Sources for Betley history

Bibliography

Introduction to the Bibliography

Bibliographies

Early Deeds

Published books, series and articles

Unpublished private papers

Wilton Papers

PUBLISHED BOOKS, SERIES AND ARTICLES


Archer, Michael, 1985.  An introduction to English stained glass (Introductions to the Decorative Arts). H.M.S.O., London.
Has a reproduction of the Betley Window on the cover

Audley Historian 1- , 1995- Audley and District Family History Society.
Contains articles on the history of Audley and neighbouring villages, including Betley. The focus is on local history rather than on issues of purely genealogical interest.

Bridgeman, Charles G. O., 1923. Note on the Betley Morris dance window In: Wm. Salt Archaeological Society New Series, Vol. 24, pp. 3-19.

Brown, Godfrey N., 1985. Betley through the centuries: a guide to the village and its district, marking the 700th anniversary of the parish church, St. Margaret's, with a foreword by the Vicar of Betley and Keele, Rev. John Whitehead. [36 pp.] No publisher named]

Brown, Godfrey N., 1987. This old house: a domestic biography; living conservation at Betley Court. Betley Court Gallery, Betley. ISBN 09512684.
The history of Betley Court, in the context of its acquisition and renovation by Prof. Godfrey Brown. Includes discussion of the origin of the Betley Window. There is a general bibliography and a supplementary bibliography on the Betley Window.

Brown, Godfrey N., 2002. Betley's cultural heritage: from Prince Rupert to Robbie Williams. The Leslie Bradshaw Memorial Lecture delivered to the Betley Local History Society on 25th July 2002 by Professor Emeritus Godfrey N. Brown. With a foreword by David B. Thompson, Chairman, Betley Local History Society. Betley Local History Society Occasional Publication Number 4.

Chadwick, Peter, 2002. Surveys for the Poor Rate for Betley 1824? with Balterley 1824 and 1838. Transcribed from an original document by Peter Chadwick for the South Cheshire Family History Society. South Cheshire Family History Society, January 2002. ISBN 1-898438-27-7.

Collections for a History of Staffordshire, 1880 [Old Series 1-18, 1880-1897; New Series 1-12, 1898-1909; Third Series 1-37, 1910-1954; Fourth Series 1--,1957--.
There are various mentions of Betley in transcriptions of early records and in other items published from time to time in this important series. They are too numerous to list here; you can find them under Legal Records

Coops, Philip & others. St. Margaret's Church, Betley, Staffordshire: Monumental inscriptions. South Cheshire Family History Society. ISBN 1-898438-12-9.
Includes a numbered map of the monuments and a list of incumbents of Betley Church, 1532-1982

Coops, Philip, comp. & ed., 2000. Rules and Articles of the Female Friendly Society established in the Parishes of Betley and Madeley and the Township of Balterley in the County of Stafford, the 30th of January, 1810. Betley Local History Society, Spring 2000. ISBN 0- 9538151-0-2

Domesday Book, 1086/1976: a survey of the counties of England, compiled by direction of King William I, Winchester 1086. Text and translation edited by John Morris. 24: Staffordshire, edited from a draft translation prepared by Alison Hawkins and Alex Rumble. Phillimore, Chichester, 1976. ISBN 0 850 33144-7.
Betley and Balterley are mentioned in Domesday.

Forde, Shirley, 2006. Another war-time evacuee returns to Betley: the story of Shirley Forde (née Pepper) from Harrow (Middlesex). A freely edited account based on a manuscript and audiotape of the talk delivered to the Betley Local History Society on the 29th June 2006. Editor: David Thompson. Occasional Publication No. 9, Betley Local History Society, August 2006.

Freeman, Jennifer M., 1990. W.D. Caröe: his architectural achievement. Manchester University Press.
"Sets Caröe's work in Betley within the context of the architect's career." - G.N. Brown. Presently out of print.

Greenslade, M.W. & Stuart, D.G., 1984. A history of Staffordshire. 2nd ed. Phillimore, Chichester.
There is just one mention of Betley: "There was a Staffordshire cloth industry before 1300, the earliest recorded fulling mill in the county being at Betley in the north-west in the 1270s" (p. 85)

Henderson, Marjorie, 2003. It's better in Betley. Illustrations by Gordon Wilkinson. In: Cheshire Life, September 2003, pp. 12-16.

Hinchliffe, Rev. Edward, 1856. Barthomley: in letters from a former rector to his eldest son. Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans; Fred. Crewe, Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Includes references to Betley Hall, Betley Pool and the Betley Window (article by George Tollet [IV, né Embury]: "Mr Tollet's opinion concerning the Morris dancers upon his window".

Hooke, Della, 1983. The landscape of Anglo-Saxon Staffordshire: the charter evidence. (Department of Adult Education, University of Keele, Studies in Local Archaeology, No. 1). University of Keele.
(see pp. 106-109 for the boundary clause, and its translation, from an Anglo-Saxon charter whereby King Edgar grants land etc. at Madeley to bishop Aethelwold. The boundaries lay at the meeting point of the boundaries of Checkley cum Wrinehill, where the boundaries of the counties of Cheshire, Shropshire and Staffordshire also meet. They passed through "wriman ford" at Wrinehill.

Hughes, Dorothy & ed. Thompson, David, 2nd. ed., 2005. Occupants of Betley in the war-time years 1939-45 and soon after. With acknowledgements to Rhoda Farrington for a helpful review of this second edition 21.06.2005. Betley Local History Society. Kelly's Directory of Staffordshire.
Regularly updated during 19th-20th C., this commercial directory contains useful information about people and their occupations, by locality.

Kettle, Ann, 1989-90; Sir Thomas Fletchere. In Staffordshire Studies, Centre for Local History, University of Keele, Vol II.

King, Geoffrey L., 1988. The printed maps of Staffordshire 1577-1850: a checklist. Second revised and corrected edition, Staffordshire Libraries, Arts and Archives, Stafford.
Useful for identifying antique maps of Staffordshire.

Leech, A., 1886. Historic sketch of Betley. In: North Staffs. Naturalist and Field Club; Archaeol. Society Annual Rept. & Trans., pp. 56-66.
Includes quotations from the parish accounts not found in the 1916 printed transcript of the parish registers (Thicknesse, Ralph, ed., 1916).

Mee, Arthur, ed., 1937. Staffordshire. Hodder & Stoughton, London. See "The oak arcades: Betley", p. 31.

Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, 1955. Railway Accidents. Report on the collison which occurred on 17th November 1954 at Betley Road between Stafford and Crewe in the London Midland Region, British Railways. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1955. 4pp.
The driver of a freight train hauling 25 wagons and a brake van, G.R.K. Speed, was fatally injured when his engine overturned after colliding with the rear of another freight train, just beginning to move off after having been stopped at the Betley Road Home signal. The fireman and the guard of the leading train were injured. The report concludes that driver Speed had passed the Wrinehill Distant signal at Caution without reducing speed and the Home signal at Danger. He had a good record and enjoyed good health, so his attention must have been momentarily distracted. The report recommended the prevention of such accidents by the introduction of the Automatic Train Control system, then under trial.

Riley, George, 1987. Six walks around Betley. Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council.

Riley, George, 1991. The water mills of the Borough of Newcastle, edited with an introduction by Christopher Harrison. Staffordshire Heritage Series, No. 3. The Borough of Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire and The Centre for Local History, University of Keele.
The book contains no general index, but there is a list and associated map of mill sites on pp. 12-13, with details on the following pages of Betley Mill, Betley Old Hall Mill, Wrinehill Hall Mill, Wrinehill Corn Mill, Heighley Furnace, Bowsey Wood Corn Mill etc.

Smith, Mavis et al, ed., 1999. Portrait of a community: Betley, Balterley and Wrinehill. Betley, Balterley and Wrinehill Parish Council.
Beautifully illustrated. Seeks "to capture something of the life and spirit of the community at the end of the second millennium"; contains a number of interesting reminiscences".

Smith, Mavis, 2005. The Tollet family of Betley Hall: the Leslie Bradshaw memorial lecture delivered to the Betley Local History Society on 28th July 2005. Betley Local History Society Occasional Publication Number 8. ISBN 0-9538151-1-0

Speake, Robert, ed., 1980. Betley: a village of contrasts. (University of Keele Local History Publications, Series No. 3) University of Keele. ISSN 0144-140X .
Based on research by a group led by Robert Speake under the auspices of the Department of Adult Education at the University of Keele. There is valuable information for local and family historians in Betley records quoted from Collections for a History of Staffordshire, though there are some inaccuracies in these transcriptions.

Speake, Robert, 1984. Betley in old picture postcards. European Library, Zaltbommel, Netherlands. ISBN 90 288 2939 3 /CIP.
Contains a brief introduction outlining the character and history of the village.

Speake, Robert & Speake, Janet, 1996. A comparison of Audley, Barthomley and Betley: their differences and similarities as revealed in three local studies. In Audley Historian, Number 2, 1996, pp. 9-31.
Based on Speake ed. (1980) and similar studies by the same author devoted to Audley and Barthomley respectively. Reference to "Main Street" in Betley (p. 11) puzzles me. I have always known it as "Main Road"; "Hinchcliffe" (p. 21) is a common misprint for Hinchliffe (see Hinchliffe , Rev. Edward, 1856.

Staffordshire Studies, edited and published by the Centre for Local History, University of Keele.
Very occasionally has an article relevant to Betley, e.g. Ann Kettle, 1989-90.

Tate W.E., 1969. The parish chest: A study of the records of parochial administration in England. 3rd ed. Cambridge University Press, 1969. Reprinted by Phillimore, Chichester, 1983. ISBN 0 85033 507 8
Contains 3 references to Betley:

p. 59 "A vicar of Betley, Staffs., regularly entered among his baptisms the births of children to anabaptists, although, of course, these were not baptised; thus:
BAPTISMS

1705 Aug. 28 Lydia d. of Mark Tomkin anabaptist was born."

p. 71 "Often a register begins with a note as to where and for how much it was bought. Register I of Betley, Staffs. (1538-1652) begins:

This is the book and register of our lord the King, for baptisms, marriages and burials, concerning each of the faithful, written up by Hugh Tilston, curate of the same from Martinmas 1538, 30 Hen. VIII.

(Hoc est volumen et Registerium Domini Regis ad Baptismat[a] matrimonii copulat[a] et sepulta cuiuscunque fidelis pertinens conscriptum per Hugonem Tilston curatum ibidem a festo Sancti Martini episcopi AnnoDomini millessimoquingentesimo tricesimo octavo necnon Regis Henrici octavi tricesimo.)"

Tate does not specify whether this is a quotation from the original register. There are several variations from the version in Thicknesse, Ralph, ed., 1916, p.1, where it reads:

"Hoc est volumen et Registerium Domini Regis an baptismat. matrimonii copulat. et sepultur cujustunque fidelis pertenens conscriptum per Hugonem Tilston curatum ibidem a festo Sancti Martini episcopi Anno Domini millessimo quingentissimo tricessimo octavo necnon Regni Regis Henrici octavi tricessimo."

p. 132 "A terrier of Betley, Staffs., in Register 2, 1658-1737, has appended to it, apparently in the hand of the parish clerk:

Dues belonging to the Clerk of the Parochial Chapel of Betley in the County of Stafford.

Every plowgate

4d.

Every householder

2d.

For every burial & tolling the Bell

1s. 8d.

For every woman churched

4d.

For every corps brought out of another parish to be buried & tolling the Bell

3s. 4d.

The same is due for a Corps taken out of this parish to be buried in another

3s. 4d.

The same has been given for a corps in church

For every marriage by Banns

1s. 0d.

For every marriage by Licence

2s. 6d."



Thicknesse, Ralph, ed., 1916. Betley parish registers 1538-1812. Staffordshire Parish Registers Society.
This is the source of my transcription, to be found on this website. To my knowledge there is a copy at the Staffordshire Record Office (a photostat), at Lichfield and at the Birmingham and Midland Institute, Margaret Street Birmingham. The copy belonging to Newcastle-under-Lyme Library is said to have been stolen.

Victoria County History. A history of the county of Stafford, Volume I 19?? ed. M.W. Greenslade and J.G. Jenkins (The Victoria History of the Counties of England, ed. R.B. Pugh, published for the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, by Oxford University Press)   Betley: pp. 29 (site, geology), 43-44 , 324 (population); Balterley: 44, 324 (population). Wrinehill: 29 (geology).

Victoria County History. A history of the county of Stafford, Volume II, 1967, ed. M.W. Greenslade and J.G. Jenkins  (The Victoria History of the Counties of England, ed. R.B. Pugh, published for the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, by Oxford University Press) Betley: pp. 216 (fulling mill), 360, 362; Balterley: 187; Wrinehill: 112 (iron).

Victoria County History. A history of the county of Stafford, Volume III, 1970,    ed. M.W. Greenslade and Jenkins, J.G. Jenkins  (The Victoria History of the Counties of England, ed. R.B. Pugh, published for the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, by Oxford University Press) Betley: pp. 94,  97, 112, 256, 291; Balterley: pp. 92, 95, 98, 256, 268.

Victoria County History. A history of the county of Stafford, Volume IV, 1958,    Staffordshire Domesday and West Cuttlestone Hundred, ed. L. Margaret Midgley    (The Victoria History of the Counties of England, ed. R.B. Pugh, published for the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, by Oxford University Press) Betley: pp. 3, 106; Balterley: 3, 11, 14 ,25.

Victoria County History. A history of the county of Stafford, Volume VI, 1979,    [Agriculture, Schools],  ed. ????   (The Victoria History of the Counties of England, ed. ???, published for the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, by Oxford University Press) Betley: pp. 6, 92-93, 111, 115, 129, 142, 156; Balterley: pp. 4-5, 31.

Victoria County History. A history of the county of Stafford, Volume VII, 1996    [????],  ed. ????   (The Victoria History of the Counties of England, ed. ???, published for the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, by Oxford University Press) Wrinehill: p. 206.

Victoria County History. A history of the county of Stafford, Volume VIII, 1963    [????],  ed. ????   (The Victoria History of the Counties of England, ed. ???, published for the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, by Oxford University Press) Betley: p. 91.

[Warham, Thomas] Local photographers and their work: 8. Thomas Warham. pp. 37-?
Thomas Warham was born in Betley and old photographs of the village by him are well known.

White, William, 1834. History, gazetteer and directory of Staffordshire. Robt. Leader, Independent Office, Sheffield. Description and directory of Balterley p. 614, Betley; Wrinehill. pp. 616-619. See also pp. 14, 37, 48, 55.


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