• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team
  • HI folks the server that hosts the site completely died including the Hdd's and backups.
    Luckily i create an offsite backup once a week! this has now been restored so we have lost a few days posts.
    im still fixing things at the moment so bear with me and im still working on all images 90% are fine the others im working on now
    we are now using a backup solution

St Thomas Church Bath Row

K

karro

master brummie
Does anyone have access to the St Thomas parish records? My great great-grandmother Ellen Skinner was baptised there on April 27th 1856. Her mother Sarah Skinner was unmarried. I was wondering if there were any notes made on the records by the Vicar at the time. Anything additional information would be helpful. thanks.
Cheers Karro
 
I have a family called BEST living in Essex Street in the 1840s and 1850s, who had several children Christened and buried at St Thomas, Bath Row. They are all pretty well documented on Family Search, even those who both were born AND died in the same decade and never appeared on a Census.

However, one death, in 1857, is not listed. And looking at the index, there do not appear to be very many burials listed for 1857, but plenty listed again in 1858. Does anyone know if the 1857 Burial records for St Thomas are missing?

The child I am looking for is Myra (Mira) Eliza b early 1856, the daughter of Samuel and Charlotte Ravell BEST, and who died in July - September 1857.

Many thanks

Jane
 
Historically, burials have never seemed to have been covered as widely as baptisms and marriages, so that may be one reason why you can't find the entry you want.
Have you tried using the batch number to search. I have often found additional people who are picked up in the serach for whatever reason - slight errors in transcription etc.
Try the following:
  1. Find a burial for 1857
  2. Click on the entry to diaplay the whole record.
  3. Make a note of the batch humber (in blue) in case you lose your way!
  4. Click on the batch number link. The whole of the batch on the film is displayed in alphabetical order.
I spotted that there is a Maria Best burial in St Batholomew's (Edgbaston Old Church) in March 1857 - I assume that's not her?

The film of St Thomas burials is at the Central Library. If this is still unsolved when I next go I will have a look at it for you.

I will have a look on the National Burials database to see if she appears on there; I'll update the thread if I find her.
 
Thanks Leslam, yes, I had tried all the by-ways and side-tracks, but still nothing. And yes, I saw Maria, but no, def. not her. But thank you so much for your offer of taking a look.

I have actually now had the benefit of a trip up to Birmingham, and a visit to the Archives (thank goodness I made it before they close until September next year!!!). And looking at the film for St Thomas burials, it is clear that my assessment from trawling through Family Search was accurate. There is literally just one burial noted for St Thomas in 1857. The records go from December 1856 straight to January 1857, with just the one exception! And I checked the page numbers, and they are consecutive.

Unfortunately, I had a lot to cover and was working to a deadline, and the facilities were not very good, so I did not have the opportunity of following this up with Library staff. But I will do this next year, when everything is functioning again.

Jane
 
Hello again

I am continuing my search for my Grandmother's family and have found that her mother was christened at St Thomas Church, Birmingham



Name:









Alice Jane Lee
Gender:
Female
Christening Date:
02 Apr 1854
Christening Place:
SAINT THOMAS,BIRMINGHAM,WARWICK,ENGLAND
Birth Date:
12 Feb 1854


I am now trying to find out about her grandmother,Alice Jane Lee's Mother, Sarah Beesley. This may be a link with Sir Rowland Hill's family. Could there be more detail in the Parish Records?
Many thanks,
Anne.
 
Hi Anne,

There are (or were /in years) 3 St Thomas Church,s in Birmingham, best to post your specific one to help your search.

St Thomas (Bath Row),,best guess,,St Thomas & Immanuel (Broad Street),, St Thomas-In-The-Moors (Balsall Heath)
 
Hi John

That is all the information I have.
I have discovered that Sarah Beesley was born in Bishops Itchingham, Warwickshire.
There may be some connection with the Unitarian Church, Kidderminster. Is it possible to get a list of members around 1819?
Thanks,
Anne.
 
My money would be on St Thomas (Bath Row).
The parish records for St Thomas (Bath Row) are on microfilm at the library and (as far as I know) inaccessible until September.
I note that you are not local, so your options are:
  • wait until September and ask some kind soul to do a lookup when they are there.
  • contact the Birmingham registry office (preferable) and order the birth certificate. This should give you an address. Cost is £9+
  • order the birth certificate from General Records Office (reference you need is Q1 1854, Birmingham 6d 21). This would be my preference in your situation, but will cost you £9+
  • order one of the following microfilms to view at your local Family History Centre (cost is about £7 for 3 months) 817173, 817174, 817175 You will see these numbers on the Family Search record that you already appear to have located (See the Family Search website for locations, though https://familysearch.org/locations/centerlocator?c=Scarborough&s=State&p=Postal+Code&n=UK will show you the locations near Scarborough).
If you don't already have it, I would also send for the marriage certificate of Sarah Beesley and William Lee (Ref: Q2 1853, West Bromwich 6d 21), as that will get you back to Sarah's father.

Hope that this helps a bit.
 
Last edited:
Thank you for that.
I have looked on Genes reunited and there is no reference to a marriage, that I could find!
I had no idea you could order certificates that far back - I am very new to this.
Regards,
Anne.
 
For finding birth marriage and deaths references, use FreeBMD on https://freebmd.rootsweb.com/cgi/search.pl
Certificates were issued from Sept 1837. A copy is held centrally at General Record Office in Southport. You can order on-line at https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/default.asp. You need the reference to order from GRO

For Birmingham, you can also order direct from the registry office https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/certificate. You don't need the ref to order from here - just quarter of birth (Q1 = Jan, Feb, Mar; Q2 = Apr, May, Jun ; Q3= July, Aug, Sep; Q4= Oct, Nov, Dec) year of birth and relevant name

Before 1837 you have to reply on baptism/marriage/burial records
 
Following damage from WW2 bombing, the church was never rebuilt. In 1953 the grounds were laid out for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. In 1995, the gardens were re-designed as the St. Thomas's Peace Garden to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of WW2.

This image from the British Newspaper Archive shows the extent of war damage to the Church. Viv.

15115337-6324-4F77-879B-A58E764E8F7B.jpeg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top