Place:Ilam, Staffordshire, England

Watchers
NameIlam
TypeVillage
Coordinates53.05°N 1.8°W
Located inStaffordshire, England
See alsoNorth Totmonslow Hundred, Staffordshire, Englandhundred in which it was located
Mayfield Rural, Staffordshire, Englandrural district in which it was located 1894-1934
Waterhouses, Staffordshire, Englandparish to which part was transferred in 1934
Cheadle Rural, Staffordshire, Englandrural district in which Waterhouses was located 1934-1974
Leek Rural, Staffordshire, Englandrural district in which the remainder of Ilam was located 1934-1974
Staffordshire Moorlands (district), Staffordshire, Englanddistrict municipality of which it is part
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog
source: Family History Library Catalog
the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Ilam (pronounced "Eye-lam") is a village in the Staffordshire Peak District, lying on the River Manifold about 4 miles from Ashbourne. Ilam is very picturesque, with its "Swiss chalet" style houses and matching school house. It also lies close to the popular Dovedale valley.

While most of the buildings in the village are from the past two centuries, Ilam dates from Saxon times or earlier.

In 1934 Ilam was enlarged by part of the parish of Wetton and then part was transferred to create the parish of Waterhouses. Waterhouses was part of Cheadle Rural District, and since 1974 part of the Staffordshire Moorlands District. The remainder of Ilam was in Leek Rural District between 1934 and 1974.

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Ilam. This includes a listing of the families who owned Ilam House.

A 19th century description

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

"ILAM, a village and a parish in the [registration] district of Ashborne and county of Stafford[shire]. The village stands in a picturesque vale, under the high limestone ridge of Bunster, near the source of the rivers Hamps and Manifold, 1 mile W of the foot of Thorpe Cloud and the entrance of Dovedale, and 5 NN W of Ashborne; is a place of remarkable beauty; contains a highly decorated hexagonal cross, erected in 1840 to the memory of Mrs. Mary Watts Russell; and has a post office under Ashborne. The parish contains also the hamlets of Castern, Throwley, and Rushley. Acres: 2,939. Real property: £2,316. Population: 243. Houses: 41. The property is divided among a few.
"Ilam Hall is the seat of J. W. Russell, Esq.; was erected in 1823, on the site of an old mansion; is a noble edifice in the Tudor style; and contains a highly interesting collection of arms and pictures. The park around the mansion, or rather the entire vale of Ilam, abounds in beauty and romance; forms a great attraction to tourists through Derbyshire; and is said to have been Dr. Johnson's model of the Happy Valley in his Rasselas. A grotto near the hall, still known as Congreve's Grot, was the place where Congreve wrote his Old Bachelor, and part of his Mourning Bride.
"The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield. Value: £410. Patron: J. W. Russell, Esq. The church was beautifully restored in 1856; and contains an ancient font, S. Bertram's shrine, and other curious monuments. The old church had an ivy covered tower, and was very picturesque. A small Gothic chapel stands over the burial vault of the Russell family, and contains a highly artistic monument, with group of statuary, by Chantrey, to the memory of D. P. Watts. There is an endowed school, with picturesque schoolhouse."


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.

  • 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.
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Ilam, Staffordshire. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.