Place:Michelmersh, Hampshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

source: Family History Library Catalog

source: Family History Library Catalog

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Michelmersh is a small, scattered village and civil parish in the Test Valley District of Hampshire, England, some three miles (4.8 km) north of Romsey.

Since 1932 it has formed a civil parish with Timsbury. Until 1974 the parish continued to be named Michelmersh, but has become Michelmersh and Timsbury since the formation of the Test Valley non-metropolitan District.

The Monarch's Way long-distance footpath crosses the parish, passing through the churchyard of the 12th century St Mary's Church. The Georgian former rectory, Michelmersh Court, is Grade II* listed and was for many years the home of the late Sir David Frost (1939-2013).

The parish is located to the east of the River Test on the northern edge of the Hampshire Basin.

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

"MITCHELMERSH, a village, a parish, and a [registration] sub-district, in Romsey district, Hants. The village stands near the Andover and Southampton railway, and near the river Test or Anton, 3¾ miles N by W of Romsey; and has a post office under Romsey. The parish contains also the hamlets of Awbridge, [Ratley] and Braishfield. Acres: 3,983. Real property: £4,733. Population in 1851: 1,202; in 1861: 1,099. Houses: 245. The property is much subdivided. The scenery is beautiful. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Winchester. Value, £550: Patron: the Bishop of Winchester. The church stands on an eminence; is an ancient structure of flint and stone; was recently restored; has a beautiful stained glass E window; and contains a carved oak pulpit, an early English font, an effigies of a knight in armour, and a tablet of 1538. The [perpetual] curacy of Braishfield is a separate benefice. There are two Independent chapels, a Wesleyan chapel, a national school, a parochial school, and an education charity of £5 a year.

"The sub-district contains also five other parishes and an extra-parochial tract in Hants, and two parishes and an extra-parochial tract in Wilts. Acres: 18,427. Population: 3,976. Houses: 862."

Research Tips

• Victoria County History of Hampshire, volume 4, chapter on Michelmersh.
• GENUKI has a list of archive holders in Hampshire including the Hampshire Record Office, various museums in Portsmouth and Southhampton, the Isle of Wight Record Office and Archives.
• The Hampshire Online Parish Clerk project has a large collection of transcriptions from Parish Registers across Hampshire.
• A listing of all the Registration Districts in England and Wales since their introduction in 1837 together with tables listing the parishes that were part of each district and the time period covered, along with detailed notes on changes of parish name, mergers, etc. Do respect the copyright on this material.
• The three-storey City Museum in Winchester covers the Iron Age and Roman periods, the Middle Ages, and the Victorian period.
• Volumes in The Victoria County History Series are available for Hampshire through British History Online. There are three volumes and the county is covered by parishes within the old divisions of "hundreds".

A collection of maps on the A Vision of Britain through Time website illustrating the English county of Hampshire over the period 1832-1932 (the last two are expandible):

• The Hundreds of Hampshire, a map from HMSO Boundary Commissioners, dated 1832
• Hampshire showing parishes in their Rural Districts as of 1900, a map from the Ordnance Survey
• Hampshire showing parishes in their Rural Districts after the alterations of 1932, a map from the Ordnance Survey

• A group of maps of the post-1974 municipal districts or boroughs of Hampshire on Wikipedia Commons