Cambridgeshire
Suffolk
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"ASHLEY-cum-SILVERLEY is a village and parish, on the Suffolk border of the county, 4 miles, south-east from Newmarket and the same distance from Kennett station on the Cambridge and Bury St. Edmunds section of the London and North Eastern railway, in the hundred of Cheveley, Newmarket union, petty sessional division and county court district, and in the rural deanery of Cheveley, archdeaconry and diocese of Ely. "
The soil is various; subsoil, clay and chalk. The chief crops are wheat, oats and barley. The area is 2,225 acres; the population in 1921 was 504.
[Kelly's Directory - 1929]
The Monumental Inscriptions in the graveyards of Ashley cum Silverley are recorded in the Cambridge Records Office for the years 1826-1984.
The Census Records from 1841, 1861-1891 can be found in the Cambridge Record Office. In addition the 1861 Census for Ashley cum Silverley is available in full transcript form, on microfiche, from the Cambridgeshire Family History Society Bookstall. Note: The original 1851 Census was lost at source and will never be available.
The church of St. Mary, opened in November, 1845, is a cruciform building of flint with Bath stone dressings, and consists of chancel, nave and transepts and a western turret containing one bell: the church was restored in 1907 at a cost of £700, and affords 300 sittings. The register dates from the year 1746. The living is a rectory, with the nominal vicarage of Silverley annexed, joint net yearly value £350, including 273 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the Earl of Harrowby, and held since 1904 by the Rev. William George Dodd M.A. of Quenns' College, Cambridge and rural dean of Cheveley.
The church of All Saints, SILVERLEY, about 1 mile distant, is in ruins, the tower only remaining. There was also a older church on the Dalham road, but few traces of which now exist.
[Kelly's Directory - 1929]
Ashley, St Mary: Records of baptisms 1746-1939, marriages 1746-1836, burials 1746-1925 and banns for 1755-1915 reside in the Cambridge Record Office.The Bishop's Transcripts for the years 1563-1640 and 1663-1836 can be found in the Suffolk Record Office, microfilm copies being available in the Cambridge Record Office for the years 1563-1640 and 1663-99. Indexes to transcripts exist in Cambridge Record Office for the years 1746-1840 and for Bishops' Transcripts 1630-40, 1663-1747. Parish register transcripts of Ashley St Mary, 1630-1840, are available in full transcript form, on microfiche, from the Cambridgeshire Family History Society Bookstall.
Wesleyan Methodist Church: Records exist at the Cambridge Record Office for baptisms 1891-1916 and for the Mildenhall Wesleyan Circuit (originally Mildenhall Division of Thetford Circuit) of which Ashley cum Silverley is part.
Primitive Methodist Church: Records exist at the Cambridge Record Office for the Wickhambrook Primitive Circuit of which Ashley cum Silverley is part.
The Ashley-cum-Silverley War Memorial has been transcribed and and the men researched, it stands in the grounds of the church to the right of the main gate as you enter.
Two courts cover Ashley cum Silverley as follows:
Archdeaconry Court of Sudbury: Jurisidiction in various parishes including Ashley cum Silverley which were in the diocese of Norwich until they were transferred to the diocese of Ely in 1837.
Records are held at the Suffolk Record Office covering Wills, 1439-1857, administrations, 1544-46, 1568-93, 1605-12, 1630-1858, inventories, 1573-76, 1617, 1625, 1640, 1650-1747. Index to wills to 1535 are published in Proceedings of Suffolk Institute of Archaeology, volume 12 and of all records to 1700 in the Index Library of the British Records Society, volumes 95 and 96.
Consistory Court of Norwich: Record are held at the Norfolk Record Office. Wills 1370-1857, administrations, 1370-1499, 1549-1640, 1666-1857, inventories, 1584-1846. There is an index to wills covering 1370-1857 published by the Norfolk Record Society, volumes 16, 21, 34, 38 and 47.
Land Tax: records were compiled afresh each year and contain the names of owners and occupiers in each parish, but usually there is no address or place name. These records reside in the Cambridge Record Office for the years 1710, 1798 (on microfilm), 1829-32, 1878-88 and 1931-48.
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[Last updated: 2 April 2005 Martin Edwards]