Place:Great Barr, Staffordshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Great Barr was a largely rural area in south Staffordshire, on its border with Warwickshire, as recently as the First World War, but during the 1920s development for private and council housing began. From 1894 until 1934 it was a parish in the Walsall Rural District. In 1934 most of the rural district became Aldridge Urban District, taking its name from the largest of the parishes within the district.

The urban district of Perry Barr, which originated as a separate parish to the south, was ceded to Birmingham, then in Warwickshire, in 1928.

By the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 Great Barr was a very busy residential area with good road connections to West Bromwich, Walsall and Birmingham.

On the map Great Barr is situated at the southern boundary of Aldridge (1) and Perry Barr is the unidentified area below it.

In 1966 Aldridge Urban District joined with the neighbouring Brownhills Urban District to become Aldridge-Brownhills Urban District.

Expansion continued after the war, and during the 1960s the area received a motorway link when Junction 7 of the newly built M6 motorway was opened on the A34. It is also located close to the starting point of the M5.

"Barr" means "hill", and the name refers to nearby Barr Beacon.

end of Wikipedia contribution

In 1974 Aldridge-Brownhills became part of the wider Walsall Metropolitan Borough within the new county of the West Midlands. Walsall Metropolitan Borough has a different ward (or civil parish) structure based more on local densities of population than on the boundaries of historical settlements even though the same names may be used.

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Great Barr.. The sections titled "Geography" and "Places of Interest" are of note.

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.

• Ordnance Survey Maps of England and Wales: Staffordshire 1931 illustrates the parish boundaries of Staffordshire when rural districts were still in existence and before the West Midlands came into being. The map blows up to show all the parishes and many of the small villages and hamlets. Maps in this series are now downloadable for personal use. Between 1894 and 1934 a number of administrative changes to boundaries occurred and therefore The Staffordshire Ordnance Survey Map of 1900 is also useful.
• British History Online has a collection of local maps from the Ordnance Survey 1883-1893. Rural areas are included, but these may be especially useful for investigation the suburbs of large towns.
• The Victoria County History of Staffordshire has six volumes available through British History Online. Some Notes on British Medieval Genealogy is a website listing all the volumes of the Victoria County History of Staffordshire including those not yet online, together with the contents of each including the places covered.
• Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service announced in August 2015 that nearly all their parish registers are now online with Findmypast. Staffordshire Archives has three branches:

• Staffordshire Record Office, Eastgate Street, Stafford ST16 2LZ (phone and email contact details, opening hours, etc.)
• Stoke on Trent City Archives, City Central Library, Bethesda Street, Hanley, Stoke on Trent ST1 3RS (phone and email contact details, opening hours, etc.)
• Lichfield Record Office, The Friary, Lichfield WS13 6QG (phone and email contact details, opening hours, etc.)

• 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.