Wareham

	Wareham is eight miles south-west of Poole and 17 miles south-east of Dorchester. It has been occupied since before Roman times and the main part of the town is situated on rising ground between the Rivers Piddle and Frome, close to where they enter Poole Harbour. Wareham contains three parishes, Holy Trinity, Lady St Mary and St Martin's. Holy Trinity and St Martin's have long been no more than ruins and St Mary is therefore the main church of the town. St Mary's is an ancient church and has been the resting places for Anglo Saxon kings. Hutchins who wrote the History of Dorset was buried here.
Unfortunately the town suffered a catastrophic fire in 1762 and registers prior to this date were lost. There has been a Catholic church at Westport since 1889 and at one time there were three Nonconformist Chapels; Congregational in Chapel Lane, Wesleyan in North Street and Unitarian in South Street. Brick and clay manufacturing has been a principal trade for many centuries. The population of the municipal borough in 1891 was 2141 persons.	Church of St Mary, from an etching in Hutchins 'History of Dorset'
The new OPC for Wareham is Jenny Way Click on the above link to generate a correctly addressed email
Census	1841 Holy Trinity & Lady St Mary, St Martin Parish, 1861 Arne 1881Lady St Mary Parish, St Martin Parish & Holy Trinity Workhouse Residents 1861 & 1881 Note: The parish of Holy Trinity includes Arne & Stoborough.
Parish Registers The majority of these transcriptions have been kindly donated to the OPC Project by Mr Barry Chinchen.	Baptisms 1731-1750, 1751-1770, 1771-1790, 1791-1815, 1816-1841 Marriages 1594-1791, 1792-1841, 1842-1847 (Lady St Mary) Burials 1731-1812 Holy Trinity & all churches 1583-1757, 1758-1781, 1782-1815, 1816-1841 Arne parish records are available on the Parish page for Arne.
Postal Directories	Description of Wareham from Pigot's 1830 Directory, Pigot's 1842/44 Directory, Kelly's 1842 Directory, Slaters Directory 1852/53, Harrod's 1865 Directory, Kelly's Directory 1923 Extract from Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72)
Mayors & Clerks	Mayors of Wareham from 1336-2007 Clerks & Recorders 1703-2007
War Memorial	Photograph and list of those commemorated on the Wareham Cenotaph and details of War Graves
Wareham Court Leet	A short history of the Wareham Court Leet
Wills	Wills for Wareham Residents proven at Blandford (Archdeaconry Court of Dorset) PCC Wills Index [Kim Parker] Abraham Baker 1785-1848 [Mike Russell]
17th Century Records	Protestation Returns of 1641 Hearth Tax of 1882-1664
Photographs
People and Places	Rev. John Hutchins – The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset Extract from Cuckoo Pounds and Singing Barrows Loss of the Wareham and Poole Passage Boat Chafins Charity School Noise Abatement Notice 1839 Dorset Chronicle excerpts
Maps	The 1891 Ordnance Survey maps of the parish can be seen at the old-maps site, just enter 'Wareham' under place search. For modern location maps visit:- www.multimap.com
Street plan of Wareham at the end of the 18th century	John Calcraft's map of Wareham. Taken from Hutchins 'History of Dorset'.
Links	Wareham Town Council Website
Ruins of the church of St Martin, from Hutchins

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