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Nottingham St Mary

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"St Mary's parish is the largest of the three parochial divisions of the town, and county of the town of Nottingham, as it contains about four-fifths of the buildings and population, and the whole of the forest and burgess lands. It includes all the buildings and land on the south side of the Leen, betwixt the Trent and the parishes of Sneinton and Lenton, and all that part of the town on the north side of the Leen, lying east of Sussex Street, Middle Hill, Market Street and Fletchergate; whence the boundary turns westward, and includes all the buildings north of Bottle Lane, Poultry, Timber Hill, Beastmarket Hill, Chapel Bar and the Park, until it joins the parish of Radford. Its principal streets are the High Pavement, St Mary's Gate, Stoney Street, Carlton Street, George Street, Pelham Street, Clumber Street, Parliament Street, Derby Road and Mansfield Road. Its most important public buildings consist of the Exchange, the Post Office, the Town Hall, the churches of St Mary, St Paul, Trinity and St John; St Barnabas Catholic Church, Wesleyan Chapel, and many other dissenting places of worship; the Dispensary, the Theatre, the Grammar, National, Lancasterian and British Schools; Town Gaol and House of Correction &c.&c. The County Hall and Prison are within the boundary, but the ground on which they stand is exempted from the jurisdiction of the town, by a charter of Henry VI."
[WHITE's "Directory of Nottinghamshire," 1853]

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Archives & Libraries

John SUTTON has a photograph of the Bromley House Library on Geo-graph, taken in August, 2017.

The Nottingham Central Library is on Angel Row. It is open Mondays thru Saturday. Check the website for times/dates. There is a Local Studies Library on the first floor with a Family History section.

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Cemeteries

Alan MURRAY-RUST has a photograph of the Bellar Gate rest garden on Geo-graph, taken in April, 2019. This "rest area" was a burial ground for St Mary's Church, granted to the parish in 1742. In the 1830s it was used for the burial of cholera victims, and was finally closed in 1887.

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Census

  • The parish was in the St. Mary sub-district of the Nottingham Registration District.
     
  • The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
     
Census
Year
Piece No.
1841H.O. 107 / 869 - 870
1851H.O. 107 / 2131 - 2133
1861R.G. 9 / 3506 - 3526
1871R.G. 10 / 2463
1881R.G. 11 / 3357
1891R.G. 12 / 2690 thru 2704
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Church History

  • There was a Christian church here listed in the 1086 Domesday Book. A Norman church was built circa 1130 to replace that. The existing building is the third structure to stand on this spot.
     
  • The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary the Virgin.
     
  • The church was built on what is known as the "High Pavement".
     
  • The church is also known as "St. Mary in the Lace Market".
     
  • The ecclesiastical parish wasn't established until 1771.
     
  • In 1843 the tower was saved from collapse.
     
  • The 1843 tower repairs uncovered numerous burials within the church boundaries and these graves were causing the collapse of the tower. The graves were moved and the tower footings re-secured.
     
  • One of the graves identified above was for Richard SAMON, mayor, dated 1427.
     
  • The church was restored in 1867.
     
  • The Bishop & Starr organ was installed in 1871.
     
  • The church was restored again during 1873-1891.
     
  • The church seats 1,300.
     
  • The church is the largest medieval building in Nottingham.
     
  • The church is Grade I listed with British Heritage.
     
  • David HALLAM-JONES has a photograph of St. Mary's Church on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2011.
     
  • John SUTTON also has a photograph of St. Mary's Church on Geo-graph, taken in September, 2017.
     
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Church Records

  • The Anglican parish register dates from 1567 and is in good condition.
     
  • The church is in the rural deanery of Mansfield.
     
  • Mick GARRATT has a photograph of the Unitarian Church on Geo-graph, taken in September, 2006. Alas, the Unitarians have left the building and it now functions as a Pub!
     
  • A Congregational chapel was built in Castle Gate in 1863, replacing an older structure. The Congregationalists had nine places of worship in Nottingham city around 1900.
     
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Civil Registration

  • Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
     
  • The parish was in the St. Mary sub-district of the Nottingham Registration District.
     
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Correctional Institutions

Alan MURRAY-RUST has a photograph of the Shire Hall and County Gaol on Geo-graph, taken in April, 2019.

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Description & Travel

This parish comprises the southern side of Nottingham city.

Ray HUGHES has a photograph of the Nottingham Station Platforms on Geo-graph, taken in October, 2017.

John SUTTON has a photograph of the Old Market Square transformed into a beach with sand, stalls, rides and illumination on Geo-graph, taken in August, 2017.

You can see pictures of Nottingham St Mary which are provided by:

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Directories

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Gazetteers

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Genealogy

Herbert KILPIN was an English football player and manager, best known as the main founding father of AC Milan. KILPIN was born in this parish on 24 January 1870, the son of a local butcher. In 1891, Kilpin moved to Turin, in Italy. By 1898, KILPIN had already left Turin and settled in Milan with fellow Englishman Samuel Richard DAVIES. The following year, the duo were among the charter members of AC Milan. He died on 22 October 1916, aged 46 and is buried in Milan's Municipal Cemetery.

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History

  • David HALLAM-JONES has a photograph of the Low Pavement area on Geo-graph, taken in November, 2017.
     
  • Alan MURRAY-RUST has a photograph of the old Lace Market area on Geo-graph, taken in January, 2007.
     
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Maps

  • See our Maps page for additional resources.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK577397 (Lat/Lon: 52.951586, -1.142646), Nottingham St Mary which are provided by:

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Medical Records

Alan MURRAY-RUST has a photograph of the Nottingham General Hospital Dispensary on Geo-graph, taken in April, 2019. Generally there are no patient records archived from these facilities.

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Military History

  • The War Memorial at the southwest entrance to the churchyard was dedicated in 1922 to the men who lost their lives in the Great War.
     
  • David LALLY has a photograph of the War Memorial on Geo-graph, taken in August, 2010.
     
  • John SUTTON has a photograph of the 'Heroes with grimy faces' Memorial on Geo-graph, taken in September, 2017. This memorial honours those men and women of the fire and rescue services and the civil defense service who lost their lives in the Second World War.
     
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Military Records

You may want to read the James Still inscription reported by Rob LOASBY.

The Southwell and Nottingham Church History Project includes transcriptions from the plaques on the war memorial, but not the names of individuals. The photos of name lists will require magnification to read the names.

The names on the Roll of Honour plaque in the church nave are:

  1. Charles William Bakewell
  2. Spencer Baldry
  3. Horace Ball
  4. Catherine Ball, VAD nurse
  5. Ernest Barby
  6. Arthur William Barton
  7. Albert Owen Benson
  8. Lt. Thomas Richard Chetwynd Birkin
  9. Arthur Brady
  10. Charles Brett
  11. George Thomas Brockley
  12. Albert Ernest Brockwell
  13. Ernest William Brotherhood
  14. Charles Bryan
  15. Albert Buck
  16. Charles Frederick Carr
  17. George William Chamberlain, HMS Nomad
  18. Samuel Edward Clark
  19. Edward Clarke
  20. Edward Clarke
  21. Joseph Clements
  22. Ernest Cooper
  23. Frederick George Cooper
  24. Alexander William Daniel
  25. William Henry Drewry
  26. Henry Durose
  27. Ernest Dykes
  28. John Thomas Ellis
  29. Thomas French
  30. T. Gibson
  31. Srgt. Reginald Horace Grundy
  32. George Robinson Gunn
  33. Cornelius Hallam
  34. James Arthur Hallam
  35. John William Hart
  36. William Hazard
  37. Fred H. Higgs
  38. Cyril Hodgkinson
  39. Arthur William Holland
  40. Henry Cecil Holmes
  41. Harry Ronald Hubble
  42. Cprl. Charles Edward Huddleston
  43. Bernard Johnson
  44. Ernest D. Jones
  45. Leonard Jones
  46. George Judd Johnson
  47. Wallace Staines Judge
  48. Thomas Keeton
  49. William Kirk
  50. William John Lang
  51. John Thomas Law
  52. Philip Umfreville Laws
  53. George Frederick Leverton
  54. William Lewis
  55. Srgt. Stephen Ewart Foster Locker, RFA
  56. Frederick Masham
  57. John Edward Meadows
  58. Joshua Meadows
  59. William Morledge
  60. William Murden
  61. William Henry Newman
  62. Samuel Newton
  63. John Parr
  64. Arthur Pearce
  65. William Perth
  66. George Raymond Pinder
  67. Thomas Albert Pinder
  68. Frederick Thomas Potts
  69. Frederick W. Roberts
  70. George Roberts
  71. John William Roberts
  72. James William Sampson
  73. Thomas Henry Sanderson
  74. Henry Savage
  75. Herbert Savage
  76. Joseph Scragg
  77. Harold William Searson
  78. Alfred Shepherd
  79. Charles Matthew Shepherd
  80. Frederick Lawrence Simpson
  81. Owen Smith
  82. Thomas E. Smith
  83. Jesse Watts Spinks
  84. Lewis Stephen
  85. Robert Stewart
  86. Arthur William Swain
  87. Samuel Taylor
  88. Harry Thompson
  89. Samuel Thompson
  90. Reginald Stanley Turner
  91. George Tutin
  92. William Walker
  93. William Wealthall
  94. Frederick Wheelhouse
  95. Ewart Herbert Widdowson
  96. John Richard Wilmot
  97. Edward Wilson
  98. Frank Wilson
  99. John Henry Wing
  100. George Edward Wright
  101. Alfred Yeomans
  102. Rowland Young
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Politics & Government

  • This place was an ancient parish in Nottingham county and it became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
     
  • All of the ecclesiastical and ancient parishes of Nottingham city became a single modern Civil Parish in 1897.
     
  • St. Mary's ecclesiastical and civil parish was often the "parent" parish for new parishes spun off from it.
     
  • You may contact the Nottingham City Council regarding political or civic matters, but they will NOT help you with family history searches. They are not funded for that.
     
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Poor Houses, Poor Law

  • Bastardy cases would be heard in the Nottingham petty session hearings.
     
  • St Mary's parish set up workhouse in 1723 on land between York Street and Mansfield Road.
     
  • By 1808, the building had deteriorated and the parish began to plan for a new workhouse. Initially, a larger site on Dog Kennel Hill was considered, but eventually the replacement was built on the old site at a cost of more than £5,000.
     
  • In 1819, in the midst of a depression and high unemployment in Nottingham, the parish appointed Absalom BARNETT as its full-time Overseer. Barnett introduced a variety of new measures in the parish's treatment of the poor. He ended all wage supplements, allowances for large families, or the payment of rents. Able-bodied unemployed were offered relief through entry into the workhouse.
     
  • Under Barnett's plan, the workhouse capacity of 400 was quickly exceeded and the able-bodied soon were offered employment outside the workhouse. The work was low-paid.
     
  • After the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, this parish became a part of the Nottingham Poor Law Union.
     
  • The York Street workhouse was demolished in 1896 to make way for the Victoria Station.
     
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Population

 YearInhabitants
180122,654
184141,135
185145,729
187176,130
1881101,906
189199,897