HEMPSTEAD, a village and a parish in the district and county of Gloucester. The village stands on the river Severn, near the Berkeley canal, 2 miles SW of Gloucester r. station; is a very pleasant suburb of Gloucester city, with a fine view; and has a post office under Gloucester. Acres, with South Hamlet, 1, 311. Real property of H. alone, £3, 665. Pop. in 1851, 251; in 1861, 424. Houses, 88. The property is divided among a few. The manor was given by Milo, Earl of Hereford, to Llanthony priory; and passed to the Atkynses, the Bathursts, and the Lysonses. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol. Value, £640. * Patron, D. H. Burr, Esq. The church is good, and has a neat low tower. A charity for widows of clergymen has £420 a year; and other charities have £65.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))