William Byrd (1798-1865), whilst Curate of Hampton, conducted a total of 86 services at Badsey and Wickhamford. The first service he undertook was in July 1827 when he was described as Curate of Evesham, but by 1829 he was being described as Curate of Hampton. Reverend Byrd performed 24 baptisms, 8 marriages and 41 burials at Badsey, and four baptisms, three marriages and six burials at Wickhamford.
William Byrd was born at Badsey in 1798, the youngest of six children of Thomas Byrd, a major landowner in Badsey and Aldington, and his wife, Sarah (née Phillips); two older siblings died in infancy. William grew up at The Poplars, a large house on High Street, Badsey (demolished in the 1960s). After the death of firstly his father in 1835 and then his mother in 1845, he continued living at The Poplars with his two spinster sisters, Sarah and Mary.
According to Crockford’s Clerical Dictionary, William Byrd was a graduate of Magdalen Hall, Oxford, being awarded BA in 1824 and MA in 1826. He was ordained as a deacon by the Bishop of Worcester in 1826.
William Byrd was described as a Clergyman in the 1841 census, as a landed proprietor in the 1851 census and as “without care of souls” in the 1861 census. This meant that he was a clergyman without his own parish. Getting a parish with sufficient income when there were more clergy than parishes wasn’t always possible and, as he was not married and the Byrds were major landowners, this was less of an issue for him. William was on a committee set up in June 1839 to re-establish a Sunday School in Badsey; in those days the Sunday Schools also taught some reading and writing as well as religious knowledge. In April 1851, there was a report in Jackson’s Oxford Journal that Reverend Byrd had entertained a large number of workmen.
William died at Badsey on 28th June 1865 and was buried in Badsey churchyard five days later.
In August 1927, James Gaukroger, the great-great-nephew of William Byrd, visited Reverend W C Allsebrook at Badsey Vicarage. The Vicar produced a black exercise book belonging to the Reverend William Byrd which contained four sermons with adaptations for certain occasions; he said they were quite good. These have been deposited at Worcestershire Record Office under reference 9977/3 Parcel 16.
