Place:Overbury, Gloucestershire, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Overbury is a village and civil parish which since 1935 has been located in the English county of Worcestershire. It is located midway between the towns of Evesham and Tewkesbury to the south of Bredon Hill. It is adjacent to the parish of Kemerton.

The manor of Overbury was purchased by the banking family of Martin in the 18th century from the Parsons family, members of whom also owned neighbouring Kemerton Court. The Martins rebuilt Overbury Court in c.1740, and it is still occupied by their descendants in 2007.

As is explained in Wilson's Gazetteer of 1870 Overbury straddled the boundary between Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. Between 1894 and 1935 it was in Tewkesbury Rural District in Gloucestershire; between 1935 and 1974 it was in Evesham Rural District in Worcestershire. In the municipal reorganization of 1974, most of Worcestershire, including Overbury, became part of the short-lived county of Hereford and Worcester which was abolished in 1998 with its territory, for the most part, returning to the original counities of Herfordshire and Worcestershire.

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

"OVERBURY, a village and a sub-district in the [registration] district of Tewkesbury and county of Worcester, and a parish partly also in the [registration] district of Winchcomb and county of Gloucester. The village stands under Bredon hill, near the boundary with Gloucestershire, 2¼ miles E by N of Bredon [railway] station, and 5½ N E of Tewkesbury; is a pretty place; and has a post-office under Tewkesbury. The parish contains also the hamlets of Conderton and Teddington in Worcestershire, and the hamlets of Little Washbourne and Alstone in Gloucestershire. Acres of the [Worcestershire] portion: 2,760; of the [Gloucestershire] portion: 1,060. Real property, of the whole: £4,267. Population of the whole: 925. Houses: 198. Population of the [Gloucestershire] portion: 124. Houses: 25. The property is divided among a few. The manor belongs to the Dean and Chapter of Worcester. Overbury Court, a picturesque mansion at the W entrance of the village, is the seat of R. Martin, Esq. A block of stone, about 3 feet in diameter, dug from a depth of about 20 feet, was found, on being broken, to have inclosed a living toad, which continued to live 8 hours after being set free. Industry is carried on in a silk-mill, a paper-mill, a corn mill, and stone quarries. The living is a vicarage, united with the chapelries of Teddington, Washbourne, and Alstone, in the diocese of Worcester. Value, £421. Patrons: the Dean and Chapter of Worcester. The church, with exception of the chancel, was recently rebuilt; is partly in the early English style; retains, in the chancel, some good features of early English architecture; has an embattled tower; and contains remains of old oak pews, and a monument to W. Dowdeswell, with epitaph by Burke. There are a dissenting chapel, a national school, and charities £31.

"The [registration] sub-district excludes the Gloucester portion of [Overbury] parish, but includes three parishes of Gloucester, and part of Bredon parish in Worcester. Acres, 10,428. Population, 2,970. Houses, 678."

Registration Districts

• Tewkesbury Registration District (1837-1931)
• Tewkesbury Registration District (1931 - 1935)
• Evesham Registration District (1935-1974)
• Hereford and Worcester Registration District (1974 - 1998)
• Evesham (post-1998) Registration District (1998 - 2006)
• Worcestershire Registration District (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)

Research Tips

• Worcestershire County Council:Archives and Archaeology is where paper and microfilm copies of all records for this area which is now in Worcestershire 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 and The FamilySearch Wiki for Worcestershire 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 both counties
• 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.
• Comparing a map of Gloucestershire parishes in 1900 with a map of Gloucestershire parishes made in the 1943 helps to illustrate how the county borders changed through this period.
• 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)