The Parish Of Caverswall

Genealogy

This page contains information and resources which may help you if you have a Family Tree interest in the parish. A good place to start is by looking at the posts that other visitors have made in the website Guestbook and the Forum. While you are there you might want to post your own name interests.

In addition to the pages in this section of the website the Local History section also contains information which may be useful. Many of the documents and articles feature the names of people who either lived here or were connected to the parish in some way.

If you are not familiar with the area it might not be obvious to you that Caverswall is the name of the village and also the name of the parish. You need to bear this in mind when looking at documents and records. Only a small proportion of the total population of the parish actually lived in the village itself.

The Parish

The village of Caverswall and the Parish are certainly ancient, the settlement is listed in the Domesday Book and It seems likely that the parish would have been in existence by 1200. This original parish would have been the area served by the church at Caverswall. In Tudor times  the concept of a civil parish was introduced to take responsibility for the upkeep of highways, care of the poor and dealing with minor law and order issues. The evidence suggests that two civil parishes or townships were established, one covering Caverswall Village and the surrounding area and a second to include Weston Coyney, Hulme and Werrington. The area served by the parish church, known as the ecclesiastical parish, encompassed both of the civil parishes or townships.

There have been several changes to the parish boundaries over the years and the parish that we see today is much smaller than it was originally. The Industrial Revolution and the development of the nearby Pottery Towns played a part in shaping the population, the landscape and the boundaries of the parish. By the 1870s the main centres of population within the ecclesiastical parish were Caverswall Village, Cookshill, Weston Coyney, Meir, East Vale, Adderley Green, Dividy Lane, Hulme and Werrington. In addition there were other homes and farms scattered across the parish. This map shows the probable line of the parish boundaries earlier in that century.

Significant changes to the boundaries of the civil parish started to take place in the 1880s. The pottery town of Longton annexed East Vale in 1883 acquiring 16 acres of land and with it some 1400 inhabitants. Then in the following year additional land was annexed in another Longton Borough Extension Scheme. The Local Government Act of 1894 created a revised structure of parishes across rural England and Wales which generally followed the boundaries of the old civil parishes. The civic affairs of each parish were put into the hands of an elected parish council. The Church of England retained its ecclesiastical parishes which today are governed by parochial church councils.

Stoke on Trent acquired parts of the parish in the 1920s and the city boundaries were expanded again in the 1960s to include Weston Coyney. In 1987 the civil parish of Caverswall was sub-divided to create a separate parish for Werrington.

Churches and Chapels

This is a list of the churches and chapels that were built to serve the area.

Name
Location
Denomination
Founded
Extant
St. Peter`s Caverswall Village C of E 13c Yes
Chapel Caverswall Village Wesleyan 1809 No
Chapel The Castle R.C. 1811 No
Chapel Fox Earth Methodist N.C. 1811 No
Chapel Caverswall Village Methodist N.C. 1812 No
Chapel Werrington Methodist N.C. 1812 No
St. Filumena Caverswall Village R.C. 1864 Yes
St. Andrews Mission Church East Vale C of E 1868 No
Holy Trinity Meir C of E 1894 Yes
Ss. Mary and Chad Anchor Road, Longton C of E 1898 Yes
St. Phillip Werrington C of E 1907 Yes
St. Andrew Weston Coyney C of E 1984 Yes

St Peter`s Churchyard and the Parish Cemetery

St Peter`s Church was built in the 13th century and it may the case that the churchyard has been used for burials since that time. Some of the more wealthy and prominent members of the parish have taken the option of interment inside the church. Please see the links below for transcriptions of the MIs. As the population of the parish grew it must have been realised that the churchyard would not provide sufficient space and a separate cemetery was established in the village.

The entrance to the cemetery.

The photograph on the right shows the entrance to the village cemetery. It is located on Blythe Bridge Road almost opposite to the entrance to St Peters Church. 

 The narrow single track road runs between the farmhouse and the cottages and leads to the cemetery. The parking area at the top of this road is only sufficient for a couple of vehicles. If you are visiting by car you may find it easier to park by the church and walk the short distance to the cemetery.

The cemetery is divided into two sections. The lower section is the original part of the cemetery and it is here where the oldest graves are located. At first glance it might appear that there are several areas where there are no graves, in fact some of the older graves are not marked with a headstone today. A possible explanation for some of these situations is that the relatives could not afford the expense of a headstone and the grave may have been originally marked by a wooden cross.

Of those that do have a headstone some of the memorial inscriptions are badly weathered and difficult or even impossible to read. In places the vegetation, shrubs and trees have obscured the graves completely. Some of the headstones have been moved to positions away from the original grave location and to confuse the issue further a lay-out plan of the grave plots does not exist.

A stone wall separates the the lower and upper sections of the cemetery. Generally the oldest graves in the upper section are located closest to the wall and these date from the mid 1800s. The upper section is maintained in the style of a lawned cemetery. All areas are easily accessible and most of the memorial inscriptions can be read without difficulty.

The cemetery is managed by the Parochial Church Council. For further information contact the Parish Office : St.Andrew's Church & Centre, 375 Weston Road, Weston Coyney. Stoke on Trent. ST3 6HB.
Tel : 01782 312570 e-mail

St Peter`s Memorial Transcriptions
A transcription of the Memorial Inscriptions that can be found in St Peter`s Church.

St Peter`s Memorial Transcriptions
A transcription of the Memorial Inscriptions that can be found in St Peter`s Churchyard A-K.

St Peter`s Memorial Transcriptions
A transcription of the Memorial Inscriptions that can be found in St Peter`s Churchyard L-Z.

The Parish Registers

The requirement to keep a record of baptisms, marriages and burials goes back to the year 1538 when Thomas Cromwell ordered each parish to begin keeping a register. As with many parishes it seems that the early records for Caverswall have been lost. The records for St Peter`s that have survived begin in 1552. Some of the early records are illegible and there are gaps in later years. Copies of the entries in the registers known as Bishops Transcripts begin in 1663, again there are gaps in the later years.
St Peter`s registers prior to 2001 and the registers 1869~1966 from the Wesleyan Metodist Chapel at Caverwall have been deposited with the Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service. The Roman Catholic registers for Caverswall begin in 1811. The R.C. Diocesan Archives are located in Birmimgham.

Parish Register Surname Index
Caverswall Parish Registers published by The Staffordshire Parish Record Society

Records of Civil Registration

The civil registration of all births, marriages and deaths commenced on the 1st of July 1837 in England and Wales. A local and national system of records was created and certificates were issued to the persons concerned. The system remains in use today. Christenings,marriages and burials continue to be recorded in church registers except where someone from the parish was not christened, or got married at a Registry Office, or was either buried or cremated at Carmountside in Stoke on Trent. For these reasons genealogists consider civil registration to be the primary source of records for these key life events.

At the outset the country was divided into Registration Districts based on the existing Poor Law Unions. The Registration Districts were further divided into Sub-Districts. The original records were kept at each registrar`s office and copies were sent to a central repository in London at the end of each quarter. Although the original registers are not available for public inspection it is possible to search the indexes. Copies of the indexes are available to view in person at the Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service and also via subscription based web sites.

The Civil Parish of Caverswall was included in the Registration District of Cheadle between 1837 and 1974.  East Vale was within the parish of Caverwall until 1894, between 1894 and 1896 it was included as a separate Civil Parish in the Registration district of Cheadle. After 1896 East Vale became a part of Longton in the Stoke Upon Trent Registration District.

The Staffordshire Free BMD web site provides a searchable index of the Births, Marriages and Deaths that have been registered in Staffordshire. This is a developing project and it includes many registrations from Caverswall. The web site is regularly updated and contains information about the current extent of the coverage.

 Records of the National Census

The first official census of England and Wales took place in March 1801 and a national census has taken place every ten years since then with the exception of 1941. However It was not until 1841 that the names and other information about every member of the household was retained. The county was divided into Enumeration Districts and the census forms were distributed to each household by the designated enumerator. The head of the household was responsible for completing the form. The enumerator collected the forms and the details were entered into a printed book.

It is likely that there would been some people in the parish who were unable to read or write  In these circumstances another member of the household, the enumerator or some other responsible person probably completed the forms for them. The obvious point to bear in mind is that the spelling of some recorded names may well have been based on how the words were pronounced. It also seems likely that some people did not know exactly how old they were or may have been unsure of where they were born. Studies of the national census have revealed that some people gave false information about themselves and other persons in the household for a variety of reasons.

 The census was designed to capture the details of persons who were present in the household at midnight on the specified date of the census. Members of the household who were not present, for example staying with relatives, were not included. These persons should of course appear on the census return for the household where they spent that night.

The census forms were destroyed after the details had been entered into to the printed books. Copies of these printed books have been made available to the public for research purposes in various formats. They are available to view free of charge at the National Archives (Public Record Office) and at the Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service.  The census returns are also available via pay per view web sites and available for purchase in CD format from organisations that advertise in family history magazines and web sites.

The most common purpose for searching the census returns is of course to trace  people and where they were on the night of the census. To get the best out of the census it is worth taking a look at how the original census records were organised. The census records are not indexed by the name of the persons or their address. Instead a three part reference is used to describe the records as follows, Public Record Office Classification + Piece Number + Folio Number.

 The PRO classification identifies the year of the census. The Piece Number identifies a collection of enumerators books that relate to a specific district. The Folio Number identifies a sheet in a specific enumerators book. Each sheet comprises of two pages. Although this indexing system was adequate for the intended purpose of the census it only provides a starting point in the records for people who are tracing their family tree.

If for example you were searching the 1841 census for Adam Walters and his family using the micro-film records you would have to work your way from the beginning of the film, viewing each entry until you found them.

The pay per view web sites provide a range of search options. They can save researchers a lot of time but in my experience they do not always provide an instant solution. The accuracy of the records in the data-base is of course dependant on how the original handwriting has been transcribed. I have found some errors in the spelling of names, occupations and places. For example I have found the family name Coyney transcribed as Cogney and also as Copley. One gentleman of leisure listed his occupation as a `Backer Of Horses` but this has been transcribed as a `Baker of Houses.` The web sites can be a great resource but you do have to be aware of the potential for transcription errors.

6th June 1841
National Archive Census Reference : HO107/1003/ Book 10 and 11.
National Archive Description : PARISH Caverswall, TOWNSHIP Weston Coyney and Hulme, HAMLET Adderley Green, Wherrington, Cellar-Head (part).
The census records are contained in two books, book number 10 and book number 11.

  • Book 10, District 5 - `South end of the Township of Caverswall which lies to the east of the road from Caverswall to Mear Lane.` Cookshill, Cookshill Mill, Vicarage, School, Caverswall, Caverswall Park, Mear Lane.
  • Book 10, District 6 - `North end of the Township of Caverswall which lies to the north of the Turnpike Road from Caverswall to Lane End and to the east of the Turnpike Road from Leek to Sandon.` Cookshill Green, Cookshill Hall, Holehouse, Caverswall, Bank House, Intakes, Cockin, Eden Cottage, Hardiwick, Tickill End, Sheepwash, Roughcote.
  • Book 10, District 8 - Caverswall Castle, Fingerpost House.
  • Book 11, District 6 - Part of the Township of Weston Coyney and Hulme, New Barn, Moorville, Windy Cote, Coyney`s Grove, Over Moor, Fox Earth, Gravel Pit, Butt Fields, Cat Gut Lodge, Leek Road, Hermitage, Malthouse, Blythe.
  • Book 11, District 7 - `North west part of Weston Coyney in the Parish of Caverswall and Hulme which lies to the west of the Turnpike Road from Leek to Sandon.` Hulme Dale, Hulme, Werrington, Weston Coyney, Bolton Gate.
  • Book 11, District 8 - `South west part of the Township of Weston Coyney and Hulme which lies to the north and south of the Turnpike Road from Caverswall to Hanley`. Old Toll Gate House, Mear, Waterloo Farm, Long Doles, Millfield Gate, Mear Heath, Cinder Hill, Adderley Cottage, Adderley House, Adderley, Moss Fields, Divydale Lane, Adderley Green, Park Hall Farm, Park Hall, Wood House Farm, Park Head Cottage, Park Head, Weston Coyney Hall, Weston Coyney.

The Parish Tithe 1841
A searchable database of landowners and tenants.

30th March 1851
National Archive Census Reference : HO107/2009/
National Archive Description : Parish Caverswall, Hamlet Caverswall, Hamlet Weston Coyney with Hulme, Adderley Green and Werrington.
The Parish was divided into four Enumeration Districts.

  • William Marson Senior`s District - East of the Turnpike Road from Mear to Weston Coyney Toll Gate and to the south of the road from Weston Coyney to Caverswall. Including the village of Caverswall, Mear Lane, Cookshill and Caverswall Park.
  • William Bradbury`s District - North of the road leading from Weston Coyney Toll Gate to Caverswall and to the east of the Turnpike Road from Weston Coyney to Cellar Head. Including Roughcote, Caverswall Common, part of Weston Coyney, Cellar Head, Sheepwash, Captains Barn, Coyneys Grove and Windicote.
  • James Bradbury`s District - West of the Turn Pike Road from Weston Coyney Toll Gate to Cellar Head and to the north of the road leading from the said Toll Gate to Adderley Green Toll Gate and thence to the junction of the Turn Pike Road leading from Wherrington to Hanley. Including Malthouse Mill, Foxearth, Werrington, Hulme, Hulme Dale, Bark House and High Coppice.
  • William Marson Junior`s District - South of the last district and to the west of the Turn Pike Road leading from thence to Weston Coyney Toll Gate. Including part of Mear, Park Hall, Adderley Lane, Dividy Lane, Cinderhill, Mossfields, Brook Lane and Millfield Gate.

The 1851 Census
A searchable database of persons listed in the 1851 Census of the parish.

03/05/09 Kindly consider this page as a work in progress.