OPC Vacancy
The Consultant is Anne-marie Hayes who will possibly help with any queries you may have. She may be contacted via the contact us tab on the home page
Contiguous Parishes (our neighbours)
Buscot (BRK) – Coleshill (BRK) – Hannington – Inglesham – Sevenhampton – Shrivenham (BRK) – Stanton Fitzwarren
Websites of Interest
Highworth Historical Society – Website for historical information about Highworth.
Highworth Methodist Church – Website for information about the church.
Highworth Online – Information about the town.
Highworth United Reformed Church – Website for information about the church.
Highworth Through Time – Website for historical information about Highworth.
Highworth Town Council – For enquiries of Highworth Cemetery – records from Nov 1870 onwards.
Highworth Wikipedia – The online public encyclopaedia entry for the town.
Highworth Workhouse – Information about the Union Workhouse.
St. Michael and All Angels Highworth – The Parish Church website.
The Parish Church of St. Michael and All Angels
St. Michael’s Gallery St. Michael’s Interior Gallery
For parish register notes and memorial inscriptions please see the Transcriptions Section at the bottom of the page. Rose’s Act was passed on the 28th July 1812, so from 1813, Highworth had separate books for baptisms, marriages and burials and the 3 chapelries are now separate parishes with their own registers. NB. Some events were still recorded in the Highworth registers for people living in the surrounding rural hamlets.
St. Michael’s St. Michael’s Churchyard Memorial Inscriptions St. Michael’s Interior Wall Memorials
Church Funding
Church Officials
Vicars
Edward Rowden
Vicar Preaches in Buckinghamshire 1856 Death of Rev. Edward Rowden 1869
Church Services
New Sportsmen’s Church Service 1930
Civil Registration
Register General’s Quarterly Report 1854
Parish Register Transcripts
Baptisms
Marriages
Burials
Parish Registers held at WSHC
Baptisms 1538-1965
Marriages 1538-1967
Burials 1538-1975
Transcripts include Sevenhampton, Eastrop and Westrop.
BTs 1837-1856 are held at Bristol Record Office and include Sevenhampton and South Marston.
Tithes
Parish History
Highworth is a market town on a hill-top over 400ft above sea level. It is situated in the north east corner of Wiltshire close to the neighbouring counties of Oxfordshire, Gloucester and Berkshire. In the Domesday Book, it is registered under the appellation of Wrde and formerly known as Vorda, Heyworth and Hyworthe. Highworth hundred included the chapelries of South Marston, Broad and Bury Blunsdon, Sevenhampton and the tythings of Eastrop, Fresdon, Lynt Farm, Westrop, Hampton (Turnpike) and North Leaze.
National Gazetteer Extract 1868
Civil Registration
1837 – 1897 Highworth Registration District
1898 Present Swindon Registration District
Population
Population totals include the town of Highworth, chapelries and tythings of the parish.
Jurisdictions and Population Population & Census Analysis
Weather Phenomena
Buildings and Land
Agriculture
Cattle Plague Regulations 1867
Fires
General Items
Gordon & Stokes, Fire Certificate 1863
Highworth Cemetery
Cemetery Chapel Gallery Cemetery Gallery
Cemetery Memorial Inscriptions
Burials
Landowners
Land Inquisition 1433 Tables Turned on Lord Radnor 1844 Owners of Land 1873
Maps
Ordnance Survey Map 1811-1812 Ordnance Survey Map 1816
Property Sales
Property Sales 1700 – 1799 Auction 1847 Property of Smith 1879 Property Sales in Swindon 1901 The Elms, For Sale by Auction 1958
Property to Let
Dwelling and Drapers Shop 1843
Public Houses
Fishes Inn
Railway
Swindon & Highworth Light Railway 1880
Taxes
15 February 1833 – A ‘tax on light and air’, the amount of house and window duty paid by the town of Highworth was £87 13s. 3d.
Turnpikes
Turnpike Road from Faringdon to Cricklade and Malmesbury 1818
Crime and Legal Matters
Assault
Suspicious and Dangerous Fellow at Loose 1752
Court Cases
Crime Reports
Embezzlement
Prisons and Prisoners
Inmates of Gloucester Gaol 1815-1856
Swing Riots
Charge of Destroying a Threshing Machine 1831 Late Rural Disturbances 1831
Theft
Theft of Drapers’ Material 1839
Transportation
Directories
Listings & Subscriptions to Directories 1734-1792 Post Office 1875 Kellys 1915 Swindon & District 1928 Swindon & District Directory 1951
Education
Education of the Poor 1819 Area School Sports Winners c1935
National School
School Hall for Community Use 1941 Ministry of Education Notice 1954
Emigration and Migration
Parish Strays Index Letter from New Zealand 1879
Employment and Business
Agriculture and Land
Joseph Ricketts, Farrier 1825 Free Trade & Agricultural Distress 1844 Game List 1846
Apprentices
Indentures
Apprenticeship Indentures were the legal agreements made by the Master or Mistress to train the child in their chosen trade for 7 or more years. Stamp duty was payable on the indentures of apprenticeship and a register was kept by the Board of Stamps which recorded the names, addresses and trades of the Masters, the Apprentices names and up until c1752 the names of the Apprentice’s parent. The registered date is when the tax was paid by the Master and not the date of the apprenticeship. Apprentices taken on by arrangement of the parish, town or local charity were never subject to the duty and were known as Pauper Apprenticeships. The WSHC holds records of apprenticeships 1683-1847. Apprenticeship Indentures
Wiltshire Boys Apprenticed in Oxfordshire
Henry Brindle 1698 Joseph Leafley 1724-1725 John Polythresse 1736
Business Advertising
Morse’s Herbal Ointment 1854 Business Advertisement Index 1956
For lookups and copies of the advertisements found in the Highworth & District Official Guide of 1956 listed in the index above please contact me via the contact us tab at the top of the page and select OPCs from the drop down list
Business Partnerships
Dissolved Partnerships 1700 – Present
Communications
British Postal Service Appointments 1737-1969
Community Services
Police
Wiltshire Constabulary 1858 Metropolitan Police Pensions Record – Joseph Alexander 1864-1892 P.C. Frank Wilmot Gray 1906-1929
General Employment Items
Situations Vacant 1800-1899 Occupations and Trades of Highworth pre 1841 Free Trade Speech by Lord Radnor 1844
Markets
Medicine
Dentists
Advertisement for R. L. Pinniger 1853
Doctors & Surgeons
Medical License Directory Extract – John Ann 1606 General Medical Council Registrations 1859-1959
Transport Services
Miscellaneous Documents
Newspaper Snippets
Better Late Than Never – The funeral of a child took place on Friday at the parish church of Highworth, when the clerk, having forgotten or neglected to toll the bell during the service, performed that ceremony after the corpse was interred. “Berks Chronicle” (Elizabeth Whiteway, 8 months of Westrop buried 15th September 1843)
Non Conformity and Other Places of Worship
The Toleration Act of 1689 granted Protestant Dissenters (not Catholics) freedom of worship. They were required to register their meeting places and were issued with a Meeting House Certificate (thanks to Jo Clinton for her information). This is the Application to license a dwelling house for worship in 1788.
Zion Chapel
This Chapel later became known as The Congregationalist Church and then the United Reformed Church.
Rev Thomas Gilbert Pastorate, Zion Chapel, Highworth Zion Chapel Baptisms 1821-1836 Roll of Members, Zion Chapel 1822-1828 Family Notices 1850-1899
Other Chapels
Particular Baptist Chapel – Highworth
Primitive Methodist Chapel – Westrop
Wesleyan Chapel – Eastrop
Read more about these Non Conformist Chapels
General Non Conformist Records
Non Conformist Baptisms Strays 1797-1835 Swindon Wesleyan Circuit Baptisms for Highworth 1842-1853
People and Parish Notables
Accidents
Accidents 1800 – 1899 Fatal Accident Plea for Witnesses 2012
Associations, Clubs, Organisations and Societies
St. John Ambulance Certificate for Elsie K. Hollis 1939
Bankruptcy
Census Returns Transcripts
Please note that the 1861 census covers the first enumerators book. The remaining 2 books are in the process of being transcribed.
Elections, Polls and Voters Lists
Poll of Freeholders 1772 Poll Book 1818 Voters List 1832 Voters Lists Revisions 1843 Poll Book 1868 Electoral Lists Revision Court 1902
Entertainment
Musical Notes 1868-1942 Highworth Ball 1839
Family Notices
1700-1799 1800-1849 1850-1899 1900-1949
Funeral Reports
Inquest Reports
1850-1899 John Tichenor 1851 Robert Willoughby 1871
Obituaries
| Simon Iles 1891 | Richard Henry Marsh 1883 | George Peapell 1845 | Sir William Pleydell-Bouverie, Earl of Radnor 1869 |
| Edward Wetherell Rowden 1870 | George Croke Rowden 1863 |
Parish Notable
| James Ayscough – Optician | John Judd, Actor – born 1947 | Narcissus Marsh Archbishop of Dublin and Armagh |
| Richard Henry Marsh aka Henry Marston – Actor | Humphrey Marsh – Clockmaker | Helen Shapiro, Singer and Actor – Born 1946 |
Parish Women
| Women of the Parish | Obituary of Lucy Polhill nee Hussey 1798 | Gipsy Funeral |
| The Murder of Eliza Jones 1836 |
Sport
Highworth Races 1766 Boxing Bout – Yeates v Day 1829 Cricket 1850 Highworth Athletic Football Club 1911-1912
Uncategorised People Items
Poor Law, Charity and The Workhouse
Charity
Unsolicited Generosity 1838 Distribution of Clothing to the Poor 1839
General Poor Law Items
Public Assistance Administration 1948
Medical Matters
Medical Relief 1837 Dismissal of Surgeon 1861
Parish Removal Orders
After the Settlement Act of 1662, each person had a parish of legal settlement, usually the parish of birth/christening or where they lived and worked (including apprenticeships) for a minimum of one year. Removal orders were issued by Overseers to transfer people back to their parish of settlement where they would be eligible for poor relief.
For the 1841 Census Return for the workhouse please refer to the Transcriptions Section below. For other census years please refer to the Stratton St. Margaret parish page where a new workhouse was built in 1845-6 but retained the Highworth and Swindon Union title.
Poor Law Tenders and Supplies
Employment of the Poor 1700-1799 Swindon & Highworth Union Supplies 1838 Contracts & Voting 1800-1849 Poor Law Union Supplies 1847
Workhouse
Census
General Workhouse News
Workhouse Crime
Workhouse Inmates
Tramps Admitted to the Workhouse 1847 Adult Paupers in the Union Workhouse for 5 years in 1861 Highworth Cemetery Workhouse & Institution Burials 1871-1919
Probate
National Probate Index 1858-1966
Inquisitions Post Mortem of Lands Held
Thomas Phillips 1628 Richard Grobham 1630
Parishioners Wills
Roger Kinsman 1594 (Written) Will of Thomas Kinsman 1697 (Written) John Coleman Proved 1781
Probate Inventories
War, Conflict and Military Matters
War Memorials & Military Gallery
Boer War
Imperial Yeomanry Casualties 1899-1902
Crimean
English Civil War
Civil War in Highworth 1642-1651
WWI
British Red Cross & VAD Detachment
Casualties
Jacob Edward Pleydell-Bouverie 1914
Victoria Cross Recipients
R. A. J. Warneford V. C. News Articles 1916
War Memorials and Books of Remembrance
Roll of Honour – Highworth Soldiers Highworth War Memorial Clock Face Memorial Plaque 1939-1945
Wiltshire Regiment
Return of the Wiltshire Regiment 1902 Servicemen & Families with the 1st Wilts. Regt. in South Africa 1911
Contributions
Please contact me if you have photos and/or stories of Highworth ancestors and you would like to share them with the Wiltshire OPC Project. Comments and suggestions are welcome. Thank You
Bury Blunsdon
Crime and Legal Matters
Parishioners Eligible to Serve as Jurors 1771
Coleshill
Parish Church of All Saints
All Saints Gallery All Saints Interior Gallery
Parish History
Coleshill is a village partly in Wiltshire and Berkshire. For OPC purposes since the Wiltshire part was effectively part of the parish of Highworth it has been included here.
Buildings and Land
Coleshill Estate and Mill
There has been a mill on the River Cole for over 900 years. Coleshill Estate and Mill is now in the care of the National Trust.
Eastrop
Buildings and Land
Indentures
Crime and Legal Matters
Parishioners Eligible to Serve as Jurors 1771
Proceedings in Chancery Elizabeth I Era (1558-1603)
Dunche v Seymor, Warneford, Shawe
People and Parish Notables
Elections, Polls and Voters Lists
Poll of Freeholders 1772 Poll Book 1818
Fresden
Crime and Legal Matters
Parishioners Eligible to Serve as Jurors 1771
Hampton Turvil
Crime and Legal Matters
Parishioners Eligible to Serve as Jurors 1771
People & Parish Notables
Westrop
Crime and Legal Matters
Parishioners Eligible to Serve as Jurors 1771
