Offenham Worcestershire Family History Guide

Offenham is an Ancient Parish in the county of Worcestershire.

Parish registers begin: 1538

Nonconformists include:

Adjacent Parishes

• Evesham
• North and Middle Littleton
• Badsey
• Bretforton
• South Littleton
• Norton and Lenchwick
• Harvington

Offenham 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.

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

Offenham, 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.

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

Offenham Marriages 1543 to 1812

The Offenham Marriages 1543 to 1812 are available free to read online, with options to download the pdf for personal research

Marriages at Offenham 1543 to 1812 Worcestershire Parish Registers Marriages Vol. 1 Edited by W. P. W. Phillimore and W. F. Carter.

Death and Burial Records

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

Offenham, 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.

Offenham St Mary & St Melburgh Monumental Inscriptions 1679-1984

Marriage Licences and Allegations

The following have been extracted from Gloucestershire Marriage Allegations 1681-1700.

1695 July 20 Thomas Spragge, Offenham, Worcs., yeom., 25, and Anne Randall, Doudeswell, 24.

Historical Directory Transcriptions

Offenham Billings Directory 1855

Offenham is a small, quiet, and retired parish, about 2 miles N.E.N. from Evesham. It contained in 1851 a population of 400 inhabitants.

Offenham took its name from the Saxon King Offa, who had a palace here; it afterwards became the residence of the Abbots of Evesham, and it is said that the present manor-farm stands upon the site of the ancient mansion. There is a broad fosse in this neighbourhood, called “The Deer’s Leap,” which is supposed to be a portion of the boundary of the deer park.

The Church is an old building, in the early English style of architecture, with square turreted tower, and pinnacles at each corner; the tower contains a peal of five bells. Rev. Robert Lawson, Perpetual Curate; Mr. John Porter, Clerk. Service – 10 30 a.m. and 3 p.m.

DIRECTORY

Gibbs Mrs. Mary
Lawson Rev. Robert, Perpetual Curate
Sheaf Mr. William
Thorpe Mr. Jonathan
Gibbs John, farmer
Hopkins John, Court Farm
Moore Henry, blacksmith
Sheaf Thomas, farmer
Smith Mrs., miller
Stephens William, shopkeeper
Tomes Thomas Bennett, farmer, Marvill

Source: Billings Directory of Worcestershire 1855

Offenham Lewis Worcestershire Directory 1820

 Brookes Francis, farmer
Danter W. horse dealer
Digby Rev. William
Gibbs John, farmer
Gibbs John, jun. farmer
Harris Wm. maltster
Harris Michael, baker
Jeffreys, William, farmer
Knight John carpenter
Knight Robert, victualler
Lidsey Richard, farmer
Phillips William, farmer
Preedy W.F. esq.
Rock Phillip, farmer
Sheaf Thomas, farmer

Source: S Lewis Worcestershire General and Commercial Directory for 1820.

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

OFFENHAM, a village and a parish in Evesham district, Worcester. The village stands on the river Avon, 1¼ mile S of the boundary with Warwick, and 2 NNE of Evesham r. station: took its name from King Offa, who had a house at it; and is a very retired place, untraversed by any carriage-road.

The parish comprises 1,215 acres. Post-town, Evesham. Real property, £3,380; of which £12 are in quarries. Pop. in 1851, 400; in 1861, 461. Houses, 95. The increase of pop. arose from the temporary presence of workmen employed in rebuilding the church. The property is much sub-divided. The manor belonged anciently to the abbots of Evesham; and fragments and extensive foundations of a mansion of the abbots were discovered, a few years ago, in diggings near the present manor farm-house.

The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Worcester. Value, £130. Patron, Christ Church, Oxford. The church was rebuilt in 1861, at a cost of about £1,800; is in the early decorated English style; comprises nave, N aisle, and chancel, with a vestry; and retains the tower of the previous edifice, of late perpendicular date and embattled. There are an endowed school with £12 a year, and charities £7.

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

Worcestershire Delineated C. and J. Greenwood 1822

Offenham – a parish in the hundred of Blakenhurst, upper division, 2 miles N.N.E. from Evesham, and 99 from London; containing 81 inhabited houses. It is pleasantly situated on the river Avon, over which was formerly a bridge in a line with the Worcester road, but was destroyed for the purpose of cutting off the retreat of the Earl of Leicester, at the battle of Evesham, in the year 1285. It is a curacy, united with North Littleton. Population, 1801, 264 – 1811, 298 – 1821, 343.

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.

Historical Maps

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

Administration

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