Look up request - Fellows in Tipton

[Feen]

Hiya,

Does anyone have a book of Staffordshire monumental inscriptions to check the following in:

James and Eliza Fellows, lived at Horseley (or Horsley?) House in Tipton. James was born around 1805 and died in 1860 or thereabouts. Eliza was born around 1810 and I'm not sure when she died, though it was probably before 1881. She may have been living in Handsworth by then. I'm afraid I don't know which churchyard the grave was in, but I'm hoping the few details I have will be enough to point someone in the right direction... Any info would be much appreciated.

Many thanks,

Feen

[apowell]

Hi,

I'm afraid I don't have any concrete information but I have some ideas that may or may not help but here goes:)

My ancestors were from Dudley, West Bromwich and Tipton area (Black Country). The place James and Eliza you refer to is Horsley Heath in Tipton and on the 1851 census they're living in Toll End (part of Horsley Heath).

I think I've managed to find a marriage entry on familyseach for James Fellows Born abt 1804 Upper Gornal, Sedgley, and Eliza Hyde Born abt 1808 Upper Gornal, Sedgley but no name of church given. A son Joshua Fellows born 3rd April 1836 Upper Gornal, Sedgley is also listed.

Any idea what religion they were most were Church of England but a large number of people from the Black Country were Baptists etc. This will narrow down where they could be buried.

If Jame's religion was C of E and buried near Toll end Tipton I would suggest a choice of 4 churches to research:

Church of England

St Martin's Church (Pepper Box)
Church of England Registers
The register of St Martin, Tipton, commences in 1573. The original registers for the period 1573-1901 (Bapts), 1573-1900 (Mar) & 1573-1865 (Bur) are deposited at Staffordshire Record Office.
Bishops Transcripts 1672-1837 (with gaps 1674-75, 1678-81, 1707-11 & 1732-35) are deposited at Lichfield Record Office.

St John's Church
Church of England Registers
The register of St John, Tipton, commences in 1854. The original registers for the period 1854-1978 (Bapts), 1854-1979 (Mar) & 1855-1865 (Bur) are deposited at Staffordshire Record Office.

St Mark's Church
Church of England Registers
The register of St Mark, Tipton, commences in 1846. Microfilm copies of the registers for the period 1846-1970 (Bapts), 1850-1978 (Mar) & 1850-1937 (Bur) are held at Sandwell Archives.

St Paul Church
Church of England Registers
The register of St Paul, Tipton, commences in 1839. The original registers for the period 1839-1912 (Bapts) & 1853-1899 (Mar), and Banns for the period 1915-1930 are deposited at Staffordshire Record Office.

Nonconformist Church Registers
The original registers are deposited at Sandwell Archives (SA), Staffordshire Record Office (SRO) or the Public Record Office (PRO) as indicated below:
Bell Street, Tipton, Primitive Methodist, Baptisms 1843-47, 1859-1978 (SA)
Bloomfield, Tipton, Wesleyan Methodist, Baptisms 1823-1837 (PRO), Baptisms 1846-1977 (SA), Marriages 1932-1970 (SRO)
Canal Street, Tipton, New Connexion Methodist, Baptisms 1868-1965 (SA), Marriages 1960-63 (SRO)
Coppice Street, Tipton, Wesleyan Methodist, Baptisms 1918-1964 (SA)
St Paul's, Dudley Port, New Connexion Methodist, Baptisms 1858-1966 (SA), Marriages 1944-1966 (SRO)
Dudley Port, Primitive Methodist, Baptisms 1847-1870 (SA)
Dudley Port, Wesleyan Methodist, Baptisms 1847-1894 (SA)
Gospel Oak, Tipton, Wesleyan Methodist, Baptisms 1841-1987 (SA), Marriages 1899-1981 (SRO)
Horseley Heath, Tipton, Methodist, Baptisms 1860-1926 (SA)
Ocker Hill, Tipton, Wesleyan Methodist, Baptisms 1841-1970, Marriages 1877-1912 (SA)
High Street, Princes End, Tipton, Primitive Methodist, Baptisms 1876-1971 (SA)
Summerhill, Tipton, Primitive Methodist, Baptisms 1865-1972 (SA)
Tipton Green, Wesleyan Methodist, Births & Baptisms 1809-1837 (PRO)

If I was a betting man and of course I'm not:D I would look at St Martin's Church (pepper box) because that is located Horsley Heath, Tipton. Why not contact the churches and ask for help.

I suppose I would look at Eliza's place of death and search the local churches for information.

Hope this helps and let us know how you get on;)
Adrian

[Feen]

Hi Adrian,

Thank you so much for all this info, which is very useful. I had tried and failed to find the marriage of James and Eliza on A******y and I know my father didn't have any luck when he searched parish records in the 80s... I think he was starting to wonder whether his ancestors were... ahem... entirely respectable :D. I checked out Family Search and the church is in fact shown as All Saints in West Bromwich, which would explain why Dad couldn't find a record of the marriage - I suppose he simply searched the registers for Sedgley and immediately surrounding villages.

I would like to find the grave if I can and I rather hope it's not at the Pepper Box church, which I gather is now a private house (not sure if the grave would still be there :confused:). But as you say, that's the most likely church if it's on Horsley Heath.

Feen

[apowell]

Hi Feen,

Oh dear that's a terrible shock about the church being converted into a private house (I had no idea). Most of my relatives were married at that church and I thought it was a protected listed building. Oh well it could have been worse a local pub chain could have converted it into a disco bar.

Good luck and if you find any information on what happened to the graves etc I would be grateful if you could let me know.:confused:

Adrian

[Feen]

Hi Adrian,

I'm really sorry to have given you a shock there.

This is a link to some information on St Martin's on the Sandwell & Dudley local authority site.

http://www.laws.sandwell.gov.uk/ccm/content/urbanform/planninganddevelopment/historicenvironment/listedbuildingslists/church-of-st-martin.en

This is a link to the Channel 4 site on the conversion of the church to a private house:

http://www.channel4.com/4homes/on-tv/grand-designs/episode-guides/birmingham-the-church-08-06-09_p_1.html

From the picture of the exterior it didn't look as if there were many graves at the start of the conversion project, unless the actual graveyard was round the other side of the church? I'm a bit tied up with other priorities now but will certainly let you know if I find out more about the graves. There must at least be a list of monumental inscriptions somewhere.

Feen

[Sammid]

Hi I would be interested to know too whether the graves are still there/have access now the church is a private house? I know of a least two family weddings there in the 1800's and I presume there were family burials there too.
Sam

[Cati]

Partial transcript of the registers of All Saints West Bromwich here: http://estone.homestead.com/files/AllSaintspages/1820_to_1837_All_Saints_WB_Marriages.pdf

[Sammid]

Thanks for the .pdf. There are lots of surnames I am looking for in there.
Any news on the pepperbox anyone?
Sam