Cannock Staffordshire Family History Guide
Cannock is an Ancient Parish in the county of Staffordshire.
Other places in the parish include: Brindley Heath, Cannock, Cannock Wood, Hednesford and Leacroft, Leacroft, Hednesford, Huntington, and Cannock Wood.
Parish church:
Parish registers begin: 1744
Nonconformists include: Christians, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Independent/Congregational, Primitive Methodist, and Wesleyan Methodist.
Table of Contents
Adjacent Parishes
- Rugeley
- Brereton
- Colwich
- Norton Canes
- Burntwood
- Berkswich with Walton
- Penkridge
- Shareshill
- Great Wyrley
- Wolverhampton St Peter
- Cheslyn Hay
- Teddesley Hay
- Gentleshaw
- Longdon
Parish History
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
CANNOCK, a village, a parish, a subdistrict, ancient forest, and two railways in Staffordshire. The village stands adjacent to the Walsall and Stafford railway, near Watling-street, 7¾ miles NNW of Walsall; and has a station on the railway, a post office under Stafford, public rooms, a banking office, and fairs on 8 May, 24 Aug., and 18 Oct. The public rooms were erected in 1862; and include a large hall for lectures or concerts, a room for magistrates’ meetings, and a reading room. The making of edge tools is carried on.
The parish includes also the townships of Cannock-Wood, Hednesford, Leacroft, Huntington, and Great Wyrley. Acres, 10,775. Real property, £12,158. Pop., 3,964. Houses, 749. The property is much subdivided. Much of the surface is part of the ancient forest; and partakes its character of moor and mineral. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £185. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield. The church was repaired in 1859. Dr. Sacheverell was for some time incumbent. The vicarage of Great Wyrley is a separate benefice. There are an Independent chapel, a Wesleyan chapel, and charities £30.
The subdistrict contains also two other parishes, parts of two more, and an extra-parochial tract; and is in the district of Penkridge. Acres, 22,583. Pop., 8,773. Houses, 1,674.
The ancient forest bears the name of Cannock Chase; extends to the vicinity of Bednal, Lichfield, and the Trent, with an area of about 25,000 acres; and was anciently a hunting-ground of the Mercian and the Norman kings. It long was covered with wood; but is now bleak, moorish, and wild; yet is so rich in coal and ironstone as to have been much encroached upon both for mining and for cultivation. Large portions of it present the attractions of a hill country; and some spots have ancient standing-stones, supposed to be Druidical.
Castle Hill in it is crowned by an ancient, British, double-trenched camp of 8 or 10 acres; and commands a good view. A place, called the Old Nunnery, at Radmore, near Castle Hill, was the site of a Cistertian Abbey, founded in the time of Stephen, and soon transferred to Stoneleigh in Warwickshire.
The two railways are called the Cannock Mineral and the Cannock Chase railways. The former was opened in 1859, and goes from the Walsall and Stafford at Cannock to the Trent Valley at Rugeley. The latter is in four parts, authorised in 1860, 1862, 1864, and 1866; is aggregately 21½ miles long; and goes to Wolverhampton and Hednesford.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
Parish Records
FamilySearch
Cannock
FamilySearch Historical Records
Cannock Wood
Bankrupts
Below is a list of people that were declared bankrupt between 1820 and 1843 extracted from The Bankrupt Directory; George Elwick; London; Simpkin, Marshall and Co.; 1843.
Birch John, Cannock, Staffordshire, joiner, July 24, 1832.
Brown William, Cannock, Staffordshire, miller, March 22, 1823.
Online School Records
School records are a primary source for genealogists. The two types of records that are commonly available are admission registers and log books.
The admission registers of schools may be available from the 1870s, but more frequently from 1902. Usually shown under the date of entry, is the child’s name and address and his or her date of birth. Some registers, but not all, may also show the name and occupation of the parent or guardian, the name of the previous school attended and the reason for leaving.
For immigrant children the name of the previous school may uniquely provide the pupil’s exact place of origin.
These admission registers may enable the brothers and sisters of a pupil to be identified in a way that, with frequent names, would be difficult if not impossible from the civil registration records.
The log book may contain comments on the attendance of pupils, behaviour, discipline, the curriculum, attendance of teachers and absence for sickness etc., and the effect of epidemics and seasonal work on attendance. The names of individual pupils only occasionally appear in log books. The names and status of the teachers were recorded at the annual inspection, with a summary of the inspector’s report.
The following school records are available from Findmypast
Cannock (National) Boys Endowed School. 1870 to 1891 Admissions
Bradbury Lane Temporary Infants School 1895 to 1914 Admissions
Great Wyrley Council. School (Boys) 1894 to 1914 Admissions
Administration
- County: Staffordshire
- Civil Registration District: Penkridge
- Probate Court: Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield
- Diocese: Lichfield
- Rural Deanery: Rugeley
- Poor Law Union: Penkridge
- Hundred: East Cuttlestone
- Province: Canterbury