Leicestershire county page

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Leicestershire Towns & Parishes

Nearby places

Somerby

Description in 1871:
"SOMERBY, a parish and a sub-district in Melton-Mowbray district, Leicester. The parish lies 5¼ miles W by N of Oakham r. station, and has a village of its own name. Post town, Oakham. Acres, 1,000. Real property, £3,180. Pop., 506. Houses, 118. The manor is divided among three. Hosiery and bricks are made. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Peterborough. Value, £230. Patron, the Rev. G. A. Burnaby. The church was restored in 1866, and has a central tower and spire. There are two Methodist chapels, and an endowed school with £40 a year.-The sub-district contains 12 parishes and a chapelry. Acres, 22,668. Pop., 3,892. Houses, 841."
John Marius Wilson's "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales," 1870-72,

Note: There are two places called Somerby in nearby Lincolnshire.

Census

• The parish was the centre of the Somerby sub-district of the Melton Mowbray Registration District until 1935.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• In 1935, the parish was transfered to the Melton and Belvoir Registration District.
  
  
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
  
  

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Church History

• The Anglican parish church is dedicated to All Saints.
  
  
• The church is a very old building of stone showing portions with Norman work. It is somewhat unusual because the tower and the steeple are in the centre of the church.
  
  
• The church was restored in 1866.
  
  
• The church chancel was restored in 1885.
  
  
• The church seats 220.
  
  
• In 1893, Mrs. Emily Ellen BAIRD left £500 with the interest to be used to repair the church.
  
  

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Church Records

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1601.
  
  
• A portion of the parish register from 1601 to 1715 is in the British Museum.
  
  
• The church is in the rural deanery of Goscote (first portion).
  
  
• The Wesleyan Methodists built a chapel here in 1842.
  
  
• The Primitive Methodists built a chapel here in 1863 and replaced it in 1898.
  
  

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Civil Registration

• Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
  
  
• The parish was in the Somerby sub-district of the Melton Mowbray Registration District until 1935.
  
  
• In 1935, the parish was transfered to the Melton and Belvoir Registration District.
  
  

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Description and Travel.

Somerby is a village and a parish 6 miles west of Oakham, 7 miles south of Melton Mowbray and 108 miles north of London. The parish is bordered by Cold Overton to the east and Owston parish to the south.

If you are planning a visit:

• By automobile, take the A606 arterial road west out of Oakham. Turn left at Langham and follow the country road west to find Somerby.
  
  

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History

• Much of the parish land was used for grazing.
  
  
• Bricks were made in the parish.
  
  

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Manors

• Somerby Hall was the seat and property of Rusell Henry MONRO, lord of the manor in 1912.
  
  

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Maps

• The national grid reference is SK 7710.
  
  
• 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

• This place was an ancient parish of the county and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
  
  
• The parish was in the ancient Framland Hundred in the northern (or eastern) division of the county.
  
  
• In March, 1887, this parish was reduced to enlarge Burrough on the Hill Civil Parish. The parcel involved was called Ward's Farm.
  
  
• In April, 1936, this parish was enlarged by the abolition of Burrough on the Hill Civil Parish and the abolition of Pickwell with Leesthorpe Civil Parish. The 3,958 acre enlargement tripled the size of the parish.
  
  

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Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

• In 1623, John GOBERT left an annual grant of £2 to be distributed to the poor.
  
  
• As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, this parish became part of the Melton Mowbray Poorlaw Union.
  
  

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Population

Year	Inhabitants
1841	480
1861	506
1871	523
1881	531
1891	488
1901	503
1911	507
1921	480
1931	474
1951	864
1961	903

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Schools

• A Public Elementary School (National School) was built here in 1876 for 120 children.
  
  

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