Place:Hardwicke, Gloucestershire, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Hardwicke is a village on the A38 road south of Gloucester in Gloucestershire, England. Despite its proximity to Gloucester, the village came under Stroud District Council in 1974.

With its name deriving from the Old English heorde wic, “herd [tending] settlement”, farming is still the major industry of the parish. Hardwicke was once renowned for its cider and cheese, this may have led to its survival during the battle for Gloucester in the Civil War – neither side wanted to damage a source of much appreciated sustenance.

Hardwicke Reformatory

Hardwicke Reformatory, established in 1852, has been claimed as the first Approved School for boys in the world. The local squire, T. B. Lloyd Baker, was one of its founders. The Reformatory attracted attention from other parts of Britain and the rest of the world. The boys, mainly from inner cities, were given an education and worked within the parish if they were old enough. Many of them gained honours during the First World War and a roll of honour is on display in the church. The Reformatory closed in 1922 and the building was neglected after the Second World War, being demolished in 2001.

Registration Districts

Wheatenhurst (1837 - 1937)
Gloucester Rural (1937 - 1974)
Gloucester (post-1974) (1974 - 2006)
Gloucestershire (2006 - )

Research Tips

• Gloucestershire Archives in Gloucester is where paper and microfilm copies of all records for this part of Gloucestershire are stored.

Online sources which may also be helpful:

• The Victoria History of Gloucestershire chapter on Hardwicke, available online on the website British History Online.
• GENUKI gives pointers to other archive sources as well as providing some details on each parish in the county. The emphasis here is on ecclesiastical parishes (useful before 1837)
• A listing of all the Registration Districts in England and Wales since their introduction in 1837 and tables of the parishes that were part of each district and the time period covered with detailed notes on changes of parish name, mergers, etc. Respect the copyright on this material.
• The FamilySearch Wiki for Gloucestershire provides a similar but not identical series of webpages to that provided by GENUKI
• A Vision of Britain through Time has a group of pages of statistical facts for almost every parish in the county