Place:Owslebury, Hampshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

Owslebury is a village and civil parish in the county of Hampshire, in the south of England approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) outside Winchester. Since 1974 it has lain within the administrative district of the City of Winchester.

Owslebury was the location in November 1830 of one of the Swing riots, named after the fictitious Captain Swing, who was regarded as the mythical figurehead of the movement. ('Swing' was apparently a reference to the swinging stick of the flail used in hand threshing). A large mob formed and moved from farm to farm demanding money and threatening to destroy agricultural machinery. This was part of the wave of discontent among agricultural workers which had spread across southern England. The rioters were seeking better wages and felt their importance was being threatened by the increase in mechanization of farm machinery. Some rioters were executed; others were transported to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) for seven years.

In 1932 Owslebury absorbed the neighbouring parish of Morestead. Since 1974 the local parish has been named Owslebury and Morestead.

Research Tips

• Victoria County History of Hampshire, volume 3, chapter on Owslebury.
• 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