Place:Cowley, Gloucestershire, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

NOTE: There are a number of places in England named Cowley, including a large suburb of the City of Oxford in the neighbouring county of Oxfordshire.

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Cowley is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire, England. It lies between the A417 and A435 roads between Cheltenham and Cirencester in the Churn Valley, and had a population of 333 in the UK census of 2001. The name originates from 'cow' and 'leigh', literally meaning "cow pasture".

Registration Districts

• Cheltenham Registration District (1937 - 2006)
• Gloucestershire Registration District (2006 - )

Research Tips

• Gloucestershire Archives in Gloucester is where paper and microfilm copies of all records for this part of Gloucestershire are stored.

Online sources which may also be helpful:

• GENUKI gives pointers to other archive sources as well as providing some details on each parish in the county. 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. Do respect the copyright on this material.
• The FamilySearch Wiki for Gloucestershire provides a similar but not identical series of webpages to that provided by GENUKI
• A Vision of Britain through Time has a group of pages of statistical facts for almost every parish in the county
• Unfortunately, A History of the County of Gloucester in the Victoria County History series provided by the website British History Online does not cover this part of the county
• Ancestry.co.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)