Appleby (Appelby, Appleby Magna)
Description in 1871:
"APPLEBY, a village and a parish in Ashby-de-la Zouch district, on the confines of Leicester and Derby. The village stands 1½ mile WSW of the Mease river and the Ashby-de-la-Zouch canal, and 6 miles SW by S of Ashby-de-la-Zouch r. station. It has a post office under Atherstone; and is a meet for the Atherstone hounds. It is sometimes called Appleby-Magna or Great Appleby; while a hamlet a little S of it, in the same parish, is called Appleby-Parva or Little Appleby. The parish comprises 2,020 acres. Real property, £7,067. Pop., 1,070. Houses, 248. The property is not much divided. Appleby Hall is the seat of G. Moore, Esq. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough. Value, £750. Patron, G. Moore, Esq. The church is a handsome structure with a spire; and has some good painted glass. There are three dissenting chapels and a free grammar school,-the latter founded in 1697, by Sir John Moore, lord mayor of London. Endowed income of the grammar school, £326; other charities £9."
[John Marius Wilson's "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales," (1870-72)]
Caution: There are Appleby locations in Westmorland and Lincolnshire. Make sure that you are researching the correct place.
- The Leicestershire & Rutland Family History Society have published details of Appleby burials (865F) from 1813 - 1865.
- The parish was in the Measham subdistrict of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Registration District.
- The 1841 census for Appleby can be found at the Appleby Magna website.
- The 1851 census for Leicestershire has been indexed by the Leicestershire & Rutland Family History Society. The whole index is available on microfiche. The society has also published it in print and Volume 7 covers the Measham subdistrict which includes the Leicestershire part of Appleby.
- The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
Census
Year |
Piece No. |
| 1861 |
R.G. 9 / 2267 |
| 1891 |
R.G. 12 / 2508 |
- The Anglican parish church for Appleby is dedicated to Saint Michael and All Angels.
- The churchyard burial ground was expanded in by an acre in 1877.
- The church seats 600.
- The Anglican parish register dates from 1572.
- The church was in the Akeley West rural deanery.
- The General Baptists had a chapel built here in 1820.
- The Particular Baptists had a chapel built here by 1849.
- The Wesleyan Methodists had a chapel built here by 1849.
- The Society of Genealogists holds copies of baptisms (1572 - 1862), marriages (1573 - 1837) and burials (1572 - 1906) from Appleby Magna which can be studied at their library in London.
- The parish was in the Measham subdistrict of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Registration District.
- Civil Registration started in July, 1837.
Appleby is a village in two counties. Most of the village is in the Leicesteshire parish of Appleby, but some of the village spills over into Derbyshire. The parish is about 110 miles north of London, 8 miles north of Atherstone and 5 miles southwest of Ashby-de-la-Zouch. The parish covers 2,853 acres and includs the hamlet of Little Appleby.
If you are planning a visit:
- You can visit the Leicestershire Villages website, but there wasn't much there at last check (2009).
- By automobile, take the A42 south out of Ashby de la Zouch and turn left (east) into Appleby.
- In the 1068 Domesday Book, the parish is listed as "Apleby" and as part of Derbyshire.
- What have others said about Appleby History? Note: They don't do family history lookups for you.
- Appleby Hall is a handsome structure about 3/4 of a mile outside the village. It was the seat of George John MOORE in 1912.
- The national grid reference is SK 3109.
- You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, which has a scale of 2.5 inches to the mile.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
- Appleby was an ancient parish of Leicestershire and became a Civil Parish on 30 September, 1898 when the old parish boundaries, which intruded into Derbyshire, were redrawn.
- On 1 April, 1965, the parish was reduced by 4 acres which were given to Newton Regis Civil Parish in Warwickshire.
- The Leicestershire portion of the parish was in the ancient Sparkenhoe Hundred in the western division of the county.
- The Derbyshire portion of the parish was in the ancient Repten and Gresley Hundred.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1841 |
1,075 |
| 1891 |
657 |
| 1901 |
649 |
| 1911 |
675 |
| 1921 |
752 |
| 1931 |
763 |
| 1951 |
829 |
- A Grammar school was founded at Appleby Magna by Sir John MOORE, Lord Mayor of London in 1697. The school was closed by 1912.
- A Public Elementary School for boys occupied a portion of the Grammar School building.
- A Public Elementary School for girls was built in 1845 for 120 children.
This page was originally written by Tim Arguile,
Follow this link to find help, report problems or contribute information.
[Last updated: 18-November-2011 - Louis R. Mills]
