Place:Down Hatherley, Gloucestershire, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Down Hatherley is a civil parish and village in Tewkesbury (borough), northeast of Gloucester. It has approximately 165 houses and a population of 450.

The village was recorded (combined with Up Hatherley) as Hegberleo in 1022. It was listed as Athelai in the Domesday Book of 1086. In 1273 it was known as Dunheytherleye and in 1221, Hupheberleg. The name derived from the Old English hagu-thorn + lēah meaning "hawthorn clearing". Historic buildings include St Mary's Church (15th-century tower, otherwise rebuilt 1860) and Hatherley Court (or House) (17th century), now a hotel.

Up Hatherley is now a separate parish three miles upstream on the Hatherley Brook on the outskirts of Cheltenham. The distinguishing affixes "Up" and "Down" derived from the Old English upp meaning "higher upstream" and dūne meaning "lower downstream".

A 19th century description

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

"HATHERLEY-DOWN, a parish in the [registration] district and county of Gloucester; on a small affluent of the Severn, 3¾ miles NE by N of Gloucester city and [railway] station. Post town, Gloucester. Acres: 930. Real property: £1, 632. Population: 192. Houses: 41. The property is divided among a few. Hatherley House is the seat of A. G. Jones, Esq. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol. Value: £320. Patron: the Lord Chancellor. The church was rebuilt in 1860; and is in the early decorated English style. There are a national school, and charities £22.

Registration Districts

Gloucester (1837 - 1937)
Gloucester Rural (1937 - 1974)
Gloucester (post-1974) (1974 - 2006)
Gloucestershire (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)