Eccleshall Staffordshire Family History Guide

Eccleshall is an Ancient Parish and a market town in the county of Staffordshire.

Other places in the parish include: Aspley, Wootton, Charnes, Chatcull, Chorlton with Stableford, Cold Meece, Coldmeece, Croxton, Great Sugnall, Hill Chorlton, Horseley, Horseley with Garmelo, Cotmere and Offley Hay, Little Sugnall, Mill Meece, Millmeece, Pershall, Podmore, Slindon, Sugnall Magna, Sugnall Parva, Three Farms, Walton, and Bromley.

Parish church: Holy Trinity

Parish registers begin: 1573

Nonconformists include: Independent/Congregational, Primitive Methodist, Roman Catholic, and Wesleyan Methodist.

Adjacent Parishes

• Seighford
• Standon
• Cheswardine Shropshire
• Gnosall
• Cotes Heath
• Swynnerton
• Broughton
• Maer
• Chebsey
• Ellenhall
• Market Drayton
• Adbaston
• Ashley
• High Offley

Eccleshall Parish Registers

Eccleshall Parish Registers 1620 to 1656

The Eccleshall Parish Registers 1620 to 1656 are available free to read online, with options to download the pdf for personal research

Eccleshall Staffordshire Parish Register 1620 to 1656 Vol. 2. Editor: Rev. F. J. Wrottesley. Published by the Staffordshire Parish Register Society 1910.

Parish Records

Online 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.

Croxton National School (Mixed & Infants) 1897 to 1914 Admissions

Croxton Parochial School 1875 to 1906 Admissions

Offley Hay School 1896 to 1913 Admissions

Slindon Church Of England School (Jmi) 1876 to 1914 Admissions

Bankrupts

Below is a list of people that were declared bankrupt between 1820 and 1843 extracted from The Bankrupt Directory; George Elwick; London; Simpkin, Marshall and Co.; 1843.

Alsop Richard, Eccleshall. Staffordshire, miller, Jan. 7, 1834.

Astbury John. Eccleshall, Staffordshire; and Samuel Davison, Stone, Staffordshire; brewers, March 29, 1833.

Bradshaw James, Eccleshall, late Croxton, Stafford, butcher, June 1, 1822.

Gibbs Charles, Eccleshall, Staffordshire, ironmonger & druggist, Jan. 20, 1824.

Smith Тhomas, Eccleshall, Staffordshire, maltster, Dec. 7, 1827.

Parish History

Eccleshall

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

ECCLESHALL, a small town and a sub-district in Stone district, and a parish in Stone and Newcastle-under-Lyme districts, Stafford. The town stands near the river Sow, 2¾ miles WSW of Norton-Bridge r. station, and 7¼ NW of Stafford.

It dates from very ancient times; is neat and regularly built; has an ancient castle, a church, an Independent chapel, and a head post office; and is a seat of petty sessions, and a polling place. The castle was founded in remote times; has belonged, since the 13th century, to the bishops of Lichfield; was rebuilt, in 1310, by Bishop Langton; sustained much damage in the parliamentary war; was partly restored, partly rebuilt, in 1695, by Bishop Lloyd; has been enlarged and improved by several subsequent bishops; and is still the episcopal residence.

The church is early English; was the retreat of Queen Margaret after her defeat; and was improved, after damage by fire, in 1869. The inhabitants are employed partly in various trades and manufactures, but chiefly in agriculture. A weekly market is held on Friday; and fairs on the Thursday before Midlent, Holy Thursday, 16 Aug., and the first Friday of Nov. Real property, £6,257. Pop., 1,491. Houses, 305.

The parish contains also the townships of Horseley. Wootton, Walton, Three Farms, Aspley, Slindon, Millmeece, Coldmeece, Cotes, Pershall, Sugnall-Parva, Sugnall-Magna, Charnes, Chatcull, Podmore, Bromley, Broughton, and Croxton in the district of Stone, and the township of Chorlton in the district of Newcastle-under-Lyme. Acres, 21,460. Real property, £37,925. Pop., 4,882. Houses, 1,002.

The property is much subdivided; but the manor, with the greater part of the land, belongs to the Bishop of Lichfield. An area of about 1,300 acres, two or three miles from the town, is covered with trees and coppice, belonging to the Bishop; and large quantities of young timber are sent thence to the potteries for making crates.

The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £254. Patron, the Bishop of Lichfield. The chapelries of Croxton, Cotes-Heath, Chapel-Chorlton, and Broughton are separate benefices. The sub-district includes all the townships of the parish in Stone district, the parishes of Standon and Swinnerton, and two townships of Chebsey. Acres, 32,810. Pop., 6,139. Houses, 1,275.

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

The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales 1851

Eccleshall, a parish in the north division of the hund. of Pirehill, union of Stone, county of Stafford; on the line of the Grand Junction railway, at its junction with the Manchester and Birmingham railway, and with a branch of a projected Stone and Rugby railway.

It comprises the townships of Broughton, Bromley, Aspley, Haseley, Charnes, Coldmeere, Chatcull, Cotes, Croxton, Eccleshall, Millmeece, Pershall, Slindon, Podmore, Sugnall-Magna, Sugnall-Parva, Three Farms, Walton, Wootton, Chorlton-Hill, and the chapelry of Chorlton. Acres 20,930. Houses 824. A.P. £25,955. Pop., in 1801, 3,487; in 1831, 4,471. Acres of the township, 1,850. Houses 233. Pop., in 1811, 1,016; in 1831, 1,285.

The market-town of Eccleshall is pleasantly situated near the river Sow; 148 miles north-west of London, and 7¼ north-west by west of Stafford. It is neat and regularly built, and is supposed to be of great antiquity.

Living, a discharged vicarage and peculiar of the dean and chapter of Lichfield; rated at £7 14s. 4d.; gross income £170. Tithes commuted in 1839; aggregate amount £148 14s. 4d. Patron, the bishop of Lichfield. The church was the sanctuary of Queen Margaret, when she fled from Muccleston. Here is an Independent church, formed in 1822, with a very neat chapel, opened 18th August, 1840. Here are a day and Sunday National and 5 daily schools, one with a small endowment. Charities, £106 17s. 5d. per annum, besides an expectancy of £800. Poor rates, in 1838, £1,648.

At the time of the Conquest, the town of Eccleshall belonged to the bishops of Lichfield. The bishop is still lord of the manor, and at his court-leet appoints 2 constables and 4 head-boroughs. In the year 1160, a grant of a weekly market and an annual fair was obtained for it by Bishop Durdent. The market is on Friday; the fairs, principally for cattle, sheep, and saddle-horses, are held on the Thursday before Mid-lent. Holy Thursday, August 16th, and the first Friday in November. Large quantities of young wood are sent hence to the potteries for making crates to pack the wares.

The bishop’s castle, an ancient edifice, has belonged to the bishops of Lichfield since the 13th century. In the parliamentary war it sustained so much damage as to be unfit for the residence of the bishops, until 1695, when Bishop Lloyd rebuilt the southern part and restored the whole structure to its former magnificence, since which time it has been enlarged and improved by his successors. The Bishop’s woods, two or three miles east of Eccleshall, contain 1,300 acres, principally of oak, with a large quantity of underwood.

Source: The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales; A Fullarton & Co. Glasgow; 1851.

Bromley

Lewis Topographical Dictionary of England 1845

Bromley, a township, in the parish of Eccleshall, union of Stone, N division of the hundred of Pirehill and of the county of Stafford; containing 33 inhabitants. The tithes have been commuted for £83. 18., of which £83 are payable to the Dean and Chapter of Durham, and 18s. to the vicar of the parish.

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.

Chatcull

Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales Circa 1870

Chatcull, a township in Eccleshall parish, Stafford; 4 ¼ miles NNW of Eccleshall. Acres, 530. Real property, £1,373. Pop., 68. Houses, 11.

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

Croxton

Comprehensive Gazetteer of England and Wales 1895

Croxton St Paul’s, an ecclesiastical parish in the civil parish of Eccleshall, Staffordshire, comprising an area of 7805 acres. The village of Croxton is 3¼ miles WSW of Standon Bridge station on the L. & N.W.R., and 4 NW by W of Eccleshall. Post town, Eccleshall.

The ecclesiastical parish was constituted in 1856, and includes the townships of Croxton, Broughton, Gerard’s Bromley, Podmore, Charnes, and Chat-cull. Population, 892. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield; net value, £270 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Lichfield. The church was erected in 1854.

This parish is on the exact watershed of England; in one field are two springs, one forming the source of the river Sow (or Sough), a tributary of the Trent, running eastward to the sea by the Humber, the other being the source of a stream running westward by the Fern and Severn to the Bristol Channel.

Source: The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England and Wales 1895 by Brabner, John Henry Fryden

Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales Circa 1870

CROXTON, a township and a chapelry in Eccleshall parish, Stafford. The township lies on the river Sow, 3½ miles WSW of Standon Bridge r. station, and 3¾ NW by W of Eccleshall. Acres, 3, 790. Real property, £4, 789. Pop., with Broughton, 821. Houses, 183. The chapelry is larger than the township; and its post town is Eccleshall. Pop., 1, 075. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £56. Patron, the Bishop of Lichfield. The church is good.

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

Horseley

The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales 1851

Horseley, a township in Eccleshall parish, Staffordshire; 1½ mile south-west of Eccleshall. Acres 2,520. Houses 101. Pop., in 1811, 427; in 1831, 491. Other returns with the parish.

Source: The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales; A Fullarton & Co. Glasgow; 1851.

Podmore

A Topographical Dictionary of Great Britain and Ireland 1833

Podmore, co. Stafford.
P. T. Stafford (141) 7 m. NW b W. Pop. 75.
A township in the parish of Eccleshall and north division of the hundred of Pirehill.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of Great Britain and Ireland by John Gorton. The Irish and Welsh articles by G. N. Wright; Vol. III; London; Chapman and Hall, 186, Strand; 1833.

Historical Maps

Vision of Britain Historical Maps – includes topographic maps, boundary maps and land use maps

Administration

• County: Staffordshire
• Civil Registration District: Stone
• Probate Court: Court of the Peculiar of Eccleshall
• Diocese: Lichfield
• Rural Deanery: Eccleshall
• Poor Law Union: Stone
• Hundred: North Pirehill
• Province: Canterbury