Place:Bransgore, Hampshire, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Bransgore is a village and civil parish in the New Forest District of Hampshire, England. The village developed in the 19th century when a church and a school were built. It is technically classified as an urban area, although in some respects it still has the picturesque character of a rural English village.

The parish includes the village of Thorney Hill, and the hamlets of Neacroft, Godwinscroft, Beckley, Hinton, and Waterditch. The nearby settlements of South Bockhampton, Middle Bockhampton and North Bockhampton (all often mis-transcribed as "Brockhampton") are in the adjacent Christchurch parish. Bransgore had a total population of 4,333 in 2001. Bransgore now straddles the border of the newly created New Forest National Park, with the majority of the village being outside the park.

Bransgore was originally a chapelry in the ancient parish of Christchurch. In 1894 it was made part of the newly-formed civil parish of Christchurch East which stretched down to The Solent between the towns of Christchurch and Milton. In 1932 Christchurch East was split with the seaside section, Highcliffe, being made into a separate civil parish. Christchurch East and Bransgore were both considered separate civil parishes within Ringwood and Fordingbridge Rural District. In the nationwide reorganization of local government of 1974, Christchurch East, Highcliffe and Christchurch itself were transferred into Dorset and Bransgore became part of the New Forest District of Hampshire. (Sources: Wikipedia on Bransgore, A Vision of Britain through Time on Bransgore and A Vision of Britain through Time on Christchurch East)

Research Tips

• Victoria County History of Hampshire, volume 5, first of two chapters on Christchurch.
• GENUKI has a list of archive holders in Hampshire including the Hampshire Record Office, various museums in Portsmouth and Southhampton, the Isle of Wight Record Office and Archives.
• The Hampshire Online Parish Clerk project has a large collection of transcriptions from Parish Registers across Hampshire.
• A listing of all the Registration Districts in England and Wales since their introduction in 1837 together with tables listing the parishes that were part of each district and the time period covered, along with detailed notes on changes of parish name, mergers, etc. Do respect the copyright on this material.
• The three-storey City Museum in Winchester covers the Iron Age and Roman periods, the Middle Ages, and the Victorian period.
• Volumes in The Victoria County History Series are available for Hampshire through British History Online. There are three volumes and the county is covered by parishes within the old divisions of "hundreds".

A collection of maps on the A Vision of Britain through Time website illustrating the English county of Hampshire over the period 1832-1932 (the last two are expandible):

• The Hundreds of Hampshire, a map from HMSO Boundary Commissioners, dated 1832
• Hampshire showing parishes in their Rural Districts as of 1900, a map from the Ordnance Survey
• Hampshire showing parishes in their Rural Districts after the alterations of 1932, a map from the Ordnance Survey

• A group of maps of the post-1974 municipal districts or boroughs of Hampshire on Wikipedia Commons