Place:Baswich, Staffordshire, England

Watchers
NameBaswich
Alt namesBaswicksource: Family History Library Catalog
Berkswicksource: Family History Library Catalog
Berkswich
TypeParish (ancient), Civil parish
Coordinates52.7969°N 2.0858°W
Located inStaffordshire, England
See alsoEast Cuttlestone Hundred, Staffordshire, Englandhundred of which the parish was a part
Brocton, Staffordshire, Englandtownship within the ancient parish of Baswich
Acton Trussell and Bednall, Staffordshire, Englandtownship within the ancient parish of Baswich
Stafford Rural, Staffordshire, Englandrural district in which the parish was located 1894-1974
Stafford (district), Staffordshire, Englanddistrict municipality in which it has been located since 1974
source: Family History Library Catalog
source: Family History Library Catalog


the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Baswich is now a housing estate on the southeastern side of Stafford. It is part of the modern civil parish of Berkswich and is located in Staffordshire, England. It is situated next to Weeping Cross, which is also part of the civil parish.

Prior to 1851, the terms Berkswich and Baswich were used interchangeably, to refer to a larger area which included the townships of Baswich and Brockton. At that time, it comprised an area of 6,200 acres (2,500 ha), and had a population of 1448. Baswich township consisted of an area of 1,600 acres (650 ha) and included the hamlets of Radford, Weeping-Cross, Walton and Milford, but there was no village with the name of Baswich. Holy Trinity Church, the parish church, was isolated from any of the hamlets, as there was no housing in its immediate vicinity. The two townships became part of Stafford Poor Law Union, as a result of the passing of the Poor Law Amendment Act in 1834. The Union was created on 28 September 1836, and provided centralised poor relief for 19 parishes. Baswich elected one of the 27 Guardians to the controlling Board, who erected a new workhouse on Marston Road, to the north of Stafford, in 1837-8.

Holy Trinity Church has complete records of baptisms from 1601 to 1937, of marriages from 1601 to 1974, and of burials from 1601 to 1909. They have been transferred to the Staffordshire Records Office for safekeeping.

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Baswich from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"BASWICK, or Berkswick, a township in Stafford [registration] district, and a parish in Stafford and Penkridge [registration] districts, Staffordshire.
"The township is united to two other tracts, under the name of Baswick, Milford, and Walton; it lies on the Worcester canal, near the Northwestern and the Trent Valley railways, 2 miles SE of Stafford; and it contains the post office of Walton under Stafford. Real property: £4,015. Population: 660. Houses: 128.
"The parish contains also the township of Brockton and that of Acton-Trussel and Bednell. Acres: 6,608. Real property: £10,497. Population: 1,555. Houses: 302. The property is divided among a few. The living is a vicarage, united with the [perpetual] curacy of St. Thomas, in the diocese of Lichfield. Value: £238. Patrons: J. N. Lane, Esq., and the Rev. Inge. The church is good; and the [perpetual] curacy of Acton-Trussel-with-Bednell is a separate benefice. Charities, £15."

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Baswich.

From 1894 until 1974 Baswich was a parish in the Stafford Rural District. Since 1974 it has been part of the Stafford District. In 1934 a substantial part of the parish area was transferred into the Borough of Stafford.

Staffordshire Research Tips

Reminder: Staffordshire today covers a much smaller area than formerly. The West Midlands now governs the southeastern corner of pre-1974 Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, although ceremonially still part of Staffordshire, is a unitary authority covering a large well-populated part of the north of the county.

  • The William Salt Library is the reference library in Stafford and is adjacent to the county archive offices. They have an online catalogue of their holdings.
  • GENUKI lists other large libraries in Staffordshire for Wolverhampton, Burton-upon-Trent, Dudley, Walsall, and Sandwell. The last three of these places are now in the West Midlands and may hold items of local interest which are no longer housed in Staffordshire libraries and archives. For example, The Walsall Archives Centre keeps local census records and local church records.
  • The Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry includes Staffordshire in its remit. It has branches in Stoke-on-Trent, Burton-on-Trent and Wolverhampton. Publications are available through the BMSGH shop. Payments accepted by debit and credit card and by Paypal. Other family history and local history societies situated around Staffordshire are listed by GENUKI.
  • The Midlands Historical Data project produces searchable facsimile copies of old local history books and directories of interest to genealogists. It specialises in the three counties of Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Staffordshire, working closely with libraries, archives and family history societies in the area. Digital images are made freely available to participating organisations to improve public access. Free search index on its web-site to all its books. In many cases payment will be required to see the extract.
  • GENUKI makes a great many suggestions as to other websites with worthwhile information about Staffordshire as well as leading to a collection of 19th century descriptions of each of the ecclesiastical parishes.
  • The FamilySearch Wiki provides a similar information service to GENUKI which may be more up-to-date. An index of parishes leads to notes and references for each parish. The auxiliary website English Jurisdictions can also be helpful.
  • A Vision of Britain through Time has
  1. organization charts of the hierarchies of parishes within hundreds, registration districts (1837 onwards) and the rural and urban districts of the 20th century. They have just announced (August 2015) a future expansion to their data including 2011 census population data and links to post-1974 county organization.
  2. excerpts from a gazetteer of circa 1870 outlining individual towns and parishes
  3. reviews of population through the time period 1800-1960
  • Brett Langston's list of Staffordshire Registration Districts and parishes within each registration district from 1837 to the present can indicate where to find details of civil registration entries since the process began in England.
  • More local sources can often be found by referring to "What Links Here" in the column on the left.
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Baswich. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.