Worcester Bedwardine St Michael, Worcestershire Family History Guide

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Worcester Bedwardine St Michael is an Ancient Parish and Civil Parish in the county of Worcestershire. The parish included the Bishop’s Palace and Cathedral churchyard. Bedwardine St Michael Civil Parish was abolished in 1898 with the creation of Worcester Civil Parish.

Alternative names: Worcester St Michael Bedwardine, St Michael Bedwardine

Parish registers begin:

  • Parish registers: 1546
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: 1621

Nonconformists include:

Adjacent Parishes

Worcester Bedwardine St Michael Parish Registers

Search online registers of baptisms, marriages, banns and burials including digitised images of original records and registers and indexed transcriptions.

Baptism, Marriage and Burial Records

These records include images of Church of England parish registers of baptism, marriage, and burial records.

Worcester Bedwardine St Michael, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812

Worcester Bedwardine St Michael, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1812-1922

Marriage and Banns Records

These records include images of Church of England parish registers of marriages and banns records.

Worcester Bedwardine St Michael, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1947

Death and Burial Records

These records include images of Church of England parish registers of deaths and burial records.

Worcester Bedwardine St Michael, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-1997

Parish Records

An index of parish records of people from St Michael Bedwardine Worcester. The index includes information from Calendar of the Quarter Sessions papers Worcestershire v1 and London Marriage Licences 1521 to 1869

Quarter Session Records

The records below have been extracted from the book Calendar of the Quarter Sessions papers Worcestershire v1.

(1592). Indictment of John Simons of St. Michael’s in Bedwardine for exercising the act or mystery of a tallow chandler without being apprenticed thereto for seven years. XXXIX. 24.

Marriage Licences and Allegations

London Marriage Licences and Allegations 1521 to 1869

The following have been extracted from London Marriage Licences 1521 to 1869.

Abbreviations. — B. Bishop of London’s Office; D. Dean and Chapter of Westminster; F. Faculty Office of Archbishop of Canterbury; V. Registry of the Vicar-General of Canterbury.

Rogerson, William, of St. Swithin, in county of city of Worcester, gent., bachelor, about 22, and Anna Hughes, of St. Michael, in Bedwardine, co. Worcester, spinster, about 25, and at own dispose — at St. Michael or St. John, in Bedwardine, or St. Swithin aforesaid. 29 March, 1673. V.

Source: London Marriage Licences 1521 to 1869; Edited by Joseph Foster; London 1887

Parish History

See also Worcester, Worcestershire Family History Guide

A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848

MICHAEL, ST., BEDWARDINE, a parish, in the Lower division of the hundred of Oswaldslow, union of Worcester, W. division of the county of Worcester; locally forming part of the city of Worcester, and containing 476 inhabitants. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king’s books at £7. 12. 1.; net income, £90; patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Worcester. Here is an endowed school.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848

The Church of St Michael in Bedwardine Worcester, Worcestershire

The Church of “St. Michael the Archangel, near the City of Worcester”, served a small but important parish, which included the ancient Sanctuary, the Bishop’s Palace and Castle or County Prison. The parish remained outside the confines of the City and exempt from its jurisdiction until 1832.

When the Cathedral became monastic it was necessary to make provision for the spiritual needs of this district, and the Church of St. Michael was built in the north east corner of the College Churchyard. The Churchyard had been the only important cemetery in the neighbourhood from Saxon times, and the church no doubt owed its dedication to the fact that it was to serve as a cemetery chapel. The Archangel Michael was always considered to have a special interest in the burial of the dead.

The Sacrist of the Cathedral had from the beginning been responsible for burials in the Churchyard, and, after the building of St. Michael’s Church, he became its patron but seems to have left this duty to the Rector. There were no Cathedral Registers until 1693, so that all records which concern the Cathedral and its precincts must be sought in the registers of St. Michael’s Church.

The parish is fortunate in having registers, dating from 1542, and also a very complete series of churchwardens’ accounts from 1539 to 1881; those from 1539 to 1603 have been printed and published. From these sources we can obtain a picture of the parish and its inhabitants. A new church of little interest was built in 1842, on the north side of the newly constructed College Street, and in 1881 the parish of St. Michael was united with that of St. Helen.

The few mural inscriptions which remain can be found in this latter church; and some grave-stones which formed part of the floor of the old church may still be seen in the Churchyard.

The Worcestershire Archaeological Society published a short article in vol. XIX of its Transactions, entitled “Old St. Michael’s Church and the College Churchyard”.

St. Michael in Bedwardine Parish, Worcester in 1796

THE PARISH OF ST. MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL, Or, as it is more generally called, St. Michael in Bedwardine, is a chapelry in the lower division of Oswaldslaw hundred. It is bounded on the east and south by St. Peter’s parish, on the west by the Severn, and on the north, by the parishes of St. Alban and St. Helen. It includes within its limits, the cathedral churchyard, the episcopal palace, and the charnel-house, north; and the castle, with its hill, down to the river south of the cathedral, which, with its precincts, is wholly surrounded by them to the Severn. This parish, in 1775, contained 99 houses, and 622 inhabitants.

The church of St. Michael is a peculiar, in the gift of the dean and chapter of Worcester. About the year 1551, this living lapsed to the crown, and has so continued ever since, it not being worth while to pay the expence of the seals, &c. on account of the smallness of the rectory ; it is, therefore, held by licence. The first incumbent was Will’us de Norton, pbr. 12 kal. Oct. 1280, according to Bishop Giffard’s Register, f. 109. a. The present minister is the Rev. Thomas Clarke, M. A. This church, which is situated at the north-east angle of the cathedral, is an ancient building ; its inside, by the last fitting up it received, hath been rendered extremely neat, decent, and commodious. A new altar-piece, communion-table, and a pulpit, embellished with good carvings, which, with a new gallery and pews, have given it altogether a very respectable appearance.

The boundaries of the manor of Guestenhall (the hall of which yet remains within the precincts of the cathedral) cannot well be ascertained, as they extend into all parts of the city, and almost into every street where the church had either lands or houses. In the Parliamentary Survey is the following account of some of its customs: “There is a court leet and court baron belonging to this manor, where the tenants are bound to appear, as well leaseholders as copyholders; the freeholders hold by fealty and rent.

“The fines upon the copyholders are uncertain, and the copyholders may take for as many lives as they can agree with the lord, there being no custom for any certain number; their fines are arbitrary, at the will of the lord. The heriots reserved in money upon the copies, and upon some leases, which usually are a year’s rent, payable only upon the death of the tenant in possession. The widow has her free bench.

“In 1649, there were about 36 freeholders, whose rent amounted to 7l. 18s. 11d.; 62 copyholders, whose rent was 26l. 14s. 4d. ; and 127 leaseholders, whose rent was 155l. 14s. 4d.”

The precincts of the cathedral, in 1779, contained 28 houses and 201 inhabitants.

Source: Green, Valentine. The History and Antiquities of the City and Suburbs of Worcester. London, Printed for the Author by W. Bulmer and Co. 1796.

Historical Maps

Alan Godfrey Old Ordnance Survey Maps

Worcester (NE) 1902: Worcestershire Sheet 33.04 (Old Ordnance Survey Maps of Worcestershire)

The full range of Worcestershire maps produced by Alan Godfrey are available in the Worcestershire Maps section of the Books & Maps area. There you can search by principal villages and parishes, by key features for town and city plans, and sort the maps by type and scale. Coverage is taken from the places listed in Alan Godfrey’s own map descriptions, although smaller parishes may not be explicitly named. View all the Worcestershire & District Alan Godfrey Maps.

Administration

  • County: Worcestershire
  • Civil Registration District: Worcester
  • Probate Court: Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)
  • Diocese: Worcester
  • Rural Deanery: Worcester until 1861, Worcester East 1861-1921, Inner Worcester 1921-26, Worcester 1926-
  • Poor Law Union: Worcester
  • Municipal Borough: Worcester 1835-89
  • County Borough: Worcester 1889-98
  • Urban Sanitary District: Worcester
  • Hundred: Worcester Borough
  • Province: Canterbury

County Maps

The Godfrey Edition reprints of Old Ordnance Survey Maps are invaluable for historians and genealogists. Many are taken from the highly detailed 1:2500 plans, reprinted at about 14 inches to the mile, showing individual houses, railways, factories, churches, mills, canals. Each map includes historical notes on the area. Alongside these large‑scale sheets, Alan Godfrey also publishes the smaller‑scale Inch‑to‑the‑Mile series, and a range of maps based on the OS five‑foot plans.