Place:Marlborough in the Vines, Worcestershire, England

Watchers
NameMarlborough in the Vines
TypeExtra parochial area, Civil parish
Coordinates52.271°N 2.152°W
Located inWorcestershire, England
See alsoHalfshire Hundred, Worcestershire, Englandhundred in which it was located
Droitwich St. Nicholas, Worcestershire, Englandparish into which it was merged in 1880

Marlborough in the Vines was an extra parochial area within Droitwich Municipal Borough from 1835 until 1884.

The following facts have been obtained from Volume 3 of the Victoria County History of Worcestershire, provided online by British History Online.

"The neighbourhood of what is now called the Vines lay the house of the Austin Friars to the south of the river. In 1543 the friary was given by the king to John Pye of Chippenham and Robert Were of Marlborough. Their grant included the friars' orchard, Vine Close, and Barley Close. In the following year Were released his claim to Pye, who sold the site to Sir John Pakington in 1549. Sir John gave it to his daughter Bridget on her marriage with John Lyttelton of Frankley. They evidently sold it before 1579 to Thomas Gyerse, who settled it in that year upon himself and Margaret his wife for their lives with reversion to Francis Unett and his wife Jane and their issue. Its further descent has not been traced."
"The name 'Marlborough' or Malborough, which afterwards attached to the ground, and the claim to be in the parish of Marlborough, seem to date from this grant. The commissioners of 1835 reported that the inhabitants of the Marlborough district contributed nothing to the rates of the borough and were not even assessed to the king's taxes. Cholera broke out here, and the borough authorities having no authority were powerless to stop its spread. In 1880 the Marlborough was merged in the adjoining parish of [Droitwich] St. Nicholas (Pop. Ret. [1891], ii, 658).

The co-ordinates given are those of Vines Park on the northern edge of Droitwich.

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.