LEICESTERSHIRE

Contents

Leicestershire Towns & Parishes

Nearby places

Melton Mowbray

Description in 1877:
"Melton Mowbray is in Framland Hundred, and gives name to a township, parish, poor law union, county court, petty sessional and local board district, and the celebrated Melton Hunt. It is a polling place for the northern division of the county, and has attained considerable celebrity for its manufacture of pork pies, and is a pleasant and well built market town, pleasantly seated on the banks of the small river Eye, in a fertile open vale, 15 miles N. E. of Leicester, 10 miles N.W. of Oakham, 16 miles S.W. of Grantham, and 105 miles N. N. W. of London. Melton Mowbray parish, which comprises the townships of Burton Lazars, Freeby, Melton Mowbray, Sysonby, and Welby, in 1871 contained 5,559 persons, living in 1,123 houses, on 10,266 acres of land; of these, 5,033 persons, 1,020 houses, and about 3,300 acres, were in Melton Mowbray township. The soil is generally a black sandy loam, inclining to clay, and having a plentiful substratum of gravel. It had only 1,766 inhabitants in 1801, but in 1831 they had increased to 3,327, in 1841 to 3,740, in 1851 to 4,434, and in 1861 to 4,436. The return for 1871, given above included a number of persons visiting the steeple-chases, and also 126 paupers in the union workhouse."
[White's "History, Gazetteer and Directory of the Counties of Leicester and Rutland. 3rd Edition." 1877]

Bibliography.

• Hunt, P. E. (1957),"The Story of Melton Mowbray." Palmers Printing and Publishing Co. Ltd., Grantham LIN.
  
  

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Census

• The parish was in the Melton Mowbray subdistrict of the Melton Mowbray Registration District.
  
  
• 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 24 covers the Melton Sub-District.
  
  

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Church History.

• In ancient times there was a priory here, closed by the Dissolution.
  
  
• The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary the Virgin.
  
  
• The Parish Church of St. Mary (the Virgin) dates back to 1170. A picture of the church can be found on the MeltonWeb site.
  
  
• During the reign of Elizabeth I, the church walls were raised higher and windows put up over the aisles.
  
  
• The church seats 100.
  
  

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Church Records

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1538.
  
  
• The church was in the rural deanery of Goscote (first portion).
  
  

St. Mary's Parish Church (DG36)

• Baptisms 1546-1918
• Marriages 1546 - 1932
• Burials 1546 - 1914

• Transcripts of Marriages 1546 -1812 (L929.3)

The Society of Genealogists holds copies of records from St. Mary's Parish Church and St. John's Roman Catholic Church which can be studied at their library in London.

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Civil Registration

• The parish was in the Melton Mowbray subdistrict of the Melton Mowbray Registration District.
  
  
• Civil Registration started in July, 1837.
  
  
• The Registrar's Office in Melton Mowbray closed in 1995. The area is now served from the at Melton and Rutland office.
  
  

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Description and Travel.

The Leicestershire Tourist Information website has tourist information and history.

Melton Today website has a variety of information including history.

Melton Mowbray is a parish and a town 16 miles northeast of Leicester, 16 miles southwest of Grantham in Lincolnshire, 10 miles northwest of Oakham and 105 miles north of London. The parish included the Chapelries of Freeby and Welby and covered 5,610 acres in 1849. The River Eye joins the River Wreake near Melton.

If you are planning a visit:

• By automobile, the parish is at the intersection of the A606 and the A607 and the A6006 arterial road.
  
  

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History.

• During the civil wars, the parliamentary forces suffered a great slaughter here.
  
  
• The town was long known for the "Melton Hunt" held here.
  
  
• A brief history of the town is contained on the MeltonWeb site.
  
  

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Maps

• Multi Media Mapping have a current map of Melton Mowbray.
  
  
• Framland Hundred village maps and directory listings from Guy Etchells, for Melton Mowbray and villages around.
  
  
• Melton Net have a plan of the town on their site.
  
  
• The national grid reference is SK 4202.
  
  
• You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, which has 2.5 inches to the mile scale.
  
  
• See our Maps page for additional resources.
  
  

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Politics and Governance

• The parish was in the ancient Framland Hundred in the northern division of the county.
  
  

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Poorhouses, Poor Law.

• As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, the parish became the heart of the Melton Mowbray Poorlaw Union.
  
  

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Population

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Schools

• The first school was established here in 1347.
  
  

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Societies.

• There is a Melton Mowbray branch of the Leicestershire & Rutland Family History Society holds its meetings on the first Thursday of each month at 7.30 p.m. in The United Reform Church, Chapel Street, Melton Mowbray.
  
  

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