Place:Wigginton, Staffordshire, England

Watchers
NameWigginton
Alt namesWiggingtonsource: alternate, older spelling
Comberfordsource: hamlet in parish
TypeChapelry, Civil parish
Coordinates52.658°N 1.692°W
Located inStaffordshire, England
See alsoSouth Offlow Hundred, Staffordshire, Englandhundred in which it was part located
Hemlingford Hundred, Warwickshire, Englandhundred in which it was part located
Tamworth Rural, Staffordshire, Englandrural district in which it was located 1894-1934
Lichfield Rural, Staffordshire, Englandrural district in which it was located 1934-1974
Lichfield District, Staffordshire, Englandmunicipal district of which it has been part since 1974
source: Family History Library Catalog
the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Wigginton is a village in the district of Lichfield, in Staffordshire, England. It lies about 2 miles (3 km) north of Tamworth.

The village lies on a medieval trade route, the Portway, possibly used for transporting salt from the River Mease at Edingale to Tamworth.

Ecclesiastically Wigginton had been a chapelry attached to the parish of St Editha in Tamworth. For civil government it had been a township – the township was more than just the village, and included the hamlets of Comberford and Coton, the latter now part of the borough of Tamworth. In 1866 the township became a civil parish, and became part of Tamworth Rural District in 1894. In 1934 the civil parish was extended to become Wigginton and Hopwas, and became part of Lichfield Rural District.

In 1861 the population of Wigginton township was 670, on 3,470 acres (1,400 ha). The population figure included 84 inmates of the Tamworth Workhouse, which at that time lay within the township. The population of the chapelry alone was 466.

Research Tips

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 Wigginton. 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.