Hadnall, Shropshire Family History Guide
Hadnall is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Shropshire, created in 1742 from a chapelry in Myddle Ancient Parish.
Alternative names: Hadnall Ease
Other places in the parish include: Smethcott, Shotton, Haston, Hardwick, and Alderton.
Status: Chapelry in Myddle Ancient Parish; succeeded by Hadnall Ecclesiastical Parish in 1742
Parish church:
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1783
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1659
Nonconformists include: Independent/Congregational and Primitive Methodist.
Table of Contents
Adjacent Parishes
Parish History
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
HADNALL, a township and a chapelry in Middle parish, Salop. The township lies on the Shrewsbury and Crewe railway, 4½ miles NNE of Shrewsbury; and has a post office under Shrewsbury and a r. station. The chapelry includes Alderton, Haston, Hardwick, Shotton, and Smethcott townships. Pop., 456. Houses, 96. The property is subdivided. The living is a p. curacy in the dio. of Lichfield. Value, £172. Patron, the Rector of Middle. The church is good. Charities £76.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
Lewis Topographical Dictionary of England 1845
Hadnall-Ease, a chapelry, in the parish of Middle, liberty of the borough of Shrewsbury, union of Ellesmere, N. division of Salop, 5 1/2 miles (N. N. E.) from Shrewsbury; containing 429 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £55; patron, Rector of Middle. The chapel is dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene. A school was founded and endowed under the will of Lady Mary Hill, in 1787.
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.
Gregory Shropshire Gazetteer 1824
Hadnall; or Hadnall Ease. A township in the parish of Middle, and in the liberties of Shrewsbury. A chapel to Middle, in the diocese of Coventry and Lichfield, the deanery of Salop, and archdeaconry of Salop. 61 houses, 363 inhabitants. 5 miles north of Shrewsbury.
Source: The Shropshire Gazetteer, with an Appendix, including a Survey of the County and Valuable Miscellaneous Information, with Plates. Printed and Published by T. Gregory, Wem, 1824
Parish Registers
Hadnall Nonconformist Registers 1798 to 1837
Parish Records
FamilySearch
Shropshire Historical Directories
Director Transcriptions
Bagshaw History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Shropshire 1851
HADNAL, OR HADNAL EASE, is a township and chapelry in the parish of Middle, five miles N.N.E. from Shrewsbury. The village is pleasantly situated on the turnpike road from Shrewsbury to Chester, and contains some good farm houses and a commodious and respectable inn. The township contains 814a. 2r. 19p. of land. Viscount Hill is the principal land owner; besides whom Sir Andrew V. Corbet, Mr. Charles Woodward, Mr. Joseph Morris, Mrs. Wildig, and others, are also owners. The population in 1801 was 362; and in 1841 there were 92 houses and 429 souls in the chapelry, and 221 in the township. Rateable value, £1,119. 16s. 8d. Rent charge, £107. 18s.
The Episcopal Chapel is a neat stone edifice, mantled with ivy; it has a square castellated tower, ornamented with a clock, and the chapel is surrounded with a spacious cemetery, the margin of which is fringed with flourishing limes, yews, and fir trees, which give it a pleasing and rural appearance. In the east window are several fragments of stained glass, apparently of the date of the erection—the sixteenth century. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the rector of Middle, and enjoyed by the Rev. William Oliver, of Astley Lodge. In the Liber Ecclesiasticus the living is returned at £55. The annual value, however, now is upwards of £70, arising from the sum of £400, royal bounty, and the moiety of the rent of a farm in the township of Criggion, which was purchased with money belonging to the livings of Preston Gubbals, Hanwood, and Hadnal, by the then incumbent, who, in consequence of enjoying several benefices, was denominated “St. John of the Seven Churches.” The chapelry contains the townships of Alderton, Hardwick, Haston, Shotton, and Sneethcott. Rateable value of the chapelry, £5,614. 17s. 9d; acres, 2,418 0r. 20p. The Banasters, a family of considerable note in former times, had an estate and seat at Hadnal as early as the time of William the Conqueror. The hall was a spacious mansion of chequered timber work, and occupied a site near the episcopal chapel. The moat may still be traced, adjoining the turnpike road. Mr. Hulbert is of opinion that Hadnal Hall was the place where the Duke of Buckingham was betrayed by Humphrey Banaster, in 1483, from whence he was taken to Shrewsbury, and, without trial, beheaded, by command of Richard III. Thomas Banaster, of Hadnal, was sheriff of the county in 1403.
Providence Grove is a neat house, the residence and property of Mr. Charles Hulbert, the author and publisher of an elaborate history of the county, and numerous other publications. On the 7th of January, 1839, an awfully destructive fire occurred at Providence Grove, and so rapid was the progress of the devouring element, that all the valuable property, consisting of a library of more than 3,000 volumes, manuscripts, curiosities, paintings, furniture, a large stock of new books and engravings, with the whole of the house, and a great portion of the houses adjoining, were consumed. The loss to the proprietor was irreparable, as only the premises were insured, and those at one half of their value. Mr. Hulbert has now arrived at a good old age, and is publishing an account of his own life, which he entitles “Seventy Years of an eventful Life.”
The Independent Chapel, a neat stone fabric, was built in 1832. The congregation is under the pastoral care of the Rev. David James.
The Free School is endowed with £300, bequeathed by Dame Mary Hill, in 1787, who at the same time made the following bequests, viz., £30 towards building a school-house in Hadnal, £100 to the treasurer of the Salop Infirmary, the interest of £100 to be distributed among poor persons residing in Hadnal, the same amount for the benefit of the poor of Middle, and the residue of her personal estate for such charitable purposes as she by a codicil to her will should direct. The residue of the personal estate amounted to £1,305 2s. 5d., in respect of which £30 per annum is paid to a dissenting minister at Hadnal, £14 towards the support of the school, and £10 to Prees school. These several sums appear to be the interest of £1,200, at 4½ per cent.; it is stated the balance, £105. 2s. 5d. was applied in building the school at Weston. In respect of the £300 bequeathed to Hadnal school, £12 per annum as the interest thereof is paid to the teacher. It does not appear that any new trustees have been appointed for carrying into effect the trusts declared in the will of Dame Mary Hill. The management has therefore continued in that family.
It is stated in the parliamentary returns of 1786, that Mr. Watkins gave £15 for the use of the poor of Hadnal. About thirty years ago Sir Andrew Corbet gave £10, on the marriage of his son, for the same purpose. These two sums are in the hands of Viscount Hill, and he pays 20s. annually as the interest thereof.
Birch William, provision dealer
Brittain Mr. Thomas
Brookes Benjamin, farmer
Cooper the Misses, the Academy
Davies John, farmer
Dodd Samuel, blacksmith
Ellis William, farmer
Heath Thomas, provision dealer and boot and shoe maker
Hulbert Charles, author and publisher, Providence grove
James David, Independent minister
Lee William, farmer
Leech John, farmer
Leech Sarah, schoolmistress
Payne Stephen, farmer
Powell John, wheelwright
Preston John, farmer
Walton Ann, vict., Saracen’s head
ALDERTON, a township and village in the chapelry of Hadnal, three miles N.N.W. from the latter place, contains 239a. 3r. 37p. of land, the owners of which are Mrs. Minor, Miss Corbett, and Mr. William Teece. Population in 1841, twenty-five. Rateable value, £410. 6s. 8d. Rent charge, £54. 5s. The resident farmers are John Clay, Cornelius Maddocks, and Richard Williams. The following are resident in the village of Alderton, but situated within the boundaries of the parish of Broughton, viz.: Joseph Mullinex, blacksmith; William Sutton, wheelwright; and Richard Williams, blacksmith.
HARDWICK, is a small township about a mile north from Hadnal, which comprises 372a. 2r. 1p. of land, the rateable value of which is £551. 6s. 2d. Inhabitants in 1841, thirteen. Rent charge, £23. Hardwick Hall, a handsome mansion delightfully situated in a well wooded park, was the country seat of that distinguished warrior, the late General Lord Hill, who greatly improved the hall and pleasure grounds, and erected a handsome lodge of Grinshill free stone, at the entrance from the Shrewsbury turnpike road. A more detailed account of this illustrious commander, who spent his last years amidst the rural beauties of Hardwick, has been given at a preceding page. The property is now vested in Viscount Hill, and the Misses Hill reside at Hardwick Hall. Robert Blantern, Hardwick Grange, is the only resident farmer in this township.
HASTON township, situated one mile W.W. by N. from Hadnal, contains about 400 acres of good land, the owners of which are Viscount Hill, Wilbraham Egerton, Esq., and Messrs. Richard and William Boodle Pickstock. Rateable value of the township, £574. 18s. 6d. Population in 1841, 78, Rent charge, £62. There are two respectable farm residences in this place, one of which has recently been built by the Messrs. Pickstock. The resident farmers are Mr. George Blantern and Messrs. Richard and William Boodle Pickstock.
SHOTTON, a small township pleasantly situated on elevated ground, two miles N.W. from Hadnal, contains 230a. 2r. 13p. of land, the rateable value of which is £417. 4s. 6d. Colonel Watkins owns the whole township. The number of inhabitants at the census in 1841 were twenty-two, at which period the land was divided into two farms. Within the last few years the two farms have been united, and the whole township is now farmed by Mr. John Groome. The tithes are commuted for £54. 5s.
SMETHCOTT township, situated a mile and a half W. by N. from Hadnal, in 1841 had a population of seventy souls. The houses are scattered, and the land is well timbered, which gives the whole a pleasing and rural appearance. The township contains 588a. 0r. 28p. of land, the owners of which are Mrs. Sarah Bayley and the two Mr. Edward Groomes. Rent charge, £92. 3s. 6d. Rateable value, £767. 9s. 1d. The Black Birches is a handsome and pleasantly situated house, the property and residence of Mrs. Sarah Bayley; besides whom, Mr. Francis Lloyd Bayley, Mr. Edward Groome, farmer, and Mr. Edward Groome, farmer, are residents in this township.
Source: History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Shropshire by Samuel Bagshaw 1851
Hadnall Cassey Shropshire Directory 1871
Hadnall, or Hadnall Ease, is a village and ecclesiastical parish, and station on the Shrewsbury and Crewe branch of the London and North Western Railway, about 5 miles from Shrewsbury, and 168 from London, in the Northern division of the county, Albrighton division of Brimstree hundred, Ellesmere union, and diocese of Lichfield. The church is a handsome stone building, consisting of nave, with a square tower. The living is a vicarage, yearly value £170, in the gift of the rector of Middle. The Independents and Primitive Methodists have chapels here. Viscount Hill is lord of the manor. J. J. Bibby and John W. Ward, Esqs., are the principal landowners. The charities amount to about £23 yearly. The soil is mixed; subsoil, clay and peat. The chief crops are wheat, barley, oats and turnips. The parish contains 800 acres; the population in 1861 was 456; gross estimated rental, £5,096; rateable value, £4,743.
Letters arrive through Shrewsbury at 5 0 a.m.; dispatched at 7 55 p.m.
Railway Station, John Peers, station master.
Bibby James Jenkinson, esq. Hardwick
James Mrs.
Mortimer Rev. Brooke Cunliffe
Robinson Rev. George, Smethcote
Ward John W. esq.
Bayley Thomas and Son, tailors and woollen drapers
Blantern George, farmer, Haston
Breeze William, farmer, Haston
Davies Robert, farm steward
Dickenson C. T. beer retailer
Evans John, farmer
Gittins Samuel, farmer
Groome John, farmer, Smethcote
Haycocks John grocer
Heath Thomas, boot and shoe maker
Heath Miss, grocer, &c.
Jacks Richard, butcher
Leech Richard, farmer
Payne Thomas, farmer
Penlington George, Saracen’s Head inn
Powell Richard, wheelwright, carpenter and builder
Powell Thomas, farmer, Painsbrook
Spence James George, coal and lime merchant, Railway wharf
Woodall William painter
Williams Richard, parish clerk, &c.
Wycherley Thomas, blacksmith, and horse shoer
Source: Edward Cassey & Co’s, History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Shropshire 1871
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Administration
- County: Shropshire
- Civil Registration District: Ellesmere
- Probate Court: Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory)
- Diocese: Lichfield
- Rural Deanery: Wem
- Poor Law Union: Ellesmere
- Hundred: Albrighton Division
- Province: Canterbury