Family History

The Society has several resources available in the research room at the Heritage Centre for members and visitors to use. While members may use these resources freely, we do request a donation from visitors after a half-hour visit. Some of the resources are available in the shop as CD’s, DVD’s and books (see below).

The Society offers a Family History search service. This is provided by volunteers for a donation of £10/hour. Should you wish to avail yourself of this service then please contact us via our Contact Us page with details of your requirements. We will then give you an estimate of the costs involved, but please be aware that this is an estimate as searches may take up a considerable amount of time.

Parish Registers

St Mary the Virgin, Wotton-under-Edge Parish Registers 1571-1659 & 1660-1715.  (CD’s available from the Shop)

The registers each contain 300 pages of baptisms, marriages and burials. They were transcribed by Miss E.C. Perkins, granddaughter of Benjamin R. Perkins, vicar from 1829 to 1881, between 1914 and 1917 from the original registers. They are in a clear copper plate handwriting, possibly more legible than the original register.

St Mary the Virgin, Wotton-under-Edge Parish Registers 1808-1844.

This is a copy of the original registers

Baptisms           1808-1827

Marriages         1808-1841

Burials              1808-1844 

Rowland Hill Tabernacle Burial Register 1824 -1961, Wotton-under-Edge

(CD available from the Shop)

The Society holds the original burial and interment register for the Rowland Hill Tabernacle, a non-conformist chapel. The register list over 1,200 burials next to the Tabernacle (now the Wotton Auction Rooms). The cemetery is in three areas, the Old, New and Extension burial grounds. The register lists interments from 1824 to 1961. This is available to search on CD.

Parish Registers 1700-1799

This CD has the Baptisms, Marriage, and Burials of St George's Cam; St James, Dursley; St John the Evangelist, Slimbridge; St Giles, Uley, Holy Cross, Owlpen and St Bartholomew, Nymphsfield.

Indexes

Index of Marriages in Wotton-under-Edge 1571-1837

This is taken from the Bishop’s Transcripts at Gloucester and checked against the Parish Registers.

Gloucestershire Marriage Index 1800-1837 CD produced by Gloucestershire Family History Society.

Gloucestershire Burial Index 1813-1851 CD produced by Gloucestershire Family History Society.

Photographic records

Images of Wotton-under-Edge Vol. 1 & 2 (DVDs are available from the Shop)

These DVDs provides a photographic historical record of Wotton-under-Edge in Gloucestershire, England. The photographs are from the collection of Michael Chappell, who was born and bred in the town and had an extensive knowledge of the history of the area. Michael, who was Chairman of the Society for many years, provides a commentary to the photographs.

In addition to these DVD’s there is an extensive archive of photographs, some with identified individuals and many without.

 Books Relevant to Local History (copies are available from the Shop)

Wotton-under-Edge – Times Past – Time Present By R Perry 1986.

This is the history of Wotton-under-Edge from the time when the Romans were here through the years when it was an Anglo-Saxon farming settlement and then a favourite manor and hunting grounds for the medieval Lords of Berkeley. Until a dramatic collapse in the early nineteenth century it developed as an important centre of the Woollen Industry. Today it is the home of the new High Technology, but it retains its character as a pleasant, delightfully situated Cotswold town.

Worthies of Wotton-under-Edge. By G.B. Masefield M.A. D.Sc. Emeritus Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford, England

The selection of the ’15 worthies’ of Wotton-under-Edge that are described in this book has inevitably been a matter of arbitrary judgement. Firstly, no living person is included and secondly only real ‘worthies’ who did some good by their fellow-men have been included. The 15 included: Joan Lady Berkeley (c.1200-1276); Katherine Lady Berkeley (c.1320-1385); Alderman Hugh Perry (1580-1635); Stephen Hopkins (1581-1644); Sir Mathew Hale (1609-1676); John Biddle (1615-1662); Thomas Rous (1710-1771); The Rev. Rowland Hill (1745-1833); Humphrey Austin (1747-1829); Sir Isaac Pitman (1813-1897); Henry George Oliver (1870-1947); Sir Stanley William Tubbs (1871-1941); Alderman Frederick Holloway (1874-1963); Charles Alfred Pearce (1878-1962); Alderman George Frank Titt (1879-1950).

More Wotton Worthies. By members of Wotton-under-Edge Historical Society.

A further collection of biographies of notable people associated with Wotton-under-Edge. The 6 articles were originally published in the Wotton-under-Edge Historical Society Journals between 2000 and 2005.  All the subjects were either born in or around Wotton or chose to make the town their home. Some have contributed directly to the community; others have enhanced Wotton’s name by their achievements. Included are:

Margery Legat – a fourteenth century lady; Sir Charles Blagden M.D., F.R.S, 1748-1820; The Penley Family 1811-1928; Rev. Mathew Blagden Hale 1811-1895; John Southwood 1874-1954; Donald Milner O.B.E., A.R.C.A., M.A., P.P.R.W.A. 1898-1993.

First World War Heroes of Wotton-under-Edge. By Bill Griffiths

The men in this book are all on the War Memorial in Old Town, Wotton-under-Edge in memory of the 114 who gave their lives in the First World War. In this book Bill Griffiths tells their story and out of the chiselled letters in the stone the lives and deaths of these local men leap out. This is a fascinating account. Local people, visitors and historians alike will be delighted and excited at the minutely researched vignettes, Bill has brought the stone to life in the most marvellous way and gloriously enriched our view of Wotton-under-Edge and its place in time and history.

By Asia to Australia - an 1849 Diary. Edited by Beryl A. Kingan.  2004.

The Diary of a Voyage in 1849 by James Broom; This Diary covers the first two months of a voyage form Plymouth to Adelaide, and the start of a return voyage in 1851. The diary was found in the Society’s archives within memorabilia of the Foxwell family, whose home was the Post Office in the nineteenth century in Wotton-under-Edge. Research has revealed that the diarist lived in Warminster, Wiltshire and was writing the diary for his mother in Bath. The results of this research are detailed as are lists of passengers and crew.

Four into One. The Story of the Blue Coat School, Wotton-under-Edge; by Beryl A. Kingan.  2007. 

This is the story of four schools which became united as one school. The Blue Coat School was founded in 1693 and the Chipping School in 1836. The Church Infants School merged with the Chipping School in 1893. In 1923 Blue Coat became an Infants School which combined with the Chipping School in 1974 to become Blue Coat C of E Primary School. On 28th February 2000, the school moved to new premises, the impetus for compiling this history, which covers the previous three centuries. The story of the Blue Coat School reflects many of the changes in the history of education nationally.

Microfiche - No longer used in the Heritage Centre, we suggest researchers use databases like Ancestry or Findmypast for the information listed below.

The following of Parish Registers for Wotton and surrounding villages can now be found online.

St Mary the Virgin, Wotton-under-Edge Parish Registers

Baptisms           1571-1917

Marriages         1571-1924 (Missing 1838-1897)

Burials              1571-1911 (Missing 1839-1874)

Banns               1571-1959 (Missing 1850-1906)

St Kenelm, Alderley

Baptisms           1557-1812 (Missing 1750-1751)

Marriages         1559-1937 (Missing 1737-1751; 1797; 1813)

Burials              1571-1911 (Missing 1839-1874)

Banns               1559-1812 (Missing 1738-1751)

St Johns, Charfield

Baptisms           1587-1895

Marriages         1586-1837

Burials              1586-1812

St Martin, North Nibley

Baptisms           1567-1866 (Missing 1720-1776)

Marriages         1567-1786 (Missing 1720-1753)

Burials              1567-1897 (Missing 1720-1776)

St Nicholas of Myra’s, Ozleworth

Baptisms           1698-1812 (Missing 1740-1741)

Marriages         1698-1836 (Missing 1737-1740)

Burials              1741-1812

Banns               1755-1975 (Missing 1820-1822)

School records

Some school registers and logbooks relating to the Katherine Lady Berkeley School, British School and Blue Coat School are available.