Wolstanton in 1872

WOLSTANTON, a village, a township, a parish, a sub-district, and a district, in Stafford. The village stands adjacent to the North Staffordshire railway, between Etruria and Burslem railway stations, 2 miles NNW of Stoke-upon-Trent; and has a post-office under Stoke-upon-Trent, a church almost entirely rebuilt in 1860 at a cost of £4,500, a Wesleyan chapel built in 1866, and charities £16. The township includes the village, and extends beyond it. Real property, £6,577. Pop. in 1851, 1,317; in 1351, 1,842. Houses, 395. The increase of pop. arose from the extension of the earthenware trade.

The manor belongs to the Duchy of Lancaster. The parish contains 12 townships, and comprises 10,739 acres. Pop. in 1851, 22,191; in 1861, 32,029. Houses, 6,237. The property is much subdivided. Most of the area lies within the tract called the Potteries; and there are numerous porcelain and earthenware factories, many brick and tile yards, and several iron and steel works, engine works, and silk and cotton mills. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £350. Patron, R Sneyd, Esq. The vicarages of New Chapel, Chesterton, Mowcop, Silverdale, Tunstall, Kidsgrove, and Golden-Hill, are .separate benefices. The sub-district includes only four townships. Pop., 9,653. Houses, 1,985. The district includes Tunstall sub-district, comprising all the rest of Wolstanton parish, and Burslem sub-district conterminate with Burslem parish. Acres of the district, 13,679. Poor-rates in 1863, £13.938. Pop. in 1851, 42,916; in 1861, 54,353. Houses, 10,627. Marriages in 1860, 717; births, 2,853, of which 203 were illegitimate; deaths, 1,960,  of which 1,079 were at ages under 5 years, and 14 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 5,466; births, 20,906; deaths, 12,595.

The places of worship, in 1851, were 10 of the Church of England, with 6,183 sittings; 1 of Independents, with 350 sittings; 1 of Baptists, with 120 sittings; 1 of Unitarians, the sittings not reported; 14 of Wesleyans, with 5,261 sittings; 6 of New Connexion Methodists, with 1,708 sittings; 11 of Primitive Methodists, with 2,582 sittings; 2 of the Wesleyan Association, with 1,556 sittings; and 1 of Roman Catholics, with 500 sittings. The schools were 18 public dayschools, with 2,266 scholars; 59 private day-schools, with 1,750 scholars; 40 Sunday schools, with 9,301 scholars; and 4 evening schools for adults, with 46 scholars. The workhouse is in Chell township.

An 1872 Gazetteer description of the following places in Wolstanton is to be found on a supplementary page.

• Brerehurst
• Chatterley
• Chell
• Chesterton
• Goldenhill
• Greenfield
• Harriseahead
• Kidsgrove
• Knutton
• Stadmoreslow
• Tunstall
• Wedgwood

[Description(s) from The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72) - Transcribed by Mike Harbach ©2020]