Place:Stoke Bishop, Gloucestershire, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Stoke Bishop is a medium-sized outer city suburb in the north-west of Bristol, located between Westbury-on-Trym, Sea Mills and Sneyd Park. Although relatively small, Stoke Bishop's population has increased due to substantial infilling on grounds formerly used recreationally. Stoke Bishop has retained the affluence suggested by the description in Wilson's Gazetteer of 1879 (see below).

The historic Stoke House and Park lie in Stoke Bishop. The house was built in 1669 as a family mansion for Sir Robert Cann, Member of Parliament, Mayor of Bristol and Merchant Venturer. It is currently occupied by Trinity College, Bristol.

A 19th century description

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

"STOKE-BISHOP, a tything and a chapelry in Westbury-upon-Trym parish, Gloucester. The tything lies on the river Avon, 2½ miles NW of Bristol [railway] station; has a post-office under Bristol; and contains many residences of the principal merchants and manufacturers of Bristol. Real property: £34,818. Population in 1851: 4,213; in 1861: 5,623. Houses: 887. The chapelry was constituted in 1860. Population: 554. Houses: 88. The living is a [perpetual] curacy in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol. Value: not reported. Patrons: Trustees. The church is modern."

Research Tips

• Bristol Archives is where paper and microfilm copies of all records for Bristol and its environs are stored.

Online sources which may also be helpful:

• Three maps on the A Vision of Britain through Time website illustrate the changes in political boundaries over the period 1830-1945. All have expanding scales and on the second and third this facility is sufficient that individual parishes can be inspected (except in the immediate Bristol area--for Bristol, see English Jurisdictions).

• Gloucestershire Hundreds as drawn in 1832. This map was prepared before The Great Reform Act of that year. Note the polling places and representation of the various parts of the county.
• Gloucestershire in 1900, an Ordnance Survey map showing rural districts, the boundaries of the larger towns, the smaller civil parishes of the time, and some hamlets and villages in each parish
• Gloucestershire in 1943, an Ordnance Survey map showing the rural districts after the changes to their structure in the 1930s

• A Vision of Britain through Time has a group of pages of statistical facts for almost every parish in the county
• GENUKI gives pointers to other archive sources as well as providing some details on each parish. 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. The compiler has gone to a lot of work to provide this material. Respect his copyright.
• The FamilySearch Wiki for Gloucestershire provides a similar but not identical series of webpages to that provided by GENUKI
• English Jurisdictions, a supplementary website to FamilySearch outlining local parish boundaries in the middle on the 19th century. The information provided is especially useful for establishing the locations of ecclesiastical parishes in large towns and cathedral cities, as well as changes in their dedications (names). Very useful for Bristol.
• The Church Crawler has a website of photos and histories of English Churches with emphasis on Bristol.
• Unfortunately, the Victoria County History series provided by the website British History Online only provides information on Gloucestershire Churches in this part of the county. More general information on the Bristol and South Gloucestershire area is sadly omitted.
• Ancestry 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)
• Ancestry has also now updated Bristol, England, Select Church of England Parish Registers, 1720-1933 (entry dated 14 Mar 2016)