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Scunthorpe

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Archives & Libraries

  • In 1903-4, a Free Library was built here on Station Road.
     
  • The Scunthorpe Central Library is now on Carlton Street. It is normally open six days per week and has a Local Studies Section.
     
  • There is a branch library in north-west Scunthorpe. Jonathan THACKER has a photograph of the Park Community Library taken in June, 2010.  This is on Ferry Road in Crosby. Community Libraries are often heavy with recent works of fiction and light on reference materials.
     
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Cemeteries

  • A cemetery of three and a half acres was formed in 1884, with a chapel and a mortuary. It was operated under the Urban District Council.
     
  • The burial records for Scunthorpe Cemeteries are held at Woodlands Crematorium in Scunthorpe. [Thank you, Maria BORRILL, 2007]
     
  • The Scunthorpe Crematorium opened in 1964.
     
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Census

  • The parish was in the Winterton sub-district of the Glanford Brigg Registration District.
     
  • Many early census returns will be listed under Wrawby.
     
  • We have an extract of a small portion of the 1901 census which you are welcome to review or add to.
     
  • Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
     
  • The North Lincolnshire Library holds copies of the census returns for 1841 through 1901.
     
  • The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
     
Census
Year
Piece No.
1841H.O. 107 / 633
1861R.G. 9 / 2401
1871R.G. 10 / 3433
1881R.G. 11 / 3287
1891R.G. 12 / 2627 - 2628
1901R.G. 13 / 3103
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Church History

  • The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint John the Evangelist.
     
  • The church was erected in 1891.
     
  • The church seats 530 people.
     
  • A temporary church, dedicated to Saint Hugh and built of iron in Dawes Lane, could seat 200 people.
     
  • The Diocese of Lincoln declared St. John's redundant in March, 1984. In February, 1986, it was turned over to the Borough Council for civic use.
     
  • There is a photograph of St. John's Church on the Wendy PARKINSON Church Photos web site.
     
  • Here is a photo of St. John's Church, taken by Ron COLE (who retains the copyright):

 

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Church Records

  • The Anglican parish church register only dates from 1889. See surrounding parishes for earlier entries.
     
  • The Manlake Deanery to see what LFHS special indexes exist.
     
  • The Wesleyan Methodists built a chapel here in 1900 to replace an earlier chapel built in 1888.
     
  • By 1909 there was a Roman Catholic church here dedicated to Holy Souls.
     
  • The Congregationists built their chapel in 1912.
     
  • The Primitive Methodists chapel was on High Street, built in 1891. And another Primitive Methodist chapel was built on Frodingham Road in 1908. For more information on records available for these chapels, please see our Nonconformist Chapels page.
     
  • Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.
     
  • Jonathan THACKER has a photograph of the Scunthorpe Central Mosque on Geo-graph, taken in November, 2014.
     
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Civil Registration

  • The parish was in the Winterton sub-district of the Glanford Brigg Registration District.
     
  • Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which began in July, 1837.
     
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Description & Travel

Scunthorpe is a large village and a parish about 165 miles north of London and 8 miles west of Brigg parish. Broughton parish lies to the east and Messingham parish to the south. The area is flat, drained by many small canals. The parish covers only 1,028 acres. Crosby is a hamlet, formerly in Frodingham parish, which is now a part of the Scunthorpe "conurbation".

The town lies west of the New River Ancholme, which flows north toward the River Humber. If you are planning a visit:

  • The M180 motorway passes just south of the town and parish. The A159 trunk road north out of Gainsborough runs through the heart of Scunthorpe.
     
  • See our transport page for bus, train and coach services in the area.
     
  • See our touring page for area resources.
     
You can see pictures of Scunthorpe which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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History

  • It was the discovery of ironstone in the ground around Scunthorpe that turned this sleepy little village into a large town of mine workers and their supporting businesses.
     
  • Gas works were opened here in May of 1901.
     
  • The North Lindsey Light Railway was opened here in July 1906 to carry patrons to Winteringham and back.
     
  • The growing town's water supply was newly finished in 1907.
     
  • In 1911, a cattle market covered an acre of ground in the market Hill area.
     
  • Jonathan THACKER has a photograph of Oscar's Pub. on Geo-graph, taken in November, 2016.
     
  • David WRIGHT has a photograph of The Royal Pub. on Geo-graph, taken in October, 2007. This pub. is on Doncaster Road.
     
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Maps

  • The National Grid Reference is SE 8909.
     
  • You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, which has a scale of 2.5 inches to the mile.
     
  • See our Maps page for resources.
     

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SE881117 (Lat/Lon: 53.594073, -0.670796), Scunthorpe which are provided by:

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Military History

  • There is no mention of any military unit in WHITE's 1882 Directory or KELLY's 1896 Directory, but the George DOVE mentioned below was a civil engineer and the general manager of the Redbourne Hill Iron Co. at that time. He was born about 1849 in Walker, Northumberland.
     
  • In 1900, K Company of the 3rd Volunteer Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment, had a drill hall in Scunthorpe. Captain George DOVE, commanding; Color-Sergt. RYAN was the drill instructor.
     
  • In 1909, G Company of the 5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment, had a drill hall on Home Street. Captain H. I. ROBINSON, commanding; Color-Sergt. John T. ATTON was the drill instructor.
     
  • In 1913, G Company of the 5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment, was still here with the same officers listed.
     
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Military Records

Sub-Lieutenant Walter MAW, born 1922 in Scunthorpe, son of Valentine and Lilian MAW, was a member of the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve stationed at HMS Jackdaw (A Royal Navy Air Station on the Humber) and he died in an airplane crash in January, 1944. He is buried in Scunthorpe cemetery.  He had married Muriel SANDS in 1941.

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Names, Geographical

  • Locals often refer to the town as "Scunny".
     
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Newspapers

  • In 1900, the Hull and Lincolnshire Times served the area.
     
  • In 1913, the Scunthorpe Weekly News and the Hull Daily News were published here on Belgrave Square.
     
  • For more on newspapers, see our Newspapers webpage.
     
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Politics & Government

  • This place was an ancient township in Lincoln county and became a modern Civil Parish in December, 1866.
     
  • The parish was formed on 23 August 1889, from parts of Frodingham parish.
     
  • The parish was in the Manley Wapentake in the Scunthorpe district (North Lindesy district) and parts of Lindsey.
     
  • The village formed an Urban District Council in December 1894. By that time, its growth had spilled over at least two parishes.
     
  • In 1919 the Scunthorpe and Frodingham Urban District Council was established to cover the areas previously covered by the parish councils of Scunthorpe, Frodingham, Crosby, Brumby and Ashby. A Highways Committee was soon established and this was the regulatory body for bus and coach services under the powers held by local authorities prior to the 1930 Road Traffic Act.
     
  • Borough status was granted in 1936. [Charles Anderson]
     
  • For today's district governance, see the North Lincolnshire Council website.
     

The North Lincolnshire Council website tells us:

"Frodingham is one of the five villages which were incorporated to form the town of Scunthorpe in 1936 and Frodingham was originally the parish in which Scunthorpe lay. The ironstone which is abundant in the area eventually led to the growth of iron and steelmaking during the 19th century."
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Poor Houses, Poor Law

  • Bastardy cases would be heard in the Scunthorpe petty session hearings at the Court House on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month.
     
  • The Common Land was enclosed here in 1833.
     
  • After the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, this parish became part of the Glanford Brigg Poor Law Union.
     
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Population

 YearInhabitants
1851303
1871616
18812,048
18913,481
19016,750
191113,358
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Schools

  • A National School was built on Station Road in 1886 to hold 230 children. It was enlarged in 1890 to hold 335.
     
  • The Gurnell (National) School was built in the West End in 1895 to hold almost 1,200 children.
     
  • The Scunthorpe Higher Elementary and Technical School was on Cole Street, built in 1909. They taught a number of Pupil Teachers here as well.
     
  • The Clayfield road and Parkinson avenue School was built in 1912.
     
  • The Santon Terrace School was built in 1908 as a temporary establishment.
     
  • For more on researching school records, see our Schools Research page.
     
  • Jonathan THACKER has a photograph of the Humber Technical College on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2016.