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Sheldon

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SHELDON, a chapelry in the parish of Bakewell, hundred of High Peak, county Derby, 3 miles W. of Bakewell, its post town. The village, which is of small extent, is situated near the river Wye, and is chiefly agricultural. A portion of the inhabitants are engaged in the lead mines. The impropriate tithes belong to the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield, and to the Duke of Devonshire.

The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Lichfield, value £90, in the patronage of the Vicar of Bakewell. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, or to All Saints, is an ancient structure standing in the centre of the village. The parochial charities produce about £13 per annum. The Primitive Methodists have a place of worship. The Duke of Devonshire is lord of the manor and chief landowner.”

from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

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Archives & Libraries

The Bakewell Library is an excellent resource with a Local History section and a Family History section.

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Cemeteries

Neil THEASBY has a photograph of St. Michael and All Angels Churchyard on Geo-graph, taken in August, 2019.

Basher EYRE also has a photograph of the Church graveyard on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2015.

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Census

  • The parish was in the Bakewell sub-district of the Bakewell Registration District.
     
  • The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
     
Census
Year
Piece No.
1851H.O. 107 / 2149
1861R.G. 9 / 2539
1871R.G. 10 / 3627
1881R.G. 11 / 3447
1891R.G. 12 / 2773
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Church History

  • The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Michael and All Angels.
     
  • Some sources give the dedication as just "All Angels" and many sources refer to the church as just a chapel.
     
  • The present church was built in 1864 near the site of the old chapel.
     
  • The church burial ground is just a little east of the church.
     
  • The church seats 140.
     
  • John DARCH has a photograph of St Michael and All Angels on Geo-graph, taken in May, 2006.
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Church Records

  • The earliest baptism in the Sheldon parish register is 29 Aug 1737, of Cornelius and Richard, sons of Cornelius & Elizabeth WHITE, followed by the first baptism proper, in 1746. In addition to a transcription on CD, available from Ancestral Archives, there is a printed transcription of Sheldon registers available, covering the periods 1672-75 and 1745-1810 for baptisms, and 1745-1812 for marriages, which has the following note:
    "The Register Commenced in the year 1745 when the Queen's Bounty & Mrs Archer's Augmentation made Sheldon a private Curacy when John SWIFT B.A. was first Curate there."
    I recorded the above note from a transcription which I saw some years ago in the Society of Genealogist's Library, obtaining the reference [Ref: DB/R 29 pub. 1939] and covering dates from SoG's website more recently. It is not clear to me now where the baptisms recorded as taking place 1672-75 came from. Added 12 Mar 2008 by Rosemary LOCKIE.
     
  • Check the registers at Bakewell for earlier entries.
     
  • The church was in the rural deanery of Bakewell.
     
  • The Primitive Methodists built a small chapel here in 1848.
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Civil Registration

  • Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
     
  • The parish was in the Bakewell sub-district of the Bakewell Registration District.
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Description & Travel

"SHELDON, a chapelry in the parish of Bakewell, hundred of High Peak, county Derby, 3 miles W. of Bakewell, its post town. The village, which is of small extent, is situated near the river Wye, and is chiefly agricultural. A portion of the inhabitants are engaged in the lead mines. The impropriate tithes belong to the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield, and to the Duke of Devonshire."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin HINSON ©2003]

The parish covers 1,070 acres. It is about 1,050 feet above sea level. It is best known for being the closest village to Magpie Mine, a lead mine that flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Basher EYRE has a photograph of the Village Hall on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2015. Stop in when the Hall is open and ask to see the schedule of forth-coming events. Village Halls are often used for talks on local history, family history, etc.

Peter BARR has a photograph of the Welcome to Sheldon sign on Geo-graph, taken in February, 2009.

Andrew HILL has a photograph of the bus stop at the west end of the village on Geo-graph, taken in September, 2011.

You can see pictures of Sheldon which are provided by:

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Directories

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Folklore

  • The Sheldon Duck - in 1610, so legend has it, a group of Sheldon villagers watched a duck fly into an ash tree. They were baffled however, as they never saw the duck come out again. Thereafter, the tree became known as 'The Duck Tree'. Nearly 3 centuries later, when the tree was felled and split up into planks in a timber yard in Ashford, the image of a 'duck-sized' pattern was found in the grain of the two middle planks, with markings where the brain and lungs would have been. Thus was born the legend of 'The Sheldon Duck'. The two boards were on display in Ashford Post Office for a while, and postcards showing an image of the duck used to be sold. However, this was not to last, as the timber merchant who felled the tree liked the pieces of wood so much that he used them for making a mantlepiece at his home.
    [Reference: Bunting, Julie - Branching Out into Fact & Fiction. Article published in The Peak Advertiser 5th April 2004, p1.& p9]
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Gazetteers

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History

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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK168691 (Lat/Lon: 53.218915, -1.750172), Sheldon which are provided by:

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Military History

Sheldon has a building which has been dedicated as the WW2 war memorial hall. The Hall was dedicated in 1950.

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Military Records

The Hall mentioned above is dedicated to the memory of Major William John Robert CAVENDISH, Coldstream Guards, Marquess of Hartington, who was killed in action on 10 Sep 1944.

Basher EYRE has a photograph of the Hall Memorial Plaque on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2015.

You can read more about the major at World War Media.

There is a Roll of Honour on printed paper in the church listing World War One particpants. It does not designate which men fell in battle.

  1. William Wright Hallowes, Private, Grenadier Guards
  2. Frederick William Brocklehurst, Private, Grenadier Guards
  3. Thomas Anthony Brocklehurst, Private, Grenadier Guards
  4. Samuel Henry Wilton, Private, Grenadier Guards
  5. Alfred Wildgoose, Private, Lancashire Fusiliers.
  6. George Ward, Private, 1st Derbyshire Yeomanry
  7. Frederick George Flack Bramwell, Private, 6th Manchester Regt.
  8. John Brocklehurst, Private, Northumberland Fusiliers
  9. Frederick Arthur Goodwin, Private, East Lancashire Regt.
  10. John Lancaster Naylor, Private, Durham Light Infantry.
  11. Samuel Bramwell, Private, 31st Sherwood Foresters.
  12. Samuel Rowland, Driver, 201st Heavy R.G.A.
  13. Thomas Morten, Private, Sherwood Foresters
  14. Benjamin Sheldon, Gunner, R.G.A.
  15. Anthony Gyte, Private, 3rd Sherwood Foresters
  16. John Sherwin, Private, 3rd Leicestershire Regt.
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Obituaries

Jane TAYLOR of Redcar offers this snippet from the Derby Mercury of 19 August 1802: "DIED: Saturday, at Sheldon, Captain CECIL, late of the Windsor Foresters."

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Politics & Government

  • This place was an ancient Chapelry and township in Bakewell parish in Derbyshire and became a modern Civil Parish around 1858.
     
  • This parish was in the ancient High Peak Hundred (or Wapentake).
     
  • This citizens of this parish have elected to forgo a formal Parish Council, but do hold periodic Parish Meeting to discuss civic and political issues.
     
  • District governance is provided by the Derbyshire Dales District Council.
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Poor Houses, Poor Law

  • Bastardy cases would be heard in the Bakewell petty session hearings each Friday.
     
  • As a result of the 1834 Poorlaw Amendment Act reforms, this parish became a member of the Bakewell Poorlaw Union.
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Schools

A National School (mixed) was erected here in 1878 to hold up to 36 children,

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Societies

There is a Sheldon Family Association which focuses on the surname SHELDON, not the parish. The Association is located in Florida, USA.