Stoke, Warwickshire

Historical Description

Stoke, a parish in Warwickshire, forming an eastern suburb of Coventry, within that parliamentary borough, with a post and money order office, of the name of Stoke Green, under Coventry; telegraph office, Coventry. Acreage, 940; population, 1739. The parish comprises two manors. Stoke and Briggin. The corporation of Coventry are lords of the former, and the Drapers Company of the latter. There are several superior residences with extensive grounds, and also many fine villas. Stoke contains sixty-four parish gardens, a common of 66 acres, and a heath used for pasturage and as a cricket ground. Ribbon weaving and clay-pipe making are carried on in the parish, but very many of the residents are engaged in the cycle and watch factories of Coventry. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Worcester; net value, £170 with residence, erected in 1893 at a cost of £2648. Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The church was founded in 1100 by Hugh, Earl of Chester, nephew of William the Conqueror. The present stone edifice was erected in the 13th century. It has been twice enlarged. There are Congregational and Primitive Methodist chapels. William Hollis, who was Lord Mayor of London at the time of the marriage of Anne of Cleves with Henry VIII., was born here about 1471. The Rev. Joseph Harwar, D.D., who was president of Magdalen College, Oxford, for sixteen years, and who died in 1772, was also a native of this parish. The S wall of the chancel of the church contains a marble mural monument to his memory.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

The Warwickshire County Record Office hold the following registers for Stoke:

Most of the records prior to 1911 have been digitised and are available on Ancestry.co.uk

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Stoke from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Stoke (St. Michael))

Land and Property

The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Warwickshire is available to browse.

Maps

Online maps of Stoke are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Warwickshire papers online:

• Leamington Spa Courier

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitation of Warwickshire 1619 is available on the Heraldry page.