Place:Halfshire Hundred, Worcestershire, England

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NameHalfshire Hundred
TypeHundred
Located inWorcestershire, England
A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Halfshire Hundred from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:
"HALFSHIRE, a hundred in Worcester, forming the northern part of the county, lying contiguous to Salop [Shropshire], Stafford, and Warwick, and cut into two divisions, lower and upper. The [lower division] contains Belbroughton parish, nine other parishes, and parts of five others. Acres: 45,575. Population in 1851: 74,425. Houses: 14,351. The [upper division] contains Bromsgrove parish, thirteen other parishes, and parts of four others. Acres: 84,555. Population in 1851: 54,122. Houses: 10,660. Population of both divisions in 1861: 157,244. Houses: 31,539.

Halfshire Hundred included the towns of Bromsgrove and Kidderminster. As will be seen by this map from Wikimedia Commons, the hundreds of Worcestershire tended to contain numerous detached sections.

Image:WorcestershireMap1832.png

List of Parishes with chapelries and townships

Ancient Parish Parish Status Subsidiary Places Subsidiary Place Status Notes
Belbroughton parish (ancient), civil parish
Bromsgrove parish (ancient), civil parish Grafton Manor extra parochial area, chapelry, civil parish
Kings Norton chapelry, civil parish
Broome parish (ancient), civil parish
Chaddesley Corbett parish (ancient), civil parish Rushock chapelry, parish (ancient), civil parish
Stone chapelry, parish (ancient), civil parish
Church Lench parish (ancient), civil parish
Churchill (near Spetchley) parish (ancient), civil parish
Clent parish (ancient), civil parish Rowley Regis chapelry, civil parish
Crutch extra parochial area, civil parish
Dodderhill parish (ancient), civil parish Dodderhill in Liberties parochial area, civil parish
Elmbridge chapelry, civil parish
Westwood extra parochial area, chapelry, civil parish
Doverdale parish (ancient), civil parish
Droitwich civil parish
Droitwich St. Andrew parish (ancient), civil parish
Droitwich St. Mary de Witton parish (ancient)
Droitwich St. Nicholas parish (ancient), civil parish
Droitwich St. Peter parish (ancient), civil parish
Dudley parish (ancient), civil parish
Dudley Castle extra parochial area, civil parish
Dudley St. James parish (ancient)
Elmley Lovett parish (ancient), civil parish
Feckenham parish (ancient), civil parish
Hadsor parish (ancient), civil parish
Hagley parish (ancient), civil parish
Halesowen township, parish (ancient), civil parish Cakemore township, civil parish
Cradley chapelry, civil parish
Frankley chapelry, civil parish
Hasbury township, civil parish
Hawne township, civil parish
Hill township, civil parish
Hunnington township, civil parish
Illey township, civil parish
Lapal township, civil parish
Lutley hamlet, civil parish
Oldbury township, civil parish
Quinton township, civil parish
Romsley township, civil parish
Warley Salop township, civil parish
Warley Wigorn township, civil parish
Hampton Lovett parish (ancient), civil parish
Hartlebury township, parish (ancient), civil parish Upper Mitton hamlet, civil parish
Ipsley parish (ancient), civil parish in Warwickshire until 1931
Kidderminster parish (ancient), civil parish
Kidderminster Borough township, civil parish
Kidderminster Foreign township, civil parish
Kington parish (ancient), civil parish
Lower Mitton township, civil parish
Marlborough in the Vines extra parochial area, civil parish
Northfield parish (ancient), civil parish Cofton Hackett chapelry, civil parish
Oldswinford township, parish (ancient), civil parish Amblecote hamlet, chapelry in Staffordshire until 1974
Lye township, civil parish
Stourbridge township, civil parish
Upper Swinford township, civil parish
Wollaston township, civil parish
Wollescote township, civil parish
Paper Mills extra parochial area, civil parish
Pedmore parish (ancient), civil parish
Salwarpe parish (ancient), civil parish
Tardebigge parish (ancient), civil parish Bentley Pauncefoot township, civil parish
Redditch chapelry, civil parish
Tutnall and Cobley township, civil parish
Webheath township, civil parish
Upton Warren parish (ancient), civil parish
Warley civil parish
Wolverley parish (ancient), civil parish
Yardley parish (ancient), civil parish

Research tips

  • Ordnance Survey Maps of England and Wales - Revised: Worcestershire illustrates the parish boundaries of Worcestershire when rural districts were still in existence and before the West Midlands came into being. The map publication year is 1931. 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.
  • British History Online has a large collection of local maps from the Ordnance Survey 1883-1893. These blow up to a size that permits viewing of individual hamlets, farms, collieries, but there is no overlapping of one map to the next, and no overall map to tie the individual ones together.
  • British History Online also has three volumes of the Victoria County History of Worcestershire online. Volume 3 (published in 1913) deals with the Halfshire Hundred; Volume 4 (published in 1924) deals with the City of Worcester, as well as parishes in the hundreds of Pershore and Doddingtree. Volume 2 covers religious houses in the county. The remainder of the county is not represented in the British History Online series.
  • GENUKI makes a great many suggestions as to other websites with worthwhile information about Worcestershire 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.
  • Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service, The Hive, Sawmill Walk, The Butts, Worcester WR1 3PD (Telephone: 01905 822866, e-mail: archive@worcestershire.gov.uk) The Archives Collections Catalog Summary outlines the contents of the Archives Collection and also notes on what has been transferred to the national online service Access to Archives
  • The Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry has a branch in Bromsgrove which deals in Worcestershire family history. There are also branches at Stourbridge and Worcester.
  • 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.
  • A Vision of Britain through Time has
  1. organization charts of the hierarchies of parishes within hundreds, registration districts and rural and urban districts of the 20th century
  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 Worcestershire 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.