Place:Prestbury, Gloucestershire, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Prestbury is a medium-sized village near the edge of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. It is on the outskirts of the town of Cheltenham, and has formed part of the Cheltenham District since 1991, despite retaining its own parish council as a civil parish.

Between 1894 and 1974 Prestbury was a member of Cheltenham Rural District and from 1974 until 1991 part of Tewkesbury Borough or District.

A 19th century description

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

"PRESTBURY, a village and a parish in Cheltenham district, Gloucester. The village stands under the Cotswolds, 2 miles N E of Cheltenham [railway] station; was once a market-town; suffered great devastation by fire in the time of Henry VII.; and has a post-office under Cheltenham. The parish contains also the hamlet of Noverton and the Pittville pump-room, gardens, and drives. Acres: 3,022. Real property: £11, 423. Population: 1, 297. Houses: 268. The landed property is divided chiefly among four. Prestbury House is the seat of Capel, Esq.; the Priory, of the Rev. J. Edwards; and there are other good residences. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol. Value: £234. Patron: the Rev. J. Edwards. The church is old but good; comprises nave, aisles, and chancel, with embattled tower; and contains several fine mural monuments. There are a national school, an alms-house for ten persons, and charities £30. F. Philipps the antiquary was a native."

Registration Districts

• Cheltenham Registration District (1837 - 2006)
• Gloucestershire Registration District (2006 - )

Research Tips

• Gloucestershire Archives in Gloucester is where paper and microfilm copies of all records for this part of Gloucestershire are stored.

Online sources which may also be helpful:

• Prestbury from A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 8/Deerhurst hundred in the Victoria County History series provided by the website British History Online.
• GENUKI gives pointers to other archive sources as well as providing some details on each parish in the county. 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. Respect the copyright on this material.
• The FamilySearch Wiki for Gloucestershire provides a similar but not identical series of webpages to that provided by GENUKI
• A Vision of Britain through Time has a group of pages of statistical facts for almost every parish in the county