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Stalbridge

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"STALBRIDGE is a small market-town, in the division of Sturminster and hundred of Brownshall; 111 miles from London, 20 from Dorchester, seven from Sherborne, and four from Sturminster. It is situated on a branch of the river Stour and the Dorsetshire and Somersetshire canal, and consists of two streets; the principal one running north and south, and the other branching from its south end: at the point of intersection is an ancient stone cross, 30 feet in height, which is well worthy of notice. This place was formerly noted for the manufacture of stockings, which is now fallen to decay, the only manufactory at this time is for silk. The government of the town is vested in the magistrates of the division of Sturminster. The places of worship are, the parish church, a large ancient structure; and a meeting-house for dissenters. The living of Stalbridge is a rectory, in the gift of Christ's college, Cambridge, the present incumbent is the Rev. Edward Bradford. The market is held every alternate Tuesday, for stock, which is most numerously attended ; the fairs are, 6th May, and 4th September, chiefly for cattle of all kinds. Stalbridge parish, including the tythings of Gomershay, Thornhill and Weston, contained, by the last returns, 1,571 inhabitants." Source: Pigot & Co.'s Directory of Dorset, 1830. Transcribed by Nigel Batty-Smith ©2003

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Archives & Libraries

  • Stalbridge recently took over the library from the Dorset County Library service, and now has its own community library supported by enthusiastic volunteers.
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Bibliography

  • The Stalbridge Inheritance 1780 - 1854 by Irene Jones [lookups OPC Project]
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Cemeteries

  • Photographs of selected burial headstones in St Mary's Church graveyard are available on the UK Genealogy Archives site. The thumbnail views can be clicked to open an enlarged version of the image, with a transcript of the monumental inscription.
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Census

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Church History

  • Michael Day provides photographs and bibliography for Stalbridge (St. Mary) on his Dorset Churches website
  • The UK Genealogy Archives site for Stalbridge has a number of photographs of St Mary's Church, with a description of the building. It also provides a transcript and photograph of the list of Patrons and Rectors of the church.
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Church Records

  • Roger Shirley provides a transcript of the Bishop's Transcripts of Marriages, 1738 - 1847, for Stalbridge on his West Country Genealogy website. This page uses Frames.
  • UK Genealogy Archives have a database containing transcripts of the Stalbridge Parish Registers:
    Baptisms 1690-1830, Marriages 1690-1754 and 1839-1921, Burials 1813-1950
  • There is also a full transcript of the Marriages at Stalbridge, 1690-1812 taken from the Phillimore Marriages series.
  • Sue Powell offers to perform lookups in the Parish Records of Stalbridge, from 1700, as a part of the Dorset OPC project.
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Description & Travel

  • A description of Stalbridge from the Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1894-5 is available on the UK Genealogy Archives site
  • A description of Stalbridge from "The Dorset Page"
You can see pictures of Stalbridge which are provided by:

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Directories

  • Roger Shirley provides a transcript of the Stalbridge pages from Robson's Directory for 1835, on his West Country Genealogy website.
  • Kelly's Directory of Stalbridge, 1895 [lookups OPC Project]
  • Kelly's Directory of Stalbridge, 1935 [lookups OPC Project]
  • Pigot & Co 1842/44 Directory of Stalbridge [lookups OPC Project]
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Gazetteers

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Genealogy

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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference ST735177 (Lat/Lon: 50.958112, -2.378679), Stalbridge which are provided by: