Place:Quinton, Worcestershire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia Quinton is a suburb on the western edge of Birmingham, England. Quinton borders the Birmingham suburbs of Harborne and Bartley Green and the Black Country area of Warley, and is separated by the M5 motorway from the Black Country town of Halesowen. It covers an area of 4.8 square kilometres (2 sq mi); its population was recorded in the 2001 UK census as 23,084 (24,174 by 2011), though its boundaries have since expanded slightly. The eastern parts of it were formerly known as Ridgacre, with Quinton or "The Quinton" being the area now around the church. The Old Quinton area, in the west of Quinton, contains the highest point in Birmingham at 224 metres above sea level, and the top of the spire of the (Church of England) Christ Church is the highest point of any building in Birmingham. The escarpment a little to the west also forms part of the national watershed, dividing the catchment areas of the River Severn and the River Trent. Before the church was built, Quinton (then Ridgacre) was part of the ancient parish of Halesowen and was largely owned in medieval times by the wealthy abbey at Lapal near Halesowen. The parish, along with the most of rest of Halesowen parish, formed a detached part of Shropshire until being transferred to Worcestershire in 1844. Quinton/Ridgacre developed along the Kidderminster and Birmingham Road, which had been turnpiked. In the 1840s there were two small coal mines in the area and the inhabitants were employed in nail manufacturing. Christ Church was constructed in 1840 at a cost of £2,500. Quinton was formally removed from Worcestershire and incorporated into the county borough of Birmingham, in Warwickshire, on 9 November 1909. Quinton remained in character a village rather than a suburb until the large-scale private housing development of the 1930s. Quinton became, with the rest of Birmingham, part of the metropolitan county of the West Midlands on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972.

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.