Stanford Bishop, Herefordshire Family History Guide

Stanford Bishop is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Herefordshire, created in 1745 from chapelry in Bromyard Ancient Parish.

Parish church:

Parish registers begin: 1699

Nonconformists include:

Parishes adjacent to Stanford Bishop

Historical Descriptions

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

STANFORD-BISHOP, a parish in Bromyard district, Hereford; 3 miles SE of Bromyard r. station. Post town, Bromyard, under Worcester. Acres, 1,471. Real property, £1,806. Pop., 234. Houses, 49. The property is divided among a few. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Hereford. Value, £75. Patron, the Bishop of H. The church is ancient but good.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

Directories

Stanford Bishop Littleburys Directory 1879

Stanford Bishop is a parish in Herefordshire, 3 miles S.E. of Bromyard station, on the Worcester and Bromyard railway, 12 W.S.W. of Worcester, 12 N. of Ledbury, and 14 N.E. of Hereford; is in Broxash hundred, Bromyard union, county court district, polling district, and petty sessional division.  The population in 1861 was 234; in 1871, 237; inhabited houses, 49; families or separate occupiers, 55; area of parish, 1,471 acres; annual rateable value, £2,002.  The Lord Bishop of Hereford is lord of the manor.  The principal landowners are T. Rowley Hill, Esq., M.P., Worcester; George Bearcroft Essex, Esq., Leigh court, near Worcester; Sire Edmund A. H. Lechmere, Bart., M.P., Rhydd court, Upton-on-Severn; the Exors. of the late Rev. William Ellis Wall, and the trustees of the Worcester municipal charities.

The soil is clayey and loamy; subsoil, clay and rock; chief produce, wheat, beans, oats, hops, fruit. &c.  Stanford Bishop is in the diocese and archdeaconry of Hereford and rural deanery of North Froome; living, a vicarage; gross value, £100; patron, the Lord Bishop of Hereford; vicar, Rev. John Booth, B.A., of Queen’s College, Cambridge, who was instituted in 1836, and resides at The Firs, near Bromyard.  The church, dedicated to St. James, is an old stone edifice in a very dilapidated state.  It consists of nave, chancel, porch, and square tower containing two bells.  The chancel was fully restored a few years ago, mainly at the expense of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.  In the churchyard is one of the largest yew trees in the county.  The parish register begins with the year 1750.  A school board has been formed for the united district of Stanford Bishop and Acton Beauchamp (Worcestershire), and a new school has been erected, and is now open.
Postal Regulations. – Letters are received through Worcester via Bromyard, and arrive by messenger from the latter place about 9.30 a.m.; despatched thereto at 4.30 p.m.  Bromyard is the nearest money-order and telegraph office.  Post town, Worcester.
Parish Church (St. James’s). – Rev. John Booth, B.A., Vicar; Henry Hall, Parish Clerk.
Acton Beauchamp and Stanford Bishop United District School Board. – Ambrose William Knott, Esq., 14 Foregate street, Worcester, Clerk.

Agricultural & Commercial.

Allkins Henry, butcher and beer retailer, Woodford common
Badham John, boot and shoe maker and cottage farmer
Bidewell Mrs. Mary, farmer, Hill Oak farm
Bishop Thomas, shopkeeper and beer retailer (Herefordshire House)
Buckle Messrs., farmers and hop growers, The Hyde
Cook John, farmer and hop grower, Hope house and Meadow farms
Crump Mrs. Sarah, farmer, Lower house
Essex Geo. Bearcroft, landowner, farmer, and hop grower, Stanford court; res., Leigh court, Worcester
Hall Henry, parish clerk
Hill James, blacksmith, New house
Hughes Richard, farmer, The Boyce farm
Jenkins John, farmer, Woolnerhill
Meredith John, farm bailiff to G. B. Essex, Esq., Stanford court
Mitton James, shopkeeper
Mitton John, cottage farmer
Perkins Mr., farmer, The Oaks
Philpott James, farmer, Hawkins farm
Saunders Joseph, farmer, Barton hall
Vale Miss, farmer, Bull ring
Wall William, farmer, The Fleet; res., Wootton’s farm, Acton Beauchamp

Source: Littlebury, Littlebury’s Directory and Gazetteer of Worcester & District, Third Edition. Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co. 1879.

Stanford Bishop Cassey Directory of Herefordshire 1858

Stanford Bishop is a parish, 3 miles south-east from Bromyard (its post town), 14 from Hereford railway, and 10 from Ledbury, in Broxash Hundred, Bromyard Union, Frome deanery, Hereford archdeaconry and bishopric; it is situated on the turnpike road from Bromyard to Malvern. The church is an ancient stone building, with small square tower and two bells; it has a nave, aisle, chancel, and porch. The living is a perpetual curacy, commuted at £205 yearly, and 8 acres of glebe land; the Rev. John Booth, B.A., is the incumbent. The population, in 1851, was 235, and the acreage is 1,471. The soil is clayey and loamy. The Bishop of Hereford is lord of the manor; and John Freeman, Esq., John Gardner Freeman, Esq., and the Rev. W. Wall, are the chief landowners. The chief crops are hops, wheat, beans and oats.

Stanford Court, Hyde, Hill Oak, Hawkins, Waltons, Hope House, Lower House, New House, Woolner Hill, Snipe’s Nest, and Boyce, are places here.

Letters through Bromyard, which is the nearest money order office.

Miscellaneous
Hill James, blacksmith, New house
Mitton James, shopkeeper, Snipe’s nest

Farmers
Hill James, Hyde
Hill Mrs., Hill Oak
Jenkins John, Woolner hill
Page Richard, Boyce
Page Thomas, Stanford court
Page Wm., Lower House
Philpott James, Hawkins
Tomkins Richard, Hope house

Source: Edward Cassey & Co.: History, Topography, and Directory of Herefordshire. Printed by William Bailey, 107, Fishergate 1858.

Administration

  • County: Herefordshire
  • Civil Registration District: Bromyard
  • Probate Court: Court of the Bishop of Hereford (Episcopal Consistory)
  • Diocese: Hereford
  • Rural Deanery: Frome
  • Poor Law Union: Bromyard
  • Hundred: Broxash
  • Province: Canterbury