St Peter's Church Wolverhampton

[M_ONeill]

Hey all,

So a generation of one branch of my ancestors/relatives seem to have all been married at St Peter's church Wolverhampton in a period from 1833 to1853.

I was wondering if anyone knew if this church was the main location for all Church of England weddings in Wolverhampton at the time, or would there have been a number of smaller churches dotted about the place? Would pretty much everyone in Wolverhampton in the early-to-mid 19th century have expected to get married at St Peter's?

I'm trying to flesh out my knowledge on the social history of Wolverhampton, as it seems to be playing an ever-greater role in my research. 

[ciderdrinker]

Hello
St Peter's was the main church for Wolverhampton and also covered large surrounding parishes of Bushbury,Bilston,Willenhall and was the 'posh' church to go to.
St Johns as a chapel of ease was added in the 1700's and became a parish in it's own right.

St George began 1834
St Mary  1842
St James 1843
St Pauls 1844
St Marks 1846
St Matthew 1846

So you can see by your dates there was a lot of Anglican churches in the area before you even consider Heath Town or Penn or other outlying areas.
There was also a large non-conformist congregation in the area and the influx of Irish in the 1830's had bolstered the catholic population .
St Peter's and St Paul's catholic records date from the 1700's.
There was an article stating s 1830 that only 1/10th of the population could be accommodated at St Peter's so more churches were built as Wolverhampton expanded,
Only 1/5th of the population in 1851 could trace there family in Wolverhampton to before 1800 so it was quite a rapid influx of people.
Much slum clearing went on with the arrival of the railway line to the East and the clearing of Caribee Island and it's largely Irish population.

St Peter's was near the Market place and was also a land owner ,renting out many little courts and workshops in the area.The Rate books are available at Wolverhampton Archives and there is a locally compiled book of trades taken from them which make it easy to look up ancestors in the area for the 1770's to early 1800's.

Lots of records are indexed at
www.wolverhamptonhistory.org.uk

There is also an old map of Wolverhampton

www.vintage-maps.com/en/antique-maps/europe/british-islands/jefferys-british-islands-staffordshire-wolverhampton-1751::946

It shows you St Peters in the middle.

Ciderdrinker

[M_ONeill]

Wow, thanks CD! That's a lot of incredibly useful information!

It's very interesting that you list so many alternative churches. The Monktons were very attached to St Peter's - William and Edward both got married there despite the fact that both were living out in Penn by '41 (though that's a bit of a chicken-and-egg question, they could also have been living in the town in the early 1830s and then moved out later).

My direct ancestor John Monkton was even married there twice, once in 1836 and then again to his second wife in 1853. On at least the second occasion he would have travelled in all the way from Pattingham. I wonder why he didn't get married in the local church at Pattingham? Maybe because St Peter's was where his immediate family were traditionally married (or he had fond memories of the church).

You also mention that it was the 'posh' church. Would people listed as 'agricultural labourers' be likely to wed/baptise there. That's what all of this family seem to have been listed as at the time (William and Edward seem to have gained trades in later life, coal dealer and blast furnace man respectively).

[rosie99]

Don't forget that it is normal to get married in the parish of the bride, the groom does not have to be resident there

[M_ONeill]

Interesting... that makes it even more confusing for me... John's second wife Sarah Pountney was listed as a 'spinster of Pattingham' (although she was born in Alveley). It seems the two of them both travelled to Wolverhampton for the wedding and then came back to live in the village.

[rosie99]

Are you referring to the Sarah Pountney who married John Monkton at the parish church Pattingham in 1853.  Residence at time of marriage for them both was Pattingham.  English marriages do not indicate place of birth.

[M_ONeill]

Edit: Oh I might have read a reference wrong from a Look-up another rootschatter did for me. Ignore me, you're correct!

[Willow 4873]

Hiya

I read somewhere that local churches lost the right to conduct marriages sometime around the mid 1700 and they were all conducted at St Peters until sometime in the 1800 but blasted if I can find the article

Willow x

[medpat]

St Peter's is a collegiate church and as such didn't follow some of the usual rules. You could marry there without banns. I had ancestors go there from Walsall and wondered why. I found a forum and someone had written an article about how couples under age and perhaps a pregnant bride would marry there for speed or prevent parents stopping them marrying.

The church is still there. It was the only church in Wolverhampton until the 18th century before the industrial revolution expanded the town with the influx of workers.