Place:Stafford, Staffordshire, England

Watchers
NameStafford
Alt namesStaeffordsource: Oxford: English Place Names (1960) p 434
Staepffordsource: Oxford: English Place Names (1960) p 435
Statfordsource: Oxford: English Place Names (1960) p 435
TypeTown, Borough (municipal)
Coordinates52.8°N 2.117°W
Located inStaffordshire, England     (1206 - )
See alsoSouth Pirehill Hundred, Staffordshire, Englandhundred of which the parish was a part
Stafford St. Mary, Staffordshire, Englandecclesiastical parish forming the couny town of Stafford
Stafford St. Chad, Staffordshire, Englandecclesiastical parish forming the couny town of Stafford
Stafford (district), Staffordshire, Englanddistrict municipality of which it has been part since 1974
Contained Places
Cemetery
Church of the Austin Friars
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog
the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Stafford is the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of Wolverhampton, 18 miles (29 km) south of Stoke-on-Trent and 24 miles (39 km) north-west of Birmingham. The population in the UK census of 2001 was 63,681 and that of the wider borough of Stafford approximateley 122,000, making it the fourth largest town in the county after Stoke-on-Trent, Tamworth and Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Stafford was originally made up of two ancient or ecclesiastical parishes: Stafford St. Mary and Stafford St. Chad. These two parishes had united into one by 1871. A further ecclesiastical parish, named Christchurch, was established in 1838.

History

See the Wikipedia article on Stafford, section "History".

Economy

See the Wikipedia article on Stafford, section "Economy".


The section of the Wikipedia article entitled "Areas" lists a number of suburbs and localities within the town. Many did not develop until the 20th century, but a number have descriptions attached which may be of interest to a family historian searching in the area.

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 Stafford. 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.