Sileby
Description in 1871:
"SILEBY, a village and a parish in Barrow-upon-Soar district, Leicester. The village stands on the Midland railway, 1½ mile E by N of Mountsorrel; consists chiefly of two streets, crossing each other nearly at right angles; is traversed by the railway on a lofty embankment and viaduct; and has a post-office under Loughborough. The parish comprises 2,190 acres. Real property, £5,914. Pop., 1,572. Houses, 377. The property is much sub-divided. The manor belongs to W. A. Pochin, Esq. The manufacture of hosiery is carried on. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Peterborough. Value, £158. Patron, W. A. Pochin, Esq. The church is decorated English, and has a fine lofty pinnacled tower. There are three dissenting chapels, a national school, and charities £43."
[John Marius Wilson's "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales," 1870-72]
- A cemetery of about 2 acres was consecrated here in 1881 and was managed by a Burial Board in the Parish Council.
- The cemetery had two mortuary chapels.
- The parish was in the Barrow upon Soar sub-district of the Barrow upon Soar 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 13 covers the Barrow on Soar sub-district.
- The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
Census
Year |
Piece No. |
| 1861 |
R.G. 9 / 2279 |
| 1891 |
R.G. 12 / 2519 |
- The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary the Virgin.
- The church was built in the reign of King Henry VI (early 14th century).
- A large elm tree in the churchyard is reputedly as old as the church.
- The church was restored in 1880.
- The church seats 420.
- The Anglican parish register dates from 1568 for baptisms and burials and 1592 for marriages.
- The church was in the rural deanery of Goscote (second portion).
- The Catholics had a chapel, dedicated to Saint Gregory, built before 1912.
- The General Baptists built a chapel here in 1800.
- The Wesleyan Methodists and the Primitive Methodists had chapels here prior to 1849.
- The parish was in the Barrow upon Soar sub-district of the Barrow upon Soar Registration District.
- Civil Registration started in July, 1837.
Sileby is a town and a parish about 8 miles north of the city of Leicester, 5 miles southeast of Loughborough and 105 miles north of London. The village sits just east of the River Soar on a rivulet that empties into that river. The parish covers about 2,250 acres.
The town was a framework-knitting centre in your ancestors' time. If you are planning a visit:
- By automobile, take the A46 north out of Leicester. At the roundabout just before Ratcliffe on the Wreake, turn left (west) for Sileby.
- The Midland Railway provided daily service to Sileby and had a train station downtown.
- Leicestershire Villages have a village website with description and history.
- There is a Village Website used by the locals, with old photographs and history, but at last access it was very slow and some portions are hard to read. It does include census details.
- There is a view of King Street at Geograph.
- The national grid reference is SK 6015
- You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, which has 2.5 inches to the mile scale.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
- This place was an ancient parish in Leicestershire and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
- The parish was in the ancient East Goscote Hundred in the northern division of the county.
- You can find The Sileby Parish Council information online, but they will not assist with family history questions or lookups.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1841 |
1,473 |
| 1871 |
1,766 |
| 1881 |
2,033 |
| 1891 |
2,380 |
| 1901 |
2,752 |
| 1911 |
3,082 |
| 1921 |
3,202 |
| 1931 |
3,598 |
| 1951 |
4,236 |
- The parish had a small Free School in 1849 for the education of six poor boys, It was conducted in the tower of the church.
- A National School (Public Elementary) was built (and opened) in February, 1860, to hold 220 children. It was enlarged in 1877.
- An infant school was built in 1874 to hold 100 children. This was enlarged in 1888 to hold 132 children.
- In 1880 new schools (Public Elementary) were built to augment the above schools. They could hold 400 children.
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[Last Updated: 21-November-2011 - Louis R. Mills]
