Place:Fisherton Anger, Wiltshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

"FISHERTON-ANGER, a village and a parish in Alderbury [registration] district, Wilts. The village stands on the right bank of the river Avon, and on the Southwestern railway, suburban to Salisbury; and communicates with that city by a stone bridge, near which is the Salisbury infirmary. It has a station on the railway, transferred hither from Milford; and the station building is nearly 800 feet long, and has a glass roof over the platform. It also is a seat of petty sessions, and shares in the business of Salisbury; and it had, on the site of the Sun inn, a black priory, founded in the time of Edward III.

"The parish is partly within Salisbury borough; and comprises 323 acres. Real property: £6,422; of which £760 are in gas-works. Population of the part within Salisbury: 2,334. Houses: 361. Population of the whole, in 1851: 1,905; in 1861: 2,424. Houses: 378. The increase of population arose from the erection of houses, consequent on the opening of the Great Western and the Southwestern railway stations. The property is much subdivided. Fisherton House is now a private lunatic asylum; and a chapel, connected with it, in the early decorated style, was built in 1859. The county jail also is in this parish; and comprises 102 cells, 15 rooms, and 10 airing-yards. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Salisbury. Value: £212. Patrons: Trustees. The church is modern, and has a tower and spire. There are a primitive Methodist chapel, a national school, alms-houses with £200, and other charities with £55."

Fisherton Anger was a civil parish within the boundaries of Salisbury Municipal Borough from the latter's formation in 1835. In 1894 it was split into two parishes: Fisherton Anger Within and Fisherton Anger Without with Fisherton Anger Within being part of the Municipal Borough and Fisherton Anger Without being part of Salisbury Rural District. Fisherton Anger Within immediately became part of Salisbury's St. Thomas Ward; Fisherton Anger Without was absorbed into Salisbury in 1905. (Source: British History Online, Victoria History of Wiltshire, Volume 6)

Research Tips

• British History Online, Victoria History of Wiltshire, Volume 6 has a long article on Fisherton Anger.
• From this Ancestry page you can browse the Wiltshire parishes which have parish register transcripts online, quite often from very early dates. However, reading the early ones requires skill and patience. Transcriptions should also be in FamilySearch.
• A further collection of online source references will be found on the county page for Wiltshire.