the "Parish Church" Bilston?

[truebritmega]

I have a marriage cert of one of the fam, and it simply has as the place they married as "the parish church", Bilston... any idea which one that might be?

[alyson123]

Two possibilities:
St John the Evangelist or
St James the Great
There is a fabulous website called 'Black Country Churchyards' which gives you pictures of the
church and also photos of gravestones, should your relatives have died there.
For the information of others there are many other churches listed in this area.
Regards
Alyson

[DudleyWinchurch]

Assuming that we are talking about Bilston, Staffs then, depending on the date, I would expect it to be most likley to be St Leonard's.  Later (after mid-19th Century) then there were also St Mary's and St Luke's.

St Leonard's is the oldest CofE church and most central.

[JenB]

"the parish church", Bilston... any idea which one that might be?

HI

Genuki is often an excellent source of information http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/STS/Bilston/index.html

Jennifer

[Gardener]

Now they seem to have St Chad, St Mary and St Leonard http://www.achurchnearyou.com/parish/200198/
But for past information then Genuki is a great place to start.

[DudleyWinchurch]

For this query you may also need to be aware that for a fairly extensive period, late 18th century to mid 19th, St Leonard's at Bilston, which then belonged to Wolverhampton Parish (known as St Peter's or the Collegiate Church) was not permitted to conduct marriages.

So a certificate saying "The Parish Church" for a couple one or both of whom is "of Bilston" could also mean St Peter's in the centre of Wolverhampton.

Definitely need to know the date and the exact wording to be able to interpret which church it is.

[truebritmega]

yes, My initial thought was St Leonards... but... lol...
this side of my fam are all bilstonians the marriage is of my dads mom n dad in 1912...

the exact wording of it is...

Marriage solemnized at "the parish church" in the parish of "Bilston" in the county of "Stafford"

later it says, when on about which religion they are...

according to the rites of the "Established Church" I wonder what that part means? "the established church" ? dad was c of e

[DudleyWinchurch]

Hi again,

The "Established Church" is Cof E and by 1912, St. Leonard's was in use again for marriages as far as I know, so this does seem likely.

[Gardener]

Does it gives the name of the vicar? Perhaps you could email/write to the present one at St Leonard's and ask if the name fits for the year? They must have a list somewhere I would think and might be willing to look.