|
The Hundreds of Gloucestershire, as with hundreds in other English counties, were the original geographic divisions of the county for administrative, military and judicial purposes. Each hundred covered a number of parishes. The introduction of civil registration in 1837 was accompanied by the creation of other groups of parishes such as Sanitary Districts and Poor Law Unions.
A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Westbury Hundred from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:
- "WESTBURY, a hundred in the W of Gloucester; containing 4 parishes and 2 parts. Acres: 28,903. Population in 1851: 7,558; in 1861: 7,681. Houses: 1,565."
Westbury is situated on the west side of the River Severn with its main part northeast of Bledisloe Hundred and its detached portion (Woolaston, Tidenham and Lancaut parishes) beyond the Bledisloe Hundred on the edge of Wales.
| 
|
Parishes
Research Tips
-
Online sources which may also be helpful:
- The Victoria History of Gloucestershire chapter on Westbury Hundred, available online on 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
|
