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Hanley

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"Hanley and Shelton, though two distinct liberties, or townships, maintain their poor conjointly with the rest of the parish of Stoke-upon-Trent, and form one densely populated and well-built market town, ranking in size and consequence, the second in the county of Stafford, and the largest in the district called the Potteries, in which it holds a central situation, being pleasantly seated on rising ground near the Trent and the canal, about a mile N of Stoke, and two and a half miles ENE of Newcastle-under-Lyme. It has a population of 20,564 souls, 8609 in Hanley, and 11,955 in Shelton, which includes Etruria and part of Cobridge. Both are in the manor of Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Hanley forms the north-eastern and highest part of town, and from it and Earl Granville's Coal and Iron Works, an old tram road, now worked by a locomotive engine, extends down to the Trent & Mersey Canal, at Etruria, where it now also forms a junction with a station on the North Staffordshire Railway. The houses have a neat appearance and some of them are spacious and elegant, there being here many of the most wealthy and extensive china and earthenware manufacturers in the Potteries, and in the suburbs are several coal and iron works.
Cobridge is now a populous district, extending from the suburbs of Shelton to Burslem, and mostly in the latter parish, and partly in Shelton.
Etruria, in Shelton township, is now a populous suburb, with a wharf and railway station. It owes its origin and name to that late celebrated porcelain manufacturer, Josiah Wedgwood, Esq."
[From History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire, William White, Sheffield, 1851]

 

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Bibliography

'Old Hanley Retrospectives and Local Landscapes'
by Ernest Howard White
Published 1983, by Stoke-on-Trent City Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke.

'A History of Hanley'
by MW Greenslade
Published 1983, by Staffordshire County Library, Stafford.

 

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Cemeteries

A transcript of the Monumental Inscriptions of St John the Baptist, Hanley & St Jude, Shelton, has been published by the Birmingham & Midland SGH.

A transcript of the Monumental Inscriptions of the Bethesda Methodist Chapel, Hanley, has been published by the Birmingham & Midland SGH.

A transcript of the Monumental Inscriptions of St Matthew, Etruria, has been published (with Burslem, St Paul) by the Birmingham & Midland SGH.

 

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Census

A surname index only of the 1851 census for Hanley and Shelton is included in the 1851 Staffordshire Census Surname Index, Vol 5, Stoke-on-Trent, Part 1, published by the Birmingham and Midland SGH.

 

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Church History

"Hanley Church, St John, stands in a spacious cemetery, and is a large brick edifice, with a tower 100 feet high, containing a peal of eight bells. It was erected in 1788, on the site of a small chapel built in 1764. The perpetual curacy is in the patronage of 27 trustees, and incumbency of the Rev GF Whidborne, MA. The late Rev Robert Ellis Aitkins held the benefice from 1802 to 1849.

Shelton Church, St Mark, is a large and elegant stone fabric in the Early English style of architecture, finished in 1834, with a handsome tower 40 yards high. The rectory is in the patronage of Captain Gillmor, and incumbency of the Rev FB Grant, MA.

Etruria and Hope are two new district parishes, which have recently been formed out of Shelton, for ecclesiastical purposes.
Hope Church, Trinity, was built in 1848-9, in the Anglo-Saxon style. It stands in Sackville Street, near Hope Street, and its district comprises the poorest part of the town. The perpetual curacy is in the patronage of the Crown and Bishop alternately, and incumbency of the Rev Samuel Fisher, BA.
Etruria Church, St Matthew, is a small neat structure of Early English architecture, built in 1848-9. The perpetual curacy is in the patronage of the Crown and Bishop alternately, and incumbency of the Rev Henry Wynter.

Northwood and Wellington Church districts have lately been formed out of Hanley.
Northwood Church, Trinity, is at Upper Hanley, and was erected in1848, in the Early English style. The perpetual curacy is in the alternate patronage of the Crown and Bishop, and incumbency of the Rev CB Jackson, MA.
Wellington Church, St Luke, is to be built in 1851-2, near Well Street, and the incumbent now performs divine service in a small temporary church. The perpetual curacy is in the alternate patronage of the Crown and Bishop, and incumbency of the Rev WH Wright, BA.

There are 12 dissenting chapels in the town and suburbs of Hanley and Shelton.
The Baptists have a small old chapel in New Street.
The Presbyterian Church, in Sackville Street, was built in 1824, by Independents, who, in 1846, connected themselves with the English Presbyterian Synod, under the ministry of the Rev JM Martyn. The Independent Chapel, in High Street, called the Tabernacle, was built in 1784, and is under the ministry of the Rev John Edwards.
The Independent Chapel, in Hope Street, is handsomely fitted up with oak pews and was built in 1812. The Rev R Macbeth is its pastor.
The Wesleyan Chapel, in Oldhall Street, is a large brick building, erected in 1819, and the Wesleyans have a smaller chapel at Etruria.
The New Connexion Methodists have five chapels here, in Upper Hanley, Albion Street, Russell Street, Joiner's Square, and Etruria. That in Albion Street is called Bethesda Chapel, erected in 1798, and enlarged in 1819, so that it now has 2000 sittings and a spacious burial ground. That in Upper Hanley is called Providence Chapel, and is the handsomest in the Potteries.
The Primitive Methodists have a chapel in Etruria Road."

[From History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire, William White, Sheffield, 1851]

 

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Church Records

Church of England Registers
St John, Hanley, was a chapelry to Stoke-upon-Trent, becoming a parish in 1857. The surviving registers commence in 1789 but registers daing back to 1754 were destroyed in rioting in 1842. The original registers (part Bishops Transcripts) for the period 1789-1956 (Bapts), 1791-1976 (Mar), & 1791-1912 (Bur) are deposited at Staffordshire Record Office.
Bishops Transcripts, 1791-1835 are deposited at Lichfield Record Office. Baptisms and Burials for the period 1744-1747 are included in Stoke-upon-Trent BTs.
A transcript of the registers of St John for the period 1789-1803 (Bapts) has been published by the Birmingham & Midland SGH.

The register of St Mark, Shelton, commences in 1834. The original registers for the period 1834-1968 (Bapts), 1839-1978 (Mar), and 1834-1926 (Bur) are deposited at Staffordshire Record Office.
Bishops Transcripts, 1834-1836 are deposited at Lichfield Record Office.

Nonconformist Church Registers
The original registers are deposited at Staffordshire Record Office (SRO) or the Public Record Office (PRO) as indicated below:
Tabernacle Chapel, High Street, Hanley, Independent, Births & Baptisms 1786-1837 (PRO)
Old Hall Street, Hanley, Wesleyan Methodist, Births & Baptisms 1818-1837 (PRO)
Bethesda Chapel, Hanley, Methodist, Marriages 1899-1985 (SRO)
Charles Street, Hanley, Weslyan Methodist, Marriages, 1909-1960 (SRO)
Marsh Street, Hanley, Primitive Methodist, Marriages 1911-1940 (SRO)
Hope Street, Shelton, Independent, Births & Baptisms 1809-1837 (PRO)
Bethesda Chapel, Albion Street, Shelton, Methodist New Connexion, Births & Baptisms 1797-1820 (PRO)
Cavour Street, Etruria, Primitive Methodist, Baptisms 1874-1912 (SRO)

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Description & Travel

A transcription of the section on Hanley from A Topographical History of Staffordshire by William Pitt (1817)

You can see pictures of Hanley which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

The transcription of the section for Hanley from the Topographical Dictionary of England (1859)

The transcription of the section for Hanley from the National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin Hinson.

The transcription of the section for Hanley from the Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72)

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History

The transcription of the section for the history of  Hanley from the National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin Hinson.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SJ882473 (Lat/Lon: 53.022861, -2.177367), Hanley which are provided by:

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Military Records

A transcription of the Muster Roll of 1539 for Hanley

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Poor Houses, Poor Law

Hanley and Shelton became part of Stoke-upon-Trent Union following the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834.