters delivd. 9 a.m.; post closes 6 p.m.
Walsh, the poet, a correspondent of Addison’s, lies in the parish church; he was born in 1663, at the manor-house, the seat of his ancestors, and died in 1708. Pope has handed down his name to posterity in the following quotation: “Such late was Walsh, the muses’ judge and friend, Who justly knew to blame and to commend; To failings mild, but zealous for desert, The clearest head, and the sincerest heart.”
The living (St. Michael) is a rectory in the archd. of Salop, diocese of Hereford, valued at £11. 10s. 2½d.: pres. net income, £249: patron, Mrs. Moillett: pres. incumbent, F. Severne, 1828: contains 2,398 acres: 115 houses: pop. in 1841, 559: probable pop. in 1849, 660: assd. amount of property, £3,078: poor rates, £250.
N. 1½ m. is Bower House; S. 1 m. are Abberley Lodge; and 2 m. Whitley Court. The latter, the seat of Lord Ward, is situated on an eminence below Woodbury Hill, in the midst of a richly-wooded domain, and commands a view of the valley of the Severn. The grounds are very tastefully laid out and ornamented. The parish church forms the private chapel of the house, being connected with it by a gallery, which is fitted up as the family pew: it is a chaste building, very splendidly decorated.
Source: The British Gazetteer, Political, Commercial, Ecclesiastical, and Historical: Showing the Distances of Each Place from London and Derby–gentlemen’s Seats–populations … &c. Illustrated by a Full Set of County Maps, with All the Railways Accurately Laid Down. Benjamin Clarke 1852; Published (for the proprietors) by H. G. Collins.
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1845
Abberley (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Martley, Lower division of the hundred of Doddingtree, Hundred-House and W. divisions of the county of Worcester, 4¾ miles (W. S. W.) from Stourport; containing 559 inhabitants. There are 2564 acres in the parish, the surface of which is well watered by numerous brooks, and the soil is rather above the average infertility.
The village is situated to the right of the road leading from Worcester to Ludlow, in a valley surrounded by hills whose summits afford delightful prospects; the declivities are laid out in sheep-walks, and enriched with thriving plantations. Coal of excellent quality is worked to a considerable extent; and some limestone is found in the neighbourhood.
The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s books at £11 10. 2½., and in the gift of H. Bromley, Esq.’. the incumbent’s tithes have been commuted for a rentcharge of £333 8. 6., and those of the impropriators for one of £100. A school was founded under grants by Elizabeth and Victoria Walsh, in 1717, and has an income of £15 per annum, in addition to a house and garden; and there is also an infants’ school. William Walsh, the poet, and a correspondent of Pope and Addison, was born here, in 1663.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis Fifth Edition Published London; by S. Lewis and Co., 13, Finsbury Place, South. M. DCCC. XLV.
The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales 1840
Abberley, a parish and village in the lower division of the hundred of Doddingtree, poor-law union of Martley, Worcestershire; 6 miles south west of Bewdley; and a little to the north of the post-road from Worcester to Tenbury. Living, a rectory in the archdeaconry of Salop, and diocese of Hereford; rated in the king’s books at £11 10s. 2½ d.; average gross income, in 1831, £250. Patron, in 1835, H. Bromley, Esq. A free school, at which 10 boys are educated, was established here in 1717.
William Walsh, M.P., a poet of some reputation, was born at the manor-house, the seat of his ancestors, in 1663; and was buried in Abberley-church, in 1708. The population of this parish, in 1801, was 495; in 1831, 590. Inhabited houses, in 1831, 115. Acres 2,390. Assessed property, in 1815, £3,078. Sum levied for the poor, in the year ending 25th March, 1837, £250. There is a range of hills to the south of this village, rising to the height of about 800 feet, and extending towards the river Teame.
Source: The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales; A Fullarton & Co. Glasgow; 1840.
A Topographical Dictionary of Great Britain and Ireland 1833
Abberley, co. Worcester.
P. T. Bewdley (129) 6 m. SW. Pop. 574.
A parish in the lower division of Doddingtree; living, a rectory in the archdeaconry of Salop, in the diocese of Hereford; charged in K.B. 11l 10s. 2½d.; church ded. to St. Michael; patron (1829) R.Bromley, Esq.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of Great Britain and Ireland by John Gorton. The Irish and Welsh articles by G. N. Wright; Vol. I; London; Chapman and Hall, 186, Strand; 1833.
Topographical Dictionary of England 1831
Abberley, a parish in the lower division of the hundred of Doddingtree, county of Worcester, 4¼ miles (W.S.W.) from Stourport, containing 574 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry of Salop, and diocese of Hereford, rated in the king’s books at £11. 10. 2½. H. Bromley, Esq. was patron in 1828. The church is dedicated to St. Michael.
The village of Abberley is situated in a valley to the right of the road leading from Worcester to Ludlow. The summits of the surrounding hills afford delightful prospects, and on the declivities are fine sheep walks and thriving plantations. Limestone and coal of excellent quality are found in the neighbourhood. A court leet is held annually. William Walsh, the poet, and a correspondent of Pope and of Addison, was born here in 1663.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1831
Worcestershire C. and J. Greenwood 1822
Abberley – a parish in the hundred of Doddingtree, lower division, 6 miles S.S.W. from Bewdley, 12 from Worcester, and 135 from London, containing 112 inhabited houses.
The village stands on the declivity of the hill, a short distance to the right of the road leading from Worcester to Ludlow. Considerable quantities of coal and lime are found in the neighbourhood. The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Hereford and archdeaconry of Salop; Rev. Francis Severne, incumbent; instituted 1780; patron, R. Bromley, Esq. Population, 1801, 495 – 1811, 545 – 1821, 574.
Abberley Hills, in the above parish, have a considerable elevation, the summits of which are covered with fern and furze, but there are some fine sheep walks and good plantations an the sides: the views from them are very extensive. Abberley Lodge, the residence of Colonel Bromley, is seated on an eminence, on the left of the road, commanding a most delightful prospect over the adjoining counties.
Source: Worcestershire Delineated: Being a Topographical Description of Each Parish, Chapelry, Hamlet, &c. In the County; with the distances and bearings from their respective market towns, &c. By C. and J. Greenwood. Printed by T. Bensley, Crane Court, Fleet Street, London, 1822.
A Topographical Dictionary of the United Kingdom 1808
Abberley, a parish in the hundred of Lower Doddingtree, Worcester, 8 miles from Bewdley, and 133 from London; containing 82 houses and 495 inhabitants; is a rectory, value 14l. 10s. 2d. and stands near the Kington canal, on the declivity of Abberley Hill.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of the United Kingdom. Benjamin Pitts Capper. 1808.