Bilston - Staffs

[linell]

Are you sure about Bilston being in the Wolverhampton district? I am trying to trace the birth of my grandfather John Thomas Roberts (three of the commonest names in England!) between 1874 and 1878, born in Bilston but BMD has none in Wolverhampton but some in Dudley, Walsall, and West Brom _ Bilston is about equidistant  to all four. Any thoughts?

Yes that's correct for Sedgley or Bilston I would look at Dudley Worcs.  Linell.

[linell]

There are 12 John Baker's born Dudley between 1858 and 1863.

[Lynntony]

Are you sure about Bilston being in the Wolverhampton district? I am trying to trace the birth of my grandfather John Thomas Roberts (three of the commonest names in England!) between 1874 and 1878, born in Bilston but BMD has none in Wolverhampton but some in Dudley, Walsall, and West Brom _ Bilston is about equidistant  to all four. Any thoughts?

If you click on Wolverhampton when the record appears on FreeBMD, it comes up on another page with the phrase "The district Wolverhampton spans the boundaries of the counties of Shropshire, Staffordshire and West Midlands; information about it can be found here." Click on the word "here" and it shows that Bilston is definitely covered by Wolverhampton

Tony

[linell]

Are you sure about Bilston being in the Wolverhampton district? I am trying to trace the birth of my grandfather John Thomas Roberts (three of the commonest names in England!) between 1874 and 1878, born in Bilston but BMD has none in Wolverhampton but some in Dudley, Walsall, and West Brom _ Bilston is about equidistant  to all four. Any thoughts?

If you click on Wolverhampton when the record appears on FreeBMD, it comes up on another page with the phrase "The district Wolverhampton spans the boundaries of the counties of Shropshire, Staffordshire and West Midlands; information about it can be found here." Click on the word "here" and it shows that Bilston is definitely covered by Wolverhampton

Tony

Yes but, anyone with a baby to baptise could easily pop into a Church in Dudley for a baptism, worth checking both places.  HTH Linell.

[Lynntony]

Yes but, anyone with a baby to baptise could easily pop into a Church in Dudley for a baptism, worth checking both places.  HTH Linell.

No-one said otherwise! I was merely pointing out that, as far as records are concerned, Bilston comes under Wolverhampton. I believe this was the lead question asked by Coomera.

Tony

[Coomera]

Thanks for confirming that Wolverhampton is correct for Bilston. We have now traced granddad's brother named Ephraim - a name much easier to isolate- and he is shown as born Bilston, registered Wolverhampton. So, we have discarded the second name - Thomas- and have a John Roberts registered Wolverhampton in Mar 1875 which ties in with his age of 36 in 1911. Are sending for his cert. Surely the records are of civil registrations, baptisms are a private matter.   Dee. (Australia)

[DudleyWinchurch]

Just to clarify.

Bilston itself was, and is now, I believe, in the registration district of Wolverhampton , except for a period durng the 20th century when it formed it's own registration district.

However, the boundary with Sedgley is, I think, less than half a mile from the town centre on the Highfields side of the town, so it is perfectly possible for people who thought that they had been born in Bilston (and even lived there all their lives) to have been just outside the boundary and so registered in Sedgley (hence Dudley Registration District, and a different county).

It is therefore, a good idea to check both Wolverhampton and Dudley registration districts for people who say that they were born in Bilston in the 19th century.  Wolverhampton Registry Office were very helpful when I applied for one certificate when the person of the same name registered in Wolverhampton turned out not to be the one that I was looking for and found the birth registered at Dudley, and after calling me, forwarded the application direct to Dudley.

[Coomera]

Thank you for the clarification. However, being overseas I am not sure if I can access the local Register Offices - up to now we have had to use the GRO - who, I must say, are very efficient and reasonably priced considering the overseas mail costs. Will look into this. Will send for the Wolverhampton cert that I think is right and will follow up elsewhere if it is not.   dee.

[Willow 4873]

Coomra

A lot of the Wolverhampton Archives have been transcribed and are here http://www.wolverhamptonhistory.org.uk/resources/indexes

There is a baptism of a John Thomas Roberts son of Thomas & Mary Ann 4 Mar 1888 12 W'ton Road Dairyman Born 20 April 1881 at Ettingshall Church (which is in Bilston)

And off Familysearch https://www.familysearch.org/

12.7.1877 at Bilston Ephraim Roberts parents David and Mary Ann
22.4.1775 at Bilston John Roberts parents David and Mary Ann

Willow x