Andover Hampshire Family History Guide

Andover is an Ancient Parish and a market town in the county of Hampshire. Foxcott is a chapelry of Andover.

Other places in the parish include: King’s Enham, Hatherden, Enham Kings, Charlton, Woodhouse, Wildhern, Swanhill, Smannell, and Little London.

Alternative names: Andover With Foxcott

Parish registers begin:

Parish registers: 1587
Bishop’s Transcripts: 1703

Nonconformists include: Baptist, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Independent/Congregational, Particular Baptist, Primitive Methodist, Society of Friends/Quaker, and Wesleyan Methodist.

Table of Contents

Adjacent Parishes

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

ANDOVER, a town, a parish, a subdistrict, a district, a hundred, and a division in Hants. The town stands on the Anton river, and on the Andover, Romsey, and Southampton railway, ¾ mile S of that railway’s junction with the London, Yeovil, and Exeter railway, and 17¼ miles N of Romsey: and has a station with telegraph on the former railway, and another station at the junction.

A canal, 22½ miles long, with a fall of 179 feet and 24 locks, formerly commenced at the town, and went down the line of the Anton river, past Stockbridge and Romsey, to Southampton water at Redbridge. The Andover, Romsey, and Southampton railway was constructed principally by transmutation of that canal down to Redbridge; was connected there with the Weymouth and Southampton railway; and was opened in 1864.

The vale of the Anton is, for the most part, beautifully wooded, and presents a striking contrast to the bare downs which flank and overlook it. Bury hill, about 1½ mile W of the town, commands a picturesque view of the vale, together with an extensive prospect toward the borders of Berks and Wilts; and is crested with a large, strong, ancient camp, which probably was first formed by the aboriginal British, and afterwards occupied by the Romans and the Saxons.

The town stands on the Roman road from Salisbury to Silchester, and possibly occupies the site of a Roman station; and it took its name from a ford of the Anton, called Andovera by the Romans and Andofera by the Saxons. It probably is indicated by the letters A N D O. on some Celtic gold coins in the British museum; and it was a royal manor, and the place of several witenagemôts in the times of the Saxons. Ethelred concluded a peace here, in 998, with the Norse king Olaf Tryggvason; and many a conflict must have taken place, at prior periods, among the neighbouring strong chalk hills.

The town is compactly built, and extends on either side about a third of a mile from the market-place. The town hall, with corn-market below, is a handsome stone edifice, with Grecian front, supported on arches; and was built in 1825, at a cost of £7,000.

The parish church is a spacious structure, in the early English style, surmounted by a lofty tower, with crocketted pinnacles; and was built in 1849, at a cost of £30,000, furnished by the Rev. Dr. Goddard, head master of Winchester college, and afterwards vicar of Andover. The previous church was an edifice of the time of William the Conqueror, subsequently altered, and in various styles; and a very rich late Norman doorway of it now forms one of the entrances to the churchyard. This church was long a cell to the Abbey of St. Florence in Anjou, and afterwards was given to the college of Winchester.

The other noticeable buildings are four dissenting chapels, a free grammar school, two other free schools, two sets of alms-houses, a workhouse, and a borough jail. Income of the charities, £189.

The town has a large trade in agricultural produce; it shares much in the business of the great Weyhill fair, held in October, 3 miles to the NW; it carries on malting and the manufacture of silk shag; and it is much frequented, during the sporting season, by parties following the hounds over the extensive neighbouring downs. It has a head post-office, a telegraph station, two banking offices, and two chief inns; and it publishes two weekly newspapers. Markets are held on Saturdays, and fairs on Mid-Lent Friday and Saturday, 13 May, and 17 and 18 Nov.

The town was incorporated under King John; it sent two representatives to parliament in the times of Edward I. and II., and from the 27th year of Elizabeth till 1867; but, by the reform act of 1867, it was reduced to the right of sending only one. It is governed by a mayor, four alder men, and twelve councillors; and is a seat of petty sessions and a polling-place.

Its municipal limits are conterminate with the parish of Andover; and its parliamentary limits comprise the parishes of Andover, Knights-Enham, and Foxcott. It gives the title of Viscount to the Earl of Suffollk and Berkshire. Pop. of the m. borough, 5,221; of the p. borough, 5,430. Houses, 1,058 and 1,102. Electors in 1868, 263. Direct taxes, £3,603.

The parish contains also the hamlets of Charlton, Enham-Kings, Little London, Smannell or Swanhill, Wildhern, Woodhouse, and part of Hatherden. Acres, 7,670. Real property, £19,340. Pop., 5,221. Houses, 1,058.

The living is a vicarage, conjoined with the curacy of Foxcott, in the diocese of Winchester. Value, £400. Patron, Winchester college. The p. curacy of Smannell with Hatherden is a separate benefice.

The subdistrict comprises six parishes. Acres, 12,706. Pop., 6,435. Houses, 1,323.

The district comprehends the subdistrict of Longparish, containing the parishes of Longparish, Bullington, Barton-Stacey, Chilbolton, Wherwell, Goodworth-Clatford, Upper Clatford, and Abbots-Ann; the subdistrict of Andover, containing the parishes of Andover, Knights-Enham, Foxcott, Penton-Mewsey, Appleshaw, and Weyhill or Penton-Grafton; the subdistrict of Ludgershall, containing the extra-parochial tract of Park-House, and the parishes of Monxton, Amport, Thruxton, Quarley, Grately, Shipton-Bellinger, Kimpton, Fyfield, South Tidworth, North Tidworth, and Ludgershall, the two last electorally in Wilts; and the subdistrict of Hurstbourne-Tarrant, containing the parishes of Hurstbourne-Tarrant, Faccombe, Linkenholt, Vernhams-Dean, Tangley, and Chute, and the tract of Chute-Forest. Acres, 83,615. Poor-rate. s in 1866, £11,937. Pop. in 1841, 16,998; in 1861, 17,132. Houses, 3,627. Marriages in 1866, 94; births, 524, of which 36 were illegitimate; deaths, 290, of which 86 were at ages under 5 years, and 15 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 1,096; births, 4,993: deaths, 3,170. The places of worship in 1851 were 31 of the Church of England, with 6,394 sittings; 7 of Independents, with 1,201 s.; 4 of Baptists, with 880 s.; 10 of Wesleyan Methodists, with 1,110 s.; 11 of Primitive Methodists, with 1,272 s.; and 1 undefined, with 70 s. The schools in 1851 were 36 public day schools, with 1,672 scholars; 27 private day schools, with 449 s.; and 36 Sunday schools, with 2,019 s.

The hundred consists of lower half and upper half. The lower half contains Knights-Enham, Foxcott, Upper Clatford, Monxton, Penton-Mewsey, Weyhill, and part of Abbots-Ann. Acres, 10,981. Pop. in 1851, 2,272. Houses, 476. The upper half contains Amport, Apple shaw, Fyfield, Grately, Kimpton, Quarley, Shipton-Bellinger, Thruxton, and South Tidworth. Acres, 19,372. Pop. in 1851, 2,805. Houses, 586. The division comprises the hundreds of Lower and Upper Andover, Barton-Stacey, Upper-Pastrow, Upper-Thorngate, and Lower and Upper Wherwell. Acres, 81,507. Pop. in 1851, 13,422; in 1861, 14,758. Houses, 3,197.

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

Parish Registers

Andover parish register extracts, 1693-1812 – Church of England. Parish Church of Andover (Hampshire)

Births, baptisms and burials, 1739-1837 – Independent Church (Andover)

Bishop’s transcripts for Hatherden, 1860-1871 – Church of England. Chapelry of Hatherden (Hampshire)

Church records, 1815-1837 – Andover Circuit (Hampshire : Wesleyan)

Parish registers for Andover, 1588-1904 – Church of England. Parish Church of Andover (Hampshire)

School Records

The National School Admission Registers & Log-Books 1870–1914 collection offers a rare glimpse into the educational journeys of children across England and Wales during a transformative era. These records often capture names, dates of birth, parental occupations, and school attendance patterns – making them invaluable for family historians, local researchers, and anyone tracing Victorian or Edwardian ancestry. You can view them free with a Findmypast Trial.

Andover National Boys/Church of England School Records

Bankrupts

The Bankrupt Directory 1843

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.

Barnes William Andover Southampton ironmonger June 16 1835

Bensley Benjamin Andover Southampton printer July 26 1836

Hall Charles Andover Southampton builder and carpenter Feb 2 1827

Hellicar John Andover Hampshire linen draper April 1 1823

Hutchins Thomas Andover Hampsbire common carrier March 31 1843

Kent Moses Andover Hants draper July 22 1831

Lansley William Andover Hampshire carpenter and builder April 27 1824

Latham Robert Thomas Andover Hants surgeon May 25 1838

Lawes Stephen Charlton Andover farmer and horse dealer June 17 1826

Long Daniel Andover late Newbury gun maker May 28 1822

Maud Wm & Robt Maud Andover Hants common brewers Oct 24 1826

Maude John Lawes Andover Southampton maltster Dec 19 1826

Peck John Andover linen draper and grocer Aug 24 1824

Shackleford Frederick Andover Hants draper Nov 23 1830

Sutton James Andover Hants nursery and seedsman July 12 1831

Tollemache William Lionel Felix, commonly called Lord Huntingtower, Keston, Kent, and Penton lodge, Andover, horse dealer, Sept 2 1842

Wakeford Jos Wm & Robt Andover Southampton bankers Mar 21 1826

Winscom James Andover Southampton linen draper Feb 4 1823

Winscom James Andover Southampton linen draper May 30 1826

Woodley Francis Andover Southampton victualler March 20 1827

Administration

County: Hampshire
Civil Registration District: Andover
Probate Court: Courts of the Bishop (Episcopal Consistory) and Archdeaconry of Winchester
Diocese: Winchester
Rural Deanery: Andover
Poor Law Union: Andover
Hundred: Andover Borough
Province: Canterbury