Status: Ancient Parish
Parish church: St. Kenelme
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1557
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1570
Nonconformists include:
Parishes adjacent to Alderley
Historical Descriptions
Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
Alderley, a village and a parish in Chipping-Sodbury district, Gloucester. The village stands on a hill of the Cotwolds, above the confluence of two rivulets, 3 miles ESE of Charfield r. station, and 4 NE of Wickwar; and has a post-office under Wotton-under-Edge. The parish comprises 898 acres. Real property, £1,800. Pop., 98. Houses, 23. The property is not much divided. The hill on which the village stands has yielded many curious fossils. The parish was formerly the boundary of the Kingswood forest. The estate of Alderley was the birthplace of Sir Matthew Hale, and continues to be held by his descendants. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol. Value, £2,000. Patron, R. H. B. Hale, Esq. The church is a handsome building, conspicuously situated on the hill; and contains the grave and monument of Sir Matthew Hale.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A Fullerton & Co. N.d.c. [1870-72]
Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales 1850
Alderley, 2 m. S. Wootton. P. 174.
Source: Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales; Second Edition; C. W. Leonard, London; 1850.
Lewis Topographical Dictionary of England 1845
Alderley (St. Kenelme), a parish, in the union of Chipping-Sodbury, Upper division of the hundred of Grumbald’s-Ash, W division of the county of Gloucester, 2 miles (S.S.E.) from Wotton-under-Edge; containing 174 inhabitants. The village is pleasantly situated on an eminence between two streams which unite and fall into the Severn at Berkeley, and commands an extensive and interesting view to the south and south-west. There is a manufactory of cloth which affords employment to between one and two hundred persons. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king’s books at £11 4. 7., and in the gift of R. H. B. Hale, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £155. 5. 8., and there are about 25 acres of glebe. The Rev. Potter Cole was, in 1730, presented to this benefice, which he held till the year 1800. Cornua ammonis and other fossils are found. Sir Matthew Hale, lord chief justice in the reign of Charles II, was born here, Nov. 1st, 1609, and lies interred in the churchyard.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis Fifth Edition Published London; by S. Lewis and Co., 13, Finsbury Place, South. M. DCCC. XLV
The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales 1840
Alderley, a village and parish in the upper division of the hund. of Grumbald’s Ash, union of Chipping-Sodbury, county of Gloucester; 2 miles south-south-east of Wotton-under-Edge. It is situated on a hill between two rivulets, which here unite and fall into the Avon. Living, a discharged rectory in the archd. of Gloucester and dio. of Gloucester and Bristol; rated at £11 4s. 7d., and in the parliamentary return at £105; gross income £150. Patron, in 1835, R. H. B. Hales, Esq. The celebrated Sir Matthew Hale, lord-chief-justice in the reign of Charles II., was born here on the 1st November, 1609, and was buried in the church, which contains also his monument in marble. In the hill on which the village stands, many curious fossils have been found. The church is a handsome building; and being placed on a hill, forms a prominent and picturesque object. In 1838 there were 2 woollen mills, employing 42 hands, in this parish. This place was formerly the boundary of Kingswood forest. Pop., in 1801, 212; in 1831, 200. Houses 29. Acres 730. A. P. £1,787. Poor rates, in 1837, £181.
Source: The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales; A Fullarton & Co. Glasgow; 1840.
Topographical Dictionary of Great Britain and Ireland 1833
Alderley, co. Gloucester.
P. T. Wotton-under-Edge (108) 2 m. SE. Pop. 233.
A parish in the upper division of Grumbalds Ash, situate on the side of a hill, between two rivulets, which unite here and fall into the Avon; the living is a dis. rectory in the archdeaconry and diocese of Gloucester; val. in K. B. 11l. 4s. 7d.; ann. val. P. R. 105l.; patrons (1829) Mr. and Mrs. Hale. The church being erected on a hill is visible for many miles around. This village was the birth-place of the celebrated judge, Sir Matthew Hale.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of Great Britain and Ireland by John Gorton. The Irish and Welsh articles by G. N. Wright; Vol. I; London; Chapman and Hall, 186, Strand; 1833.
Crosby’s Complete Pocket Gazetteer of England and Wales 1815
Alderley, (Glouc.) a parish near Wooton-under-Edge, 5 miles in compass, and situate on the side of a hill between 2 rivulets, which unite and fall into the Avon. It has a handsome church built on an eminence, and remarkable as the burial-place of Sir Matthew Hale, a native of this parish. On some of the adjacent hills are found great number of fossils resembling scollops, serpentine stones, &c. Dist. from Gloucester 22 miles. Population, 197.
Source: Crosby’s Complete Pocket Gazetteer of England and Wales 1815; Baldwin, Cradock & Joy.
Universal British Directory 1791
Alderley, near Wotton-under-edge, is a parish five miles in compass, and lies on the side of a hill between two rivulets, which join and fall into the Avon. It has a handsome church, with a tower that has curious pinnacles, visible to a considerable distance, which commands an extensive view of the adjacent vale. It is three miles from Wotton-under-edge, twenty-two from Gloucester, and was formerly the utmost bounds of Kingswood forest. Its church is on an eminence, though small is neat, and rendered memorable for the burial-place of Sir Matthew Hale, a native of this place. On some of the hills here, are found great numbers of cockle and oyster shells, or rather fossils resembling serpentine-stones and scallops.
Source: Universal British Directory 1791
Directories
Alderley Kellys Gloucestershire Directory 1863
Alderley Kellys Gloucestershire Directory 1856
Parish Records
Gloucestershire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1813 (Ancestry)
Gloucestershire, England, Church of England Records (Ancestry)
Gloucestershire Parish Records (The Genealogist)
England, Boyd’s Marriage Indexes, 1538-1850 (FindMyPast) – free
National Burial Index (FindMyPast) – free
Marriages
Alderley Marriages General Information
Marriages at Alderley 1559 to 1812
Note. – The Registers are in good order. The entries from 1557 to 1647 were transcribed from an earlier volume by Rev. Giles Workman, rector of the parish, about the year 1647. Since that date the Registers have been regularly kept and the entries evidently made at the time the events occurred.
Volume I, which contains the entries of Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, from 1557 to 1647, is of parchment. The entries of Marriage are mixed with those of Baptisms and Burials.
Volumes II and III gives the Marriages from 1755 to 1796, and 1798 to 1812. They are on parchment, and are not the usual printed form.
These entries have been extracted by Major-General Robert Hale, of Alderley, and are now printed, after collation with the Register, and under his supervision, by leave of the Rev. C. M. Perking, rector of Alderley.
Source: Gloucestershire Parish Registers. Marriages. Edited by W. P. W. Phillimore, M.A., B.C.L., Vol X. Issued to the Subscribers by Phillimore & Co., 124, Chancery Lane, London. 1905.
Marriages at Alderley 1559 to 1812 – UK Genealogy Archives
Transcriptions
Alderley Marriages 1798 to 1812
Alderley Marriages 1775 to 1796
Alderley Marriages 1755 to 1774
Administration
- County: Gloucestershire
- Civil Registration District: Chipping Sodbury
- Probate Court: Court of the Bishop of Gloucester (Episcopal Consistory)
- Diocese: Pre 1836 – Gloucester, Post 1835 – Gloucester and Bristol
- Rural Deanery: Hawkesbury
- Poor Law Union: Chipping Sodbury
- Hundred: Grumbald’s Ash
- Province: Canterbury