Place:Brightwells Barrow Hundred, Gloucestershire, England

Watchers


NameBrightwells Barrow Hundred
TypeHundred
Located inGloucestershire, England

The Hundreds of Gloucestershire, as with hundreds in other English counties, were the original geographic divisions of the county for administrative, military and judicial purposes. Each hundred covered a number of parishes. The introduction of civil registration in 1837 was accompanied by the creation of other groups of parishes such as Sanitary Districts and Poor Law Unions.

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

"BRIGHTWELLS-BARROW, a hundred in the E of Gloucester. It adjoins Oxford and Berks; is 9½ miles long; and contains Fairford parish, ten other parishes, and part of another. Acres: 36,790. Population: 8,020. Houses: 1,708."

Brightwells Barrow Hundred is located in the Cotswold Hills in the southeast corner of Gloucestershire.

Image:Gloucestershire 1832 Map of Hundreds WP.png

List of Parishes

ParishDescriptionNotes
Aldsworth ancient parish, civil parish
Barnsley ancient parish, civil parish
Bibury ancient parish, civil parish
Broughton Poggs ancient parish, civil parish located in Oxfordshire by 1870
Coln St. Aldwyns ancient parish, civil parish
Eastleach Martin ancient parish, civil parish
Eastleach Turville ancient parish, civil parish
Fairford ancient parish, civil parish
Hatherop ancient parish, civil parish
Kempsford ancient parish, civil parish
Lechlade ancient parish, civil parish
Quenington ancient parish, civil parish
Southrop ancient parish, civil parish

Research Tips

Online sources which may also be helpful:

  • A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 7/Brightwells Barrow hundred in the Victoria County History series provided by the website British History Online
  • Three maps on the A Vision of Britain through Time website illustrate the changes in political boundaries over the period 1830-1945. All have expanding scales and on the second and third this facility is sufficient that individual parishes can be inspected.
  • Gloucestershire Hundreds as drawn in 1832. This map was prepared before The Great Reform Act of that year. Note the polling places and representation of the various parts of the county.
  • Gloucestershire in 1900, an Ordnance Survey map showing rural districts, the boundaries of the larger towns, the smaller civil parishes of the time, and some hamlets and villages in each parish
  • Gloucestershire in 1943, an Ordnance Survey map showing the rural districts after the changes to their structure in the 1930s
  • A Vision of Britain through Time has a group of pages of statistical facts for almost every parish in the county
  • GENUKI gives pointers to other archive sources as well as providing some details on each parish. The emphasis here is on ecclesiastical parishes (useful before 1837)
  • A listing of all the Registration Districts in England and Wales since their introduction in 1837 and tables of the parishes that were part of each district and the time period covered with detailed notes on changes of parish name, mergers, etc. The compiler has gone to a lot of work to provide this material. Respect his copyright.
  • The FamilySearch Wiki for Gloucestershire provides a similar but not identical series of webpages to that provided by GENUKI
  • English Jurisdictions, a supplementary website to FamilySearch outlining local parish boundaries in the middle on the 19th century. The information provided is especially useful for establishing the relationship of the ecclesiastical parishes in large towns and cathedral cities.
  • Ancestry UK has recently added Gloucestershire Burials, 1813-1988; Confirmations, 1834-1913; Baptisms, 1813-1913; Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1813; and Marriages and Banns, 1754-1938. (entry dated 1 Aug 2015)