Place:Hawkesbury, Gloucestershire, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Hawkesbury is a civil parish consisting of a hamlet of the same name, the larger village of Hawkesbury Upton and the hamlets of Dunkirk, Petty France and Little Badminton. Hawkesbury hamlet is made up of a few cottages around a triangular green. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,235. The parish has been, since 1996, located in the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire.

Prior to 1991 what is now the Hillesley and Tresham parish in Stroud District formed the northern part of the parish.

A 19th century description

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

"HAWKESBURY, a tything, a parish, and a [registration] sub-district, in Chipping-Sodbury [registration] district, Gloucester. The tything lies under the Cotswolds, 3 miles W of the boundary with Wilts, 4 NW by N of Chipping-Sodbury, and 4 ESE of Wickwar [railway] station; has a post office, of the name of Hawkesbury-Upton, under Chippenham, a police station, and a fair on the last Friday of Aug.; and gave the title of Baron to the Earls of Liverpool. Real property: £3,554. Population: 466. Houses: 108.

"The parish contains also the tythings of Upton, Hillesley, Little Badminton, and Saddlewood-with-Tresham and Killcott. Acres: 9,770. Real property: £14,234. Population: 2,173. Houses: 499. The property is much subdivided. The manor belongs to Sir George S. Jenkinson, Bait. A fine tower, erected in 1846, to General Lord R. E. H. Somerset, stands on the brow of a hill, commanding a fine view There are traces of a Roman road. The living is a vicarage, united with the chapelry of Tresham, in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol. Value: £350. Patron: Sir George S. Jenkinson, Bart. The church is of various dates, chiefly later English; consists of nave, S aisle, and chancel, with a tower; and contains monuments of the Jenkinsons. The vicarage of Hillesley is a separate benefice. There are chapels of ease at Tresham and Little Badminton, chapels for Independents, Baptists, and Primitive Methodists, two national schools, and charities £44.

"The sub-district contains also six other parishes. Acres: 20,668. Population: 4,156. Houses: 920."

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:

• 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. Do 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
• Unfortunately, A History of the County of Gloucester in the Victoria County History series provided by the website British History Online does not cover this part of the county
• Ancestry.co.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)