Place:Oxford, Oxfordshire, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

Oxford is a cathedral and university city in southern England and is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. A mid-2014 estimate of its population was almost 160,000.

The city is most known as the home of Oxford University, the oldest university in the English-speaking world. But its economic base is much broader. Its industries also include motor manufacturing, publishing, and a large number of information technology and science-based businesses, some being academic offshoots.

Governance

Up until 1835 Oxford was considered an "ancient borough" and, once its cathedral was established, a city. The ancient borough was made up of a number of ecclesiastical parishes which in time also served the functions of civil parishes. In 1835 in England boroughs became recognized as municipal boroughs and county boroughs. No date has been found for Oxford's elevation to county borough status, but the lastest possible year would have been 1894. In 1926 Oxford was finally established as a civil parish, bringing many of the individual civil parishes within the single boundary.

A number of other parishes were absorbed into the civil parish of Oxford St. Giles and St. John which was also created in 1926 within the County Borough of Oxford. St. Giles and St. John covered many villages that had become suburbs of Oxford. St. Giles and St. John only lasted until 1933 when it too was absorbed into Oxford.

In 1974, in a nationwide reorganization of local government, the County Borough of Oxford became the non-metropolitan City of Oxford District.

The ancient borough contained the following parishes:

History

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Oxford.

Research Tips

• Victoria County History of Oxfordshire, volume 4, the City of Oxford. The first five chapters are entitled "Medieval Oxford", "Early Modern Oxford", "Modern Oxford", "Boundaries", and "Outlying Parts of the Liberty". These are followed by a number of chapters dealing with various aspects of economic and social history.
• A Vision of Britain through Time provides a shorter description of Oxford in the late 19th century from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72.
• Oxfordshire History Centre, St Luke's Church, Temple Road, Oxford, OX4 2HT
• Oxfordshire FHS covers the whole county. The Family History Society provides an interactive map to assist in locating individual parishes and also relates the society's progress in transcribing parish registers and gravestone information for that particular parish. Browse the website to see what else the society can provide.
• Further information from GENUKI
• Ordnance Survey map of Oxfordshire 1900 provided by A Vision of Britain through Time
• Ordnance Survey map of Oxfordshire 1944 provided by A Vision of Britain through Time
• English Jurisdictions 1851, a parish finding aid provided by FamilySearch, particularly helpful in large towns and cities.