Handsworth Staffordshire Family History Guide

|
Updated on
Links marked with a * mean that we may earn a small commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. It all helps to keep the site online and free for everyone.

Handsworth or Handsworth St Mary an Ancient Parish in the county of Staffordshire.

Alternative names: Handsworth with Soho, Handsworth St Mary

The following parishes were created from Handsworth St Mary Ancient Parish1:

  • Handsworth St James Ecclesiastical Parish created 1854 from Handsworth St Mary Ancient Parish
  • Handsworth St Michael Ecclesiastical Parish created 1861 from Handsworth St Mary Ancient Parish
  • Perry Barr Ecclesiastical Parish 1862
  • Birchfield Ecclesiastical Parish 1865
  • Hamstead Ecclesiastical Parish 1894
  • Handsworth St Andrew Ecclesiastical Parish created 1914 from Handsworth St Mary Ancient Parish and Handsworth St James Ecclesiastical Parish

The following parishes were created from Handsworth St James Ecclesiastical Parish2:

  • Handsworth St Peter Ecclesiastical Parish created 1907 from Handsworth St James Ecclesiastical Parish and Handsworth St Michael Ecclesiastical Parish
  • Handsworth St Andrew Ecclesiastical Parish created 1914 from Handsworth St Mary Ancient Parish and Handsworth St James Ecclesiastical Parish

The following parishes were created from Handsworth St Michael Ecclesiastical Parish3:

  • Handsworth St Peter Ecclesiastical Parish created 1907 from Handsworth St James Ecclesiastical Parish and Handsworth St Michael Ecclesiastical Parish

Other places in the parish include: Handsworth with Soho, Perry Barr, and Oscott.

Parish registers begin: 1558; Separate registers exist for Perry Barr: 1833

Nonconformists include: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Countess of Huntingdon Methodist, Independent/Congregational, Roman Catholic, and Wesleyan Methodist.

Adjacent Parishes

Handsworth Parish Registers

Baptism, Marriage and Burial Records

These records include images of Church of England parish registers of baptism, marriage, and burial records.

Handsworth St Mary, Birmingham Church of England Baptisms Marriages and Burials 1558-1812

Handsworth St Mary, Birmingham Church of England Baptisms 1813-1919

Handsworth St Andrew, Birmingham Church of England Baptisms 1909-1950

Handsworth St James, Birmingham Church of England Baptisms 1847-1922

Marriage and Banns Records

These records include images of Church of England parish registers of marriages and banns records.

Handsworth St Andrew, Birmingham Church of England Marriages and Banns 1911-1985

Handsworth St James, Birmingham Church of England Marriages and Banns 1854-1937

Handsworth St Mary, Birmingham Church of England Marriages and Banns 1754-1837

Death and Burial Records

These records include images of Church of England parish registers of deaths and burial records.

Handsworth St James, Birmingham Church of England Burials 1844-1963

Non-Conformist Registers

Birmingham, St George´s Presbyterian Church, Heathfield Rd. Handsworth Register of Marriages 1948-1949

Birmingham, St George´s Presbyterian Church, Heathfield Rd. Handsworth Baptismal Register 1863-1966

Birmingham, St George´s Presbyterian Church, Heathfield Rd. Handsworth Register of Marriages 1943-1948

Birchfields, Mansfield Road Methodist Church Marriage Register 1900 Dec 22-1933 Aug 05

Birchfields, Mansfield Road Methodist Church Marriage Register 1934 Jun 30-1951 Mar 25

Handsworth, Asbury Memorial Chapel, Holyhead Road Register of Baptisms 1873 Jul-1909 Feb

Handsworth, Asbury Memorial Chapel, Holyhead Road Register of Baptisms 1909 Mar-1967 Nov

Handsworth, Asbury Memorial Chapel, Holyhead Road Register of Marriages 1889 Jan-1899 Aug

Handsworth, Asbury Memorial Methodist Church, Holyhead Road Marriage Register 1899 Aug 08-1907 Jun 22

Handsworth, Asbury Memorial Methodist Church, Holyhead Road Marriage Register 1907 Aug 03-1918 Jul 27

Handsworth, Asbury Memorial Methodist Church, Holyhead Road Marriage Register 1918 Aug 31-1924 Aug 02

Handsworth, Asbury Memorial Methodist Church, Holyhead Road Marriage Register 1924 Sep 03-1931 Feb 25

Handsworth, Asbury Memorial Methodist Church, Holyhead Road Marriage Register 1931 Apr 25-1939 Aug 12

Handsworth, Asbury Memorial Methodist Church, Holyhead Road Marriage Register 1939 Aug 19-1957 Jun 22

Handsworth, Nineveh Chapel, Benson Road Register of Baptisms 1861-1894

Handsworth, Nineveh Chapel, Benson Road Register of Baptisms 1894-1958

Handsworth, Benson Road (Ninevah) Methodist Church Marriage Register 48 Jun 19

Handsworth, Cambridge Street Chapel Register of Baptisms 1861 Oct 2-1946 Apr 21

Handsworth, Cambridge Street Chapel Register of Marriages 1844 Nov 2-1946 Nov 2

Handsworth, Ebeneezer Chapel, Chapel Street Register of Baptisms 1866-1916

Handsworth, Ebeneezer Chapel, Chapel Street Register of Baptisms 1916-1969

Handsworth, Ebeneezer Methodist Chapel, Chapel Street Marriage Register 1913 Oct 25-1966 Sep 10

Handsworth, Soho Hill Congregational Church Register of Marriages 1923-1924

Handsworth, Soho Hill Congregational Church Register of Marriages 1924-1932

Handsworth, Soho Hill Congregational Church Register of Marriages 1932-1939

Handsworth, Soho Hill Congregational Church Register of Marriages 1940-1941

Handsworth, Somerset Road Methodist Church Register of Baptisms 1894 Apr-1918 Oct

Handsworth, Somerset Road Methodist Church Register of Baptisms 1919 Apr-1954 May

Handsworth, Somerset Road Methodist Church Register of Marriages 1899 Apr-1901 Jul

Handsworth, Somerset Road Methodist Church Marriage Register 1899 Oct 18-1910 Jul 06

Handsworth, Somerset Road Methodist Church Marriage Register 1910 Jul 13-1918 Jun 29

Handsworth, Somerset Road Methodist Church Marriage Register 1918 Sep 07-1923 Sep 29

Handsworth, Somerset Road Methodist Church Marriage Register 1924 Aug 02-1931 Aug 20

Handsworth, Somerset Road Methodist Church Marriage Register 1931 Aug 29-1937 Jul 17

Handsworth, Somerset Road Methodist Church Marriage Register 1937 Jul 24-1941 Dec 24

Handsworth, Somerset Road Methodist Church Marriage Register 1942 Apr 04-1956 Sep 22

Handsworth, Trinity Methodist Church Register of Baptisms 1930 Oct-1961 Jan

Handsworth, Trinity Methodist Church Marriage Register 1930 Aug-1933 Jun

Handsworth, Trinity Methodist Church Marriage Register 1933 Jun-1941 Sep

Handsworth, Trinity Methodist Church Marriage Register 1941 Sep-1953 Aug

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.

Banks Chas. Matthews, Handsworth, Stafford, plumber & glazier, Oct. 15, 1839.

Izon Thomas, Handsworth, Staffordshire, merchant, Jan. 21, 1831.

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

HANDSWORTH, a town, a township, a parish, and a sub-district, in West Bromwich district, Stafford. The town stands contiguous to Warwickshire, on Hockley Brook, near the Birmingham and Wolverhampton railway; is suburban to Birmingham, and averagely 2½ miles NNW of the centre of that borough; partakes of the industry and general character of Birmingham; is the seat of the famous Soho manufactory; and has a post office under Birmingham, and two stations with telegraph, the one called Soho, the other called Handsworth-Smethwick, on the Birmingham and Wolverhampton railway. 

The township bears the name of Handsworth-with-Soho. Pop. in 1851, 7,047; in 1861, 10,398. Houses, 2,003. The parish includes also the hamlet of Perry-Barr, and comprises 7,680 acres. Real property, £48,532. Pop. in 1851, 7,879; in 1861, 11,459. Houses, 2,179. There are five livings, H. St. Mary, H. St. James, H. St. Michael, Birchfield, and Perry-Barr; and the first is a rectory, the others vicarages, in the diocese of Lichfield. Value of St. Mary, £1, 500; of St. James and Perry Barr, each £200; of St. Michael, £300; of Birchfield, not reported. Patron of St. Mary, the Rev. J. Peel, D.D.; of Perry-Barr, Lord Calthorpe; of the others, the Rector of Handsworth.

St. Mary’s church was ancient, but has been mostly rebuilt; includes a recent chapel, with a statue of Watt, by Chantry; and contains a bust of Boulton by Flaxman, and several old monuments. St. James’ church was built in 1840; and had assigned to it, in 1854, a definite territory, the pop. of which, in 1861, was 3,691. St. Michael’s church was built in 1858, at a cost of about £6,000; and is in the decorated English style. Birchfield church was built in 1864. There are chapels for Independents, Wesleyans, and Roman Catholics, a convent of sisters of mercy, a middle school, national schools, and charities £199.

The convent is a large edifice in Hunters lane, and the chapel connected with it is very elegant. The middle school was built in 1862, at a cost of £3,200. The sub-district is conterminate with the parish.

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

Administration

  • County: Staffordshire
  • Civil Registration District: West Bromwich
  • Probate Court: Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory)
  • Diocese: Lichfield
  • Rural Deanery: West Bromwich
  • Poor Law Union: West Bromwich
  • Hundred: South Offlow
  • Province: Canterbury

References

  1. F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991) ↩︎
  2. F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991) ↩︎
  3. F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991) ↩︎