Holt, Worcestershire Family History Guide

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Holt is an Ancient Parish in the county of Worcestershire. Little Witley is a chapelry of Holt.

Other places in the parish include: Holt Heath.

Alternative names: Holt-Castle

Parish church: St. Martin

Parish registers begin: 1538

Nonconformists include:

Adjacent Parishes

Holt Heath Church
Holt Heath Church

Holt Parish Registers

Search online registers of baptisms, marriages, banns and burials including digitised images of original records and registers and indexed transcriptions.

Baptism, Marriage and Burial Records

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

Holt, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812

Holt, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1812-1922

Marriage and Banns Records

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

Holt, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1947

Death and Burial Records

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

Holt, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-1997

The following Worcestershire Monumental Inscriptions, hosted by Findmypast, are a collection of transcriptions created by the Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry.

Holt St Martin Monumental Inscriptions 1420-1990

Marriage Licences and Allegations

London Marriage Licences and Allegations 1521 to 1869

The following have been extracted from London Marriage Licences 1521 to 1869.

Abbreviations. — B. Bishop of London’s Office; D. Dean and Chapter of Westminster; F. Faculty Office of Archbishop of Canterbury; V. Registry of the Vicar-General of Canterbury.

Bromley, Clobery, esq., of St. James, Westminster, bachelor, 22, and Mrs. Dorothy Bromley, of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, spinster, 16, her parents dead, consent of her guardian, Charles Longueville, esq., of the Inner Temple — at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, St. Ann, Westminster, or St. Paul, Covent Garden. From an accompanying document in Latin it appears she was daughter of William Bromley, of Holt Castle, co. Worcester, who died at Horseheath Hall, co. Cambridge, by Margaret his wife, his will dated 27 May, 1703. 22 March, 1707/8. B.

Welsh, George, of St. James, Clerkenwell, Middlesex, esq., widower, and Mercy Bromley, of Holt, co. Worcester, widow — at Holt aforesaid. 23 Sept. 1679. F.

Holt Parish Records

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.

Holt Church Of England Infants & Mixed School 1902-1914 Admissions

Quarter Session Records

The records below have been extracted from the book Calendar of the Quarter Sessions papers Worcestershire v1.

30 October 1592. Recognizance before [Edward] Blunt and William Walshe by Thomas Hunyet of Holte and John Hunyet of Worcester for their appearance to give evidence against Thomas [Carter?] charged with murder. XXXVIII. 7.

30 October 1592. Recognizance before Edward Blunt and William [Walshe] by Richard Atkins and William Filde of Hittington and Thomas Carter of Ribsford for the appearance of the said Thomas Carter to answer upon the suspicion of felonious murdering of Elizabeth Hunyet sister of Thomas Hunyet of Holt and John Hunyet of Worcester. XXXVIII. 9.

3rd January 1592 (or 3). Alehouse Recognizance before Henry Bromley and John Washebourne by Edward Mason Yeoman and William Parkes both of Holt and Mathew Wicken of Holt. XXXVIII. 8.

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.

Ford William, Holt, Worcestershire, farmer, May 22, 1821.

Goodwin John, Holt, Worcestershire, miller, May 24, 1825.

Historical Directories

Holt With Little Witley Littlebury’s Directory 1879

Holt Lewis Worcestershire Directory 1820

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

HOLT, a village, a parish, and a sub-district in Martley district, Worcestershire. The village stands on the river Severn, 3 miles NW of Fearnall-Heath r. station, and 5½ NNW of Worcester; and has a post office under Worcester. The parish includes also Holt-Heath hamlet, and Little Witley chapelry; and comprises 2,911 acres. Real property, £4,764. Pop., 503. Houses, 110. The property is divided among a few. The manor and nearly all the land belong to Earl Dudley.

Holt Castle is a fine ancient baronial mansion, with lofty embattled tower; was formerly the seat of the Warwicks, the Beauchamps, the Bromleys, and the Foleys; and is now occupied by a farmer. A piece of Roman pavement, 3 feet by 2, was found here in 1848.

The living is a rectory, united with the p. curacy of Little Witley, in the diocese of Worcester. Value, £579. Patron, Earl Dudley. The church is Norman; was recently restored; consists of nave, S aisle, and chancel, with a low tower; and contains a few ancient monuments. There are a national school, and charities £16. The sub-district excludes Little Witley chapelry, but includes five other parishes, and an extra-parochial tract. Acres, 13,997. Pop., 3,509. Houses, 763.

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

The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales 1851

Holt, or Holt-Castle, a parish in Oswaldslow hund., union of Martley, Worcestershire; 5½ miles north-north-west of Worcester, on the banks of the Severn.

It includes the chapelry of Little Witley. Living, a rectory, with the curacy of Little Witley. in the archd. and dio. of Worcester; rated at £15 17s. 8½d.; gross income £600. Tithes commuted in 1839; aggregate amount £537 13s. 4d. rectorial. Patron, in 1835, Lord Foley. The church presents an excellent specimen of Saxon architecture. Here is a daily school. In 1835, 57 acres of hops were cultivated in this parish.

The ruins of Holt-castle, formerly belonging to the Beauchamps, are still visible. Acres 2,930. Houses 122. A. P. £4,342. Pop., in 1801, 562; in 1831, 635. Poor rates, in 1838, £241 19s.

Source: The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales; A Fullarton & Co. Glasgow; 1851

A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848

HOLT (St. Martin), a parish, in the union of Martley, Lower division of the hundred of Oswaldslow, Worcester and W. divisions of the county of Worcester, 6 miles (N. N. W.) from Worcester; containing, with the chapelry of Little Witley, 557 inhabitants. This place is of considerable antiquity.

A castle was built here by Urso d’Abitot in the reign of William the Conqueror, which was rebuilt by Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, and for some time continued to be the residence of the family; in the time of Elizabeth, it was bought by Sir Thomas Bromley, lord chancellor of England, by whom it was sold to the Foley family. The estate is now, by purchase, the property of Lord Ward, and the castle is occupied by a farmer.

The parish is bounded on the north-east by the river Severn, over which is a bridge of five arches, 266 feet in length: the central arch is of iron, and has a span of 150 feet at an elevation of 35 feet above the low-water mark; the other arches are of stone. The extent of the parish is 2907a. 3r. 21p., of which 1912a. 3r. 21p. are in Holt; of the whole, two-thirds are arable, and the remainder pasture. Stone of good quality for building is quarried to a considerable extent. The roads from Worcester to Stourport and from Ludlow to Droitwich cross each other at the village; and the Severn also affords facility of conveyance.

The living is a rectory, with the chapelry annexed, valued in the king’s books at £15. 17. 8½., and in the patronage of Lord Ward: the tithes have been commuted for £570, and the glebe comprises 46 acres, with a house. The church is an ancient structure, of the early Norman style in the nave, with a tower and chancel of far more recent date; the font has some grotesque ornaments.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848

Worcestershire Delineated C. and J. Greenwood 1822

Holt – a parish in the hundred of Oswaldslow, lower division, 6 miles N.N.W. from Worcester, and 117 from London; containing 64 inhabited houses. The church is a fine specimen of Saxon architecture, and is a rectory, with Little-Witley chapel annexed; Rev. John Foley, incumbent; instituted 1811; patron, Lord Foley. Population, 1801, 327 – 1811, 327 – 1821, 355.

Holt-Castle, in the above parish, stands on the western bank of the river Severn, and was rebuilt in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, by Sir Robert Walsh, then Lord Chancellor, on the foundations of an old castle, erected by the Beauchamps, to whom it came by descent from Urso D’Abitot, the first hereditary sheriff of Worcester. It is now the property of Lord Foley, and in the occupation of Mr. Chillingworth, a respectable farmer.

Source: Worcestershire Delineated: Being a Topographical Description of Each Parish, Chapelry, Hamlet, &c. In the County; with the distances and bearings from their respective market towns, &c. By C. and J. Greenwood. Printed by T. Bensley, Crane Court, Fleet Street, London, 1822.

Universal British Directory 1791

Holt is six miles from Worcester, on the Ludlow road. Here stands the ancient fabric of Holt-castle, late the residence of the Countess-dowager of Coventry; near which is Holt Fleet-passage, over the river Severn. The church is dedicated to St. Martin, and is one of the completest remains of the ancient Saxon architecture.

Source: Universal British Directory 1791

Maps

Vision of Britain Historical Maps – includes topographic maps, boundary maps and land use maps

Administration

  • County: Worcestershire
  • Civil Registration District: Martley
  • Probate Court: Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)
  • Diocese: Worcester
  • Rural Deanery: Worcester
  • Poor Law Union: Martley
  • Hundred: Oswaldslow
  • Province: Canterbury