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Thorpe

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THORPE, a parish in the hundred of Wirksworth, county Derby, 3 miles N.W. of Ashbourne, its railway station and post town, and 10 S.W. of Wirksworth. The village is situated on the river Dove. To the N. of the village is a conical limestone hill called Thorpe Cloud, rising 300 feet above the bed of the river, which flows at its base. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Lichfield, value £144, in the patronage of the bishop. The church, dedicated to St. Leonard, is old. The parochial charities produce about £2 per annum.”

from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

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Archives & Libraries

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

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Cemeteries

Colin PARK has a photograph of the churchyard cemetery on Geo-graph, taken in August, 2016.

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Census

  • The parish was in the Calton sub-district of the Ashbourne Registration District.
     
  • In 1911, the parish was reassigned to the Brassington sub-district of the Ashbourne Registration District.
     
  • The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
     
Census
Year
Piece No.
1851H.O. 107 / 2146
1861R.G. 9 / 2522
1891R.G. 12 / 2754
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Church History

  • The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Leonard.
     
  • The church tower dates from 1150.
     
  • The church chancel was restored in 1881.
     
  • The church seats 120.
     
  • Chris MORGAN has a photograph of St. Leonard's Church on Geo-graph, taken in January, 2014.
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Church Records

  • The Anglican parish register dates from 1538 for baptisms and 1541 for marriages.
     
  • We have a pop-up window of a parital extract of the Parish Register burials into a text file for your review. Your additions are welcomed.
     
  • The church was in the rural deanery of Ashbourne.
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Civil Registration

  • Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
     
  • The parish was in the Calton sub-district of the Ashbourne Registration District.
     
  • In 1911, the parish was reassigned to the Brassington sub-district of the Ashbourne Registration District.
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Description & Travel

"THORPE is likewise a small parish, in the same hundred as the two before-mentioned villages [Ed: TISSINGTON and (FENNY) BENTLEY], about three miles and a half N.W. from Ashbourn. A little northward of the village, at the entrance of the romantic Dovedale, is a remarkable conical hill, called 'Thorpe Cloud', steeply ascending three hundred feet above the bed of the river Dove, which flows at its base. The church, which is dedicated to St. Leonard, is a neat edifice, situate on the brow of a hill, and so surrounded by trees as to be highly picturesque: the living is a discharged rectory, in the patronage of the Dean of Lincoln. Population, by the census taken in 1821, 203, and by the returns in 1831, the number was 189."

[Description from Pigot and Co's Commercial Directory for Derbyshire, 1835]

You can see pictures of Thorpe which are provided by:

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Directories

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Gazetteers

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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK157504 (Lat/Lon: 53.050633, -1.767241), Thorpe which are provided by:

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Politics & Government

  • This place was an ancient parish in Derby county and it became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
     
  • This parish was in the ancient Wirksworth Hundred (or Wapentake).
     
  • You may contact the Thorpe Parish Council regarding civic or political issues, but they are NOT staffed to assist with family history searches.
     
  • District governance is provided by the Derbyshire Dales District Council.
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Poor Houses, Poor Law

  • Bastardy cases were heard at the Petty Session Hearings at Ashbourne every Saturday.
     
  • With the passage of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act reforms, this parish became a member of the Ashbourn Poorlaw Union.
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Probate Records

In a Will proved in 1875, made in 1868, Richard FINNEY of Thorpe gentleman, mentions:

  1. wife Hannah
  2. son Richard
  3. son William of Biggin Grange
  4. land in Earl Sterndale
  5. son George
  6. dau. Emma FINNEY
  7. dau. Hannah Elizabeth FINNEY
  8. dau Ann FINNEY
  9. Samuel COLEMAN Solr, Ashbourne witness
  10. James PORTER Clerk to Mr. COLEMAN witness
  11. lands at Tissington
  12. Tho. H. TWIGGE Parwich, witness