Norton Canes

‘Nortone; Bishop of Chester before and after 1066’. [The Domesday Book, England’s Heritage Then and Now]

The parish became part of Penkridge Union following the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834.

"Norton under Cannock, or Norton Canes, is a small village, seated on a gentle eminence, seven miles WSW of Lichfield, comprising within its parish the two manors of Norton and Little Wyrley, in which are 755 inhabitants, and 2613 acres of enclosed land, 120 acres of wood, and upwards of 1600 acres of the extensive heath called Cannock Chase. William Hanbury and Phineas Fowke Hussey, Esqrs, are joint lords of Norton and the latter is sole lord of Little Wyrley. Brownhills, a scattered village and district in this parish, near the Wyrley and Essington Canal, and the Roman Watling Street, two miles SE of Norton, and five miles SW by W of Lichfield, has a station on the South Staffordshire Railway, near the south end of Cannock Chase, where there are extensive collieries, belonging to William Hanbury and William Harrison, Esqrs. Little Wyrley is a manor and hamlet, of scattered farms and a few cottages, on the Pelsall road, one and a quarter miles SW of Norton Canes, and near Wyrley Bank. Wyrley Grove, the ancient seat of PF Hussey, Esq, was obtained by his family in marriage with the heiress of the family of Fowke." [History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire, William White, Sheffield, 1851]

Norton Canes (or Norton-Under-Cannock) (St. Margaret), a parish, in the union of Penkridge, S. division of the hundred of Offlow, and of the county of Stafford, 8½ miles (W. by S.) from Lichfield; containing with the township of Little Wyrley, 755 inhabitants. The parish comprises of 4077a. 2r. 14., of which 2529 acres are enclosed, and the remainder open common. It abounds with coal and ironstone, and of the former, which is of excellent quality, there is an extensive mine in operation at Brown Hills, opened about a century ago, and the property of the Hussey family, leased to William Hanbury and son: clay, also, for brick-making, is obtained in abundance. The Wyrley and Essington canal passes through the parish. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £94; patron, the Bishop of Lichfield: the tithes have been commuted for £356.16. The church is a handsome structure of Tixall stone, with a tower and pinnacles; it was built by subscription, in 1832, at a cost of £1220. R. Gildart and P. Hussey, Esqrs., in 1776 founded a school, and, with the consent of the freeholders, inclosed 55 acres of land from the common, for the purpose of increasing the endowment, as well as the stipend of the minister: out of the rent, now £40 per annum, £30 are paid to the schoolmaster, and £10 to the minister. There are likewise a school supported by subscription. [Samuel Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1859]

Norton-Under-Cannock, or Norton-Canes, a village and a parish in Penkridge district, Stafford. The village stands adjacent to Watling-street, near the S side of Cannock Chase, 1¾ mile E by S of Wyrley r. station, 2¼ N W of the Wyrley and Essington canal, 2¾ W N W of Brownhills r. station, and 5¾ N of Walsall, and has a post-office under Stafford. The parish contains also the hamlets of Little Wyrley and Brownhills. Acres, 4,077. Real property, £17, 599; of which £10,000 are in mines. [John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales 1870 - 1872]

Staffordshire Record Office holds the original nonconformist registers for Bethel Primitive Methodist Chapel Marriages (1914 – 1943)

Statistics for the Norton Canes 2001 Census provided by the Office for National Statistics

Was your ancestor a coal miner living in Hammerwich in 1881? You may find him on Hammerwich census 1881 as translated by Webster’s Genealogy

Was a member of your family the licensee of The Holly Bush Inn? Did a member of your family 'Box' from out of there? Or did a member of your family drink there? A short history of the Holly Bush Inn

Lichfield Record Office holds the original nonconformist registers of Norton under Cannock parish

Have you ancestors that lived in Norton Canes with the surname Rogers? Then you may find them on this website

The Church of England website for Saint James Church

Staffordshire Records Office holds the original Saint James Church Bishops Transcripts (1659 – 1859) with gaps 1662 to 1668, 1675 - 1679, 1681 to 1684, 1687 to 1688, 1741 to 1744, 1838 and 1846 to 1847

Staffordshire Record Office holds the original Saint James Church Baptism Registers (1567 – 1903), Banns (1822 – 1882), Marriage Registers (1567 – 1901) and Burial Registers (1567 – 1907)

The B F H G has photographed and transcribed all the names on the Norton Canes War Memorial in Norton Canes Primary School

The B F H G has photographed and transcribed all the names on the Norton Canes War Memorial in Saint James Church

The B F H G has photographed and transcribed all the names on the Norton Canes War Memorial in the Trinity Methodist Church

The Staffordshire Record Office holds the Wesleyan Methodist Church Baptisms Registers 1809-1921