Witney, Oxfordshire Family History Guide

Witney is a market town of considerable antiquity on the Windrush, its history dating back to Saxon times. The Market Square is a large open space in the centre of which stands the Butter Cross, a quaint, antique, gabled wooden structure surmounted by a clock and sundial, which was presented to the town in the 17th century as a rendezvous for the sellers of market produce. Witney was noted for its manufacture of blankets.

Witney is an Ancient Parish in the county of Oxfordshire

Other places in the parish include: Curbridge and Lew.

Status: Ancient Parish

Parish church: St. Mary

Parish registers begin:

• Parish registers: 1551
• Bishop’s Transcripts: 1682; 1721

Nonconformists include:

Parishes adjacent to Witney

• Ducklington
• Brize Norton
• Bampton Lew
• Standlake
• Crawley
• Hailey
• Minster Lovell
• Cogges

Parish History

Witney

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

Witney, market town, par., and township with ry. sta., Oxfordshire, 5 miles NE. of Bampton and 11¾ W. of Oxford – par., 7083 ac., pop. 5046; town and township, 188 ac., pop. 3017; P.O., T.O., 2 Banks, 2 newspapers. Market-day, Thursday. Witney is an ancient place, with a 13th century church, a blanket hall of 1721, a town hall, a county court house, a corn exchange, an old market cross, and a 3-arched bridge over the Windrush. It has glove-making and other industries, and has long been known for its mfrs. of blankets.

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

Lew

The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales 1848

Lew, a hamlet in the parish of Witney, county of Oxford; 3½ miles south-west by south of Witney. Acres 1,500. Houses 44. A. P. £1,470. Pop., in 1801, 222; in 1831, 237. Poor rates, in 1838, £137 14s.

Source: The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales; A Fullarton & Co. Glasgow; 1848

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.

Early John, jun., Witney, Oxfordshire, girth webb manufac., Aug. 5, 1842.

Parish Records

FamilySearch

England, Oxfordshire, Witney – Cemeteries ( 1 )
Transcriptions of names and dates from headstones in the burial ground of the Friends’ Meeting House, Woodgreen Hill, Witney Author: Eustace, Margaret; Eustace, Eric; Oxfordshire Family History Society

England, Oxfordshire, Witney – Census ( 1 )
Census returns for Witney, 1841-1891 Author: Great Britain. Census Office

England, Oxfordshire, Witney – Church records ( 10 )
Baptism register of the Witney Primitive Methodist Circuit, 1843-1873 Author: Primitive Methodist Church. Witney Circuit (Oxfordshire); Oxfordshire Family History Society

Baptism registers of the Witney Wesleyan Circuit, 1837-1951 Author: Wesleyan Methodist Church. Witney Circuit (Oxfordshire)

Baptismal register, 1799-1819 Author: Dissenting Chapel (Witney, Oxfordshire)

Births, marriages and burials, 1657-1837 Author: Society of Friends. Witney Monthly Meeting (England)

Non-parochial registers of North and West Oxfordshire : registers held by the Public Record Office, except for the early register for Bicester Independent Chapel which is retained locally Author: Young, Brian R.; Greenaway, Gwen; Fordred, Ingrid; Oxfordshire Family History Society

Register book of baptisms for the Congregational and Baptist denomina- tions, 1822-1833 Author: Independent Chapel (Witney, Oxfordshire)

Register book of baptisms for the Corn Street Primitive Methodist denominations, 1833-1837 Author: Corn Street Primitive Methodist Chapel (Witney, Oxfordshire)

Transcripts of the digest copy of the registers of births, marriages and burials, 1612-1837 Author: Society of Friends. Berkshire and Oxfordshire Quarterly Meeting (England)

Witney (Oxon) Congregational Church : [church records, 1806-1921] Author: Congregational Church (Witney, Oxfordshire); Goadby, A. J., Mrs.; Oxfordshire Family History Society

Witney Quaker registers Author: Society of Friends. Witney Monthly Meeting (England)

England, Oxfordshire, Witney – Church records – Indexes ( 6 )
Computer printout of Witney, Corn Street Primitive Methodist, Oxon., Eng

Computer printout of Witney, Independent or Congregational and Baptist, Oxon., Eng

Computer printout of Witney, Wesleyan, Oxon., Eng

Parish register printouts of Witney, Oxford, England (Independent) ; christenings, 1799-1836 Author: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Genealogical Department

Parish register printouts of Witney, Oxford, England (Primitive Methodist, Corn Street) ; christenings, 1833-1837 Author: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Genealogical Department

Parish register printouts of Witney, Oxford, England (Wesleyan) ; christenings, 1803-1837 Author: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Genealogical Department

England, Oxfordshire, Witney – Court records ( 1 )
Calendar of the court books of the borough of Witney, 1538-1610 Author: Bolton, James L.; Maslen, Marjorie M.; Witney (Oxfordshire)

England, Oxfordshire, Witney – History ( 1 )
Witney as it was Author: Worley, Tom

England, Oxfordshire, Witney – Land and property ( 1 )
Oxfordshire hundred rolls of 1279 : the hundred of Bampton Author: Stone, Eric; Hyde, Patricia

England, Oxfordshire, Witney – Manors – Court records ( 1 )
Court rolls for the manor of Witney, 1588-1611

England, Oxfordshire, Witney – Schools ( 2 )
Witney Grammar School, 1660-1960 Author: Fleming, Mary A.

Witney School records, 1862-1900 Author: Witney School (Oxfordshire)

Administration

• County: Oxfordshire
• Civil Registration District: Witney
• Probate Court: Courts of the Bishop (Episcopal Consistory) and the Archdeaconry of Oxford
• Diocese: Oxford
• Rural Deanery: Witney
• Poor Law Union: Witney
• Hundred: Bampton (Oxfordshire)
• Province: Canterbury