Bournemouth, Hampshire Genealogy

Bournemouth
—  Borough  —
Coat of arms
Motto: Pulchritudo et Salubritas
Coordinates: 50.717°N 1.879°W / 50.717; -1.879
Country	England
County	Dorset
Historic County	Hampshire
Founded	1810
Borough status	1890
Founder	Lewis Tregonwell
Website	www.bournemouth.gov.uk

England

Hampshire

Bournemouth

Bournemouth was founded in 1810 on heathland, by the sea, within what was the Liberty of Westover in the parish of Holdenhurst in Hampshire.

In 1837 when civil registration commenced the settlement was included within the Christchurch registration district. Bournemouth's growth accelerated with the arrival of the railway, becoming a recognised town in 1870.

In 1894, four years after gaining borough status (1890) Bournemouth became it's own civil parish. At the same time new civil parishes of Winton and Southbourne were also created. These continued until 1902 when they were both amalgamated along with Pokesdown into a much larger Bournemouth civil parish still part of the Christchurch district.

In 1925 the registration district was renamed Bournemouth & Christchurch. Seven years later in 1932 this was divided into separate districts for each town.

As part of the reorganisation of local government in 1974, county boundaries were changed resulting in Bournemouth becoming part of Dorset.

The town celebrated its bi-centennary in 2010.

Resources

Civil Registration

Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

• Jul 1837 - Jun 1925 Christchurch district
• Jul 1925 - Sep 1932 Bournemouth & Christchurch district
• Oct 1932 - present Bournemouth district

Church records

List of parishes

Name	Date	Created from
Bournemouth St Peter	1845	Christchurch and Holdenhurst
Pokesdown St James	1859	Christchurch and Holdenhurst
Bournemouth Holy Trinity	1867	St Peter
Bournemouth St Clement	1871	Christchurch and Holdenhurst
Bournemouth St Michael	1874	St Peter
Moordown St John the Baptist	1874	Christchurch and Holdenhurst
Bournemouth St Stephen	1882	St Peter
Southbourne St Katherine	1885	Christchurch and Holdenhurst
Boscombe St John the Evangelist	1890	St Clement
Bournemouth St Paul	1878	St Michael
Bournemouth St Augustine	1893	St Stephen

Available from the FHL

The following list of churches is from the Introduction to the FamilySearch Catalog

• Bishop's transcripts for Holy Trinity Church, Bournemouth, 1867-1871 / Church of England. Holy Trinity Church (Bournemouth, Hampshire)
• Church records, 1887-1978 / Boscombe United Reformed Church (Bournemouth, Hampshire: Congregational)
• Church records, 1921-1931 / St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church (Bournemouth, England)
• Church records, 1923-1936 / St. Mark's Presbyterian Church (Bournemouth, England)
• Monumental inscriptions, 1790-1900 / Church of England. St. Peter's Church (Bournemouth)
• Parish registers of St. Clement Bournemouth Church, 1871-1945 / Church of England. St. Clement's Church ( Bournemouth, Hampshire)

Probate records

Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Hampshire Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers

Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.

• England Jurisdictions 1851
• Vision of Britain - Place: Bournemouth, Hampshire
• 1897 Street Map and 1931 Ordnance Survey Map of Bournemouth

Websites

• Family Announcements, births, marriages, deaths, obituaries and in memoriam from Bournemouth - Bournemouth Daily Echo

Family History Library