Leake
- The parish was in the Benington sub-district of the Boston Registration District.
- Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
- The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
Census
Year |
Piece No. |
| 1841 |
H.O. 107 / 609 |
| 1851 |
H.O. 107 / 2098 |
| 1861 |
R.G. 9 / 2332 |
| 1871 |
R.G. 10 / 3335 - 3336 |
| 1881 |
R.G. 11 / 3214 |
- In ancient times there were two monastic institutions here. One was St. Lawerence's Chantry. The Chantry is now called Moat House.
- The Anglican parish church is dedicated to St. Mary.
- The church is thought to be of Norman origin. The tower is dated between 1490 and 1547. The tower was being rebuilt in 1589, but wasn't finished until 1647.
- The church seats 573.
- Christ Church, in Leake Commonside, is a chapel of ease to St. Mary's. It was built in 1875 and seats 250.
- Here is a photo of St. Mary church, taken by (and copyright of) Norma Clare.
- The Anglican parish register dates from 1575.
- The LFHS has published several indexes for the Holland East Deanery to make your search easier.
- The parish included a Wesleyan Methodist chapel built in the Fens and another at Fellands, erected in 1815. The Primitive Methodists had a chapel here, too. The United Methodists built their chapel in 1868 at Seadykes. Check our Non-Conformist Church Records page for additional resources.
- Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.
- The parish was in the Benington sub-district of the Boston Registration District.
- Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which began in July, 1837.
Leake is a village and a parish 115 miles north of London, 8 miles northeast of Boston and about 3 miles due east of Sibsey in the Fen region. Technically, the parish is known as "Old Leake". There is a hamlet called "New Leake" in Eastville parish, further north. In 1872, the parish included 7,193 acres of land. It now covers about 9,400 acres.
In addition to the village of Old Leake, there is "Leake Commonside" just to the north of Old Leake. Leake Commonside is was a separate parish for a while. If you are planning a visit:
- Take the A52 north out of Boston. The parish is just past Leverton.
- The "Hobhole Drain" passes through the parish.
- See our Touring page for additional resources.
- A lighthouse once stood in the parish.
- An excellent published source is: "Old Leake, 12th Century to the Millennium," by Freda Royle, 43 pages.
- Derby Hall is the former residence of the DERBY family. It is partly in Leverton parish.
- Hampton House was occupied by a Mr. WELSH in 1872.
- The national grid reference is TF 4050.
- You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer #261 map, which has a scale of 2.5 inches to the mile.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
John Emerson, who retains the copyright, provides these photographs of the war memorial at Old Leake:
- The name Leake is either from the Latin Lacus, for "watery, marshy place". Or it may be from Old Scandinavian Laekr, for "(place at) the brook)". In the 1086 Domesday Book, the village is given as Leche.
[A. D. Mills, "A Dictionary of English Place-Names," Oxford University Press, 1991].
- Bruce Campbell advises that the locals pronounce the name as "La..ake".
- The parish was in the ancient Skirbeck Wapentake in the parts of Holland.
- For today's governance, visit the local Boston Borough Council site.
- In 1894, by Local Government Board Order No. 31,809, Old Leake was constituted a civil parish from the ancient parish of Leake, the remainder being include in New Leake.
- Leake Commonside is now a separate civil parish, but the date of this event is unknown.
- As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, this parish became part of the Boston Poor Law Union.
- Bastardy cases would be heard in the Kirton and Skirbeck petty session hearings.
The parish doubled its population between 1801 and 1872.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1801 |
911 |
| 1831 |
1,744 |
| 1871 |
1,952 |
| 1881 |
2,114 |
| 1891 |
1,962 |
| 1911 |
1,340 |
- The Wesleyan Methodists built a school in the Fen allotment in 1848 and enlarged it in 1851 to hold up to 100 children.
- A Public Elementary School (mixed) was built in 1856 for up to 150 children.
- The Common Side School (mixed) was built (year unknown) for up to 150 children.
- A School Board was formed in July, 1881.
- A Board School was erected in New Leake in 1890 to hold up to 160 children.
- See our Schools page for more information on researching school records.
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[Last updated: 23-June-2009 - Louis R. Mills]
