Worcestershire Marriages

Each record contains the transcription of an original parish record. A small number of records will also provide you with an image. The information contained varies but you could be able to find out the following about your ancestor:

• Name

• Birth year – The birth years are estimated from the information given at the time of the marriage and many records only recorded that the person was 21 years of age or older.

• Age

• Residence and occupation

• Spouse’s name

• Spouse’s age

• Spouse’s residence and occupation

• Groom’s and bride’s fathers’ first name(s)

• Marriage date

• Marriage place

• How married – by banns or licence

• Names of witnesses

• Whether the register was signed by a mark only by the couple

Later records generally include greater detail. You can view the original registers at the library in Worcester, The Hive.

Images

The records with images were provided by The National Archives and created by the College of Arms, the official heraldic authority for England, Wales, Northern Ireland and much of the Commonwealth including Australia and New Zealand. The records will provide you with details found in the original parish register.

The records include four parishes of Worcestershire: Astley (1539 – 1837), Droitwich (1571-1900), Hanbury (1577 – 1900) and Shrawley (1538 – 1900). Worcestershire, some argue, was the inspiration for The Shire in Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Tolkien once wrote, "Any corner of that county (however fair or squalid) is in an indefinable way 'home' to me, as no other part of the world is."

Hanbury is one of the parishes included in the records. The Anglican parish church is St. Mary the Virgin and parts of the church date back to the 1200s. On the church grounds there is evidence that an Iron Age fort once existed there. Roman coins have also been found which suggest that the area was used as a Roman settlement at one time. The church is part of the Diocese of Worcester. It was the family church of the Vernon family who lived at the nearby Hanbury Hall.

Thomas Vernon, a lawyer and MP, built Hanbury Hall in the early 18th century. Today, the house is open to the public as a National Trust site. The family lived in the house for 300 years, ending in 1940 when George Vernon died. Leaving behind no children, the house was sold.

Also in the parish is Mere Hall, owned by the Bearcroft family. The half-timber house was built in 1560. We can find marriage records of those who worked for the family. Emma Day, a domestic servant of Mere Hall, married to George Phillips. Another domestic servant, Elizabeth Hyde, married Charles Caldicott in 1893.

For marriages that took place in Droitwich, two churches are represented: St Andrew’s and St Nicholas’. Please note that from the 1650s up until the new building was erected in 1870, the people of St Nicholas had to travel to St Andrew’s for marriage ceremonies. This accounts for those listed as living in St Nicholas but whose marriages are recorded in St Andrew’s registers.

Dating back to 1870, the current St Nicholas’ Church, Victorian in style, stands as the newest Anglican Church structure in Droitwich.