St. Mary, Bitton

Registers

Incumbent

Churchwardens

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Overseers of the Poor

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THESE RECORDS ARE IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE FOR RESEARCH

Received on deposit per Mrs. M.J.J. Gerrish, 99a High Street, Bitton, BS15 6HG, May 1982; also additional records received on deposit per Mr. F. Cooper, December 1986.

Deposited by Mrs M J J Gerrish, May 1982, and by Mr F Cooper, December 1986

The Revd. H.T. Ellacombe, at Bitton as curate and then vicar from 1817 to 1850, amassed a large collection of material relating to the parish. He kept a "Chronicle of a few parochial proceedings" (P/B/I/8a) and later published The History of the Parish of Bitton (2 vols. 1881, 1883). He was also an authority on bells and a renowned gardener. His son, The Revd. H.N. Ellacombe, vicar of Bitton from 1850 until his death in 1916, continued these interests, serving on the council of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society. He was also a well-known gardener, his garden famous for its collection of rare plants. The Revd. H.T.Ellacombe bequeathed MSS relating to Bitton to the Library Society/Bristol Library and these are now at Avon Central Library (ref.7380-96). They include some 18th-century manorial records. Other records from his collection went to the British Museum and are now at the British Library.

The parish of Bitton originally included the areas of Hanham Abbots, Hanham and Oldland. By an Order in Council, 4 March 1844, the ancient chapelry of Hanham became a separate parish with the church of St.George, Hanham Abbots as the parish church. A new church on Jefferies Hill, Christ Church, was consecrated in 1842 and made the parish church of Hanham with St.George then becoming a chapel-of-ease. The parish of St. Anne, Oldland, was created by an Order in Council, 26 June 1861. Separate records were sometimes kept for the various areas of the ancient parish of Bitton before the new parishes were created and searchers should, therefore, also consult the lists of records for the parishes of St.George, Hanham Abbots (P/HA), Christ Church, Hanham (P/H) and St. Anne, Oldland (P/Old.)