Odiham Hampshire Family History Guide

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Odiham is an Ancient Parish and a market town in the county of Hampshire. Greywell is a chapelry of Odiham.

Other places in the parish include: Stapely, Rye, North Warnborough, Murrell, Hillside, and Bramshill.

Parish registers begin:

  • Parish registers: 1538
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: 1701

Nonconformists include: Independent/Congregational

Adjacent Parishes

Odiham Parish Registers

Odiham Marriages 1538 to 1812 Hampshire Parish Registers Marriages Vol. 6 Edited by W. P.W. Phillimore and S. Andrews. Published London 1904. Issued to the subscribers by Phillimore & Co. 124 Chancery Lane. – This book is a free download from Parishmouse

Parish Records

School Records

The National School Admission Registers & Log-Books 1870–1914 collection offers a rare glimpse into the educational journeys of children across England and Wales during a transformative era. These records often capture names, dates of birth, parental occupations, and school attendance patterns – making them invaluable for family historians, local researchers, and anyone tracing Victorian or Edwardian ancestry. You can view them free with a Findmypast Trial.

Odiham National/Board/Council School, Bury Fields 1875-1907 Admissions & Logs

Odiham National/Board/Council School, Bury Fields 1875-1884 Admissions & Logs

Odiham National/Board/Council School, Bury Fields 1891-1908 Admissions & Logs

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

ODIHAM, a small town, a parish, a sub-district, a hundred, and a division, in Hants. The town stands on the side of a chalk hill, in a gently undulating country, among remains of an ancient wood or forest, 1 mile S of the Basingstoke canal, 3 SW of Winchfield r. station, and 23 NE of Winchester.

It took its name, originally written Woodham, from the ancient wood around it; dates from the Saxon times, and had then a royal villa of the kings of Wessex; became a place of considerable importance soon after the Norman conquest, with a castle about a mile to the NW; was held, from an early period, in part or in whole, by the bishops of Winchester, and had a residence of theirs, some remains of which are at a farm-house adjoining it, and still called the Palace; was summoned to send members to parliament in the times of Edward I. and Edward II., but made no returns.

It is now a seat of petty sessions and a polling place; and has a post-office under Winchfield, a banking office, a good inn, a church, an Independent chapel, a chapel of Lady Huntingdon’s Connexion, a mechanics’ institute, a grammar school, national and British schools, three suites of alms-houses, and other charities £129. The church is a spacious structure, interesting internally, but much patched with brick and stucco externally; includes decorated and later English portions; was partially restored in 1851; and contains a curious pillar piscina, and a brass of 1470.

The grammar school was founded in 1694, by Robert May; has £78 a year from endowment; and numbers among its pupils Bishop Huntingford of Hereford, and Bishop Burgess of Salisbury. More’s alms-houses have £82 a year from endowment; and Wyeth’s and Mapleton’s alms-houses have £20. A weekly market is held on Tuesday; fairs are held on the third Saturday in Lent and 31 July; and some small manufactures are carried on. Bishop Burgess and the grammarian William Lilly were natives.

The parish contains also the tythings of Hillside, Rye, Stapely, Murrell, and North Warnborough. Acres, 7, 287. Real property, £13, 832; of which £90 are in gas-works. Pop., 2, 833. Houses, 595. The manor belongs to the Bishop of Winchester.

Odiham Castle stood at North Warnborough; sustained a siege of 15 days, in 1216, by Louis of France; passed afterwards to Simon de Montfort; was the retreat of his wife, the Countess of Gloucester, for some months during the contest between Henry III. and the barons; was given, by Edward I., to his second wife, Margaret of France; formed, in the time of Henry VI., part of the dower of Margaret of Anjou; was, for eleven years, the prison of David king of Scotland; was repeatedly visited, during her progresses, by Queen Elizabeth; was given, by James I., to Lord Zouch; passed, by sale, to the Mildmays; and is now represented by only an octagonal tower.

The living is a vicarage, united with the p. curacy of Grewell, in the diocese of Winchester. Value, £560. Patron, the Bishop of Winchester. The sub-district contains also four other parishes, and is in Hartley-Wintney district. Acres, 22,058. Pop., 6, 515. Houses, 1, 351. The hundred contains eight parishes, and part of another; and is cut into lower half, middle half, and town. Acres, 7, 529, 6, 700, and 7, 287. Pop. in 1851, 2, 557, 1, 338, and 2, 811. Houses, 506, 256, and 554. The division contains also Holdshott-upper-half hundred, Crondall-lower-half and upper-half hundred, and Bentley liberty. Acres, 62, 994. Pop. in 1851, 15, 822. Houses, 3, 109.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

Administration

  • County: Hampshire
  • Civil Registration District: Hartley Wintney
  • Probate Court: Courts of the Bishop (Episcopal Consistory) and Archdeaconry of Winchester
  • Diocese: Winchester
  • Rural Deanery: Basingstoke
  • Poor Law Union: Hartley Wintney
  • Hundred: Odiham
  • Province: Canterbury