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Beeston

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"Beeston, four miles west south west of Nottingham, is a populous village and parish, upon the road to Ashby-de-la-Zouch, and near the Trent Canal, having the Nottingham and Derby railway crossing the parish, and a station. It comprises 3,016 inhabitants, and 1,440 acres of land, of the rateable value of £4,570 5s. P.S. Broughton Esq., Tunstall Hall, is lord of the manor and impropriator, but Lord Middleton, Rev. John Wolley, T. Fellows Esq., and others, have also estates here. An extensive silk mill has been erected on the site of the old one burnt down in the Reform Riots of 1831, which employs 250 workmen. There are also in the village many stocking frames and lace machines. A village library was established in 1837 by shares and contributions of fourpence per month, and it now contains 800 volumes, and is conducted by a committee of 12 gentlemen. The feast is on the Sunday before St Peter, or on that day if it falls on a Sunday.
The ancient church, dedicated to St John the Baptist, and appropriated to Lenton Priory, was taken down in 1842, and a handsome structure, dedicated to St Peter, was erected on its site in 1844 at a cost of upwards of £3,500. It is in the early English style, with a beautiful tower 74 feet high, which is to contain six bells,and was consecrated on Thursday, September 5th 1844, by the Bishop of Lincoln. The interior is neatly fitted up with open seats, and will accommodate about 800 people. The Duke of Devonshire is the patron, and the Rev. John Wolley M.A. is the incumbent. The vicarage has 32a 3r 23p os ancient glebe, besides an allotment of 75 a 2r 23p apportioned to it at the enclosure in 1809. The Wesleyans, Kilhamites, Primitive Methodists and Baptists have each a chapel in the village."
[WHITE's "Directory of Nottinghamshire," 1853]

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Archives & Libraries

David LALLY has a photograph of the Beeston Library on Geo-graph, taken in August, 2017.

The Beeston Library in Foster Avenue is normally open six days each week and has a Local History Collection that you may find very useful.

The nearby Library at Nottingham will also prove useful in your research.

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Cemeteries

  • Tony BURTON tells us: "There was a graveyard around Beeston Parish Church which we used to walk through on our way to school - and also a Cemetery on the north side of Beeston off Wollaton Road."
     
  • John MELLORS advises: "By an order in council dated 1888 all burials in Beeston Parish Church churchyard except in such wholly walled graves now existing in the said churchyard every coffin buried therein must be separately enclosed by stonework or brickwork properly cemented. The entries following unless otherwise specified all relate to burials in the consecrated portion of Beeston Parish Cemetery conducted by the parochial clergy. A portion of the cemetery was consecrated by the Lord Bishop of Southwell on 20 Mar 1888."
     
  • Peter SHONE has a photograph of the Cemetery and burial chapel on Geo-graph, taken in September, 2005.
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Census

  • The parish was in the Beeston sub-district of the Basford Registration District.
     
  • The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
     
Census
Year
Piece No.
1841H.O. 107 / 856
1851H.O. 107 / 2127
1861R.G. 9 / 2440
1871R.G. 10 / 3488
1891R.G. 12 / 2670
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Church History

  • The original church here was built in the 11th century.
     
  • The old Anglican parish church of Saint John the Baptist was partially pulled down in 1842 and rebuilt. The new church was consecrated on 5 Sept. 1844.
     
  • The church has its own Beeston Church website with an excellent interior photograph.
     
  • The church was lit with gas in 1857.
     
  • The churchyard was closed to new burial plots in 1888.
     
  • The church seats 700.
     
  • Roger TEMPLEMAN has a photograph of the parish church on Geo-graph, taken in April, 2012.
     
  • Alan MURRAY-RUST has a different perspective of St. John the Baptist Church on Geo-graph, taken in October, 2013.
     
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Church Records

  • Anglican parish registers exist from 1553.
     
  • Check out David Hallam's Beeston Village website for his files on family history and church records. To contact him vie e-mail, send your e-mail to David Hallam.
     
  • A Methodist church was built here in 1902.
     
  • Roger TEMPLEMAN has a photograph of the Methodist church in Stilwell Road on Geo-graph, taken in April, 2013.
     
  • Andrew ABBOTT has a photograph of the Catholic Church on Geo-graph, taken in April, 2008. This Catholic chapel is dedicated to Saint Peter.
     
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Civil Registration

  • The parish was in the Beeston sub-district of the Basford Registration District.
     
  • Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
     
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Description & Travel

The town lies 123 miles north of London and 4 miles west-south-west of Nottingham. The River Trent runs through the parish, just south of the town. The parish covers about 1,600 acres.

The village is normally regarded as a suburb of Nottingham. If you are planning a visit:

  • Check out David HALLAM's Beeston Village website.
     
  • By automobile the A52 runs through the very northern part of the village and the A6005 arterial off the M1 at junction 25 runs through the heart of the village.
     
  • By rail, the Midlands Counties Railway which opened on 30 May 1839 provides service to Beeston station.
     
  • Nottingham city provides daily bus service as well.
     
  • David LALLY provides a picture of the new, modernized Beeston Square on Geo-graph, taken in November, 2017.
     
You can see pictures of Beeston which are provided by:

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Directories

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Gazetteers

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History

  • In the early 1800s Beeston was known as a silk weaving centre.
     
  • In 1831 the only silk mill in town was burned to the ground during the Reform Riots (the Luddites). In the 1880s, the replacement mill employed over 500 workers.
     
  • By 1881 the town had a railway station on the Midland Railway, situated on Pasture Lane. At that time, about 78 trains passed through the station daily.
     
  • In 1892, the Anglo-Scotian Mills Lace factory was built on Abbey road. Chris ALLEN has a photograph of the Anglo-Scotian Mill on Geo-graph, taken in December, 2001.
     
  • In 1901 the National Telephone Company built a factory here to manufacture telephone equipment.
     
  • In September 1909 the 17th Nottingham Boys' Brigade began meeting in a room at the Anglo-Scotian Mills. This Boys' Scouting group continues to meet now at the Pearson Centre for Young People. The 30th Nottingham Girls' Brigade also meets here.
     
  • Ian CALDERWOOD provides a picture of The pavilion in the Hetley Pearson Recreation Ground on Geo-graph, taken in October, 2017. This is where the Boys and Girls meet.
     
  • Beeston is noted for being the home of William Abednego THOMPSON (1811 to 1880), a famous bare-knuckle boxer. His nickname became "Bendigo" because of his habit of bobbing and weaving as he moved around the ring. Although born in Sneinton, Bendigo retired to Beeston where he died after falling down stairs in his house at age 69.
     
  • John SUTTON has a photograph of The Malt Shovel pub. on Geo-graph, taken in September, 2021.
     
  • Andrew ABBOTT has a photograph of The Chequers Inn on Geo-graph, taken in May, 2020.
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Maps

  • See our Maps page for additional resources.
     

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK527367 (Lat/Lon: 52.925134, -1.217544), Beeston which are provided by:

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Military History

  • David LALLY has a photograph of the War Memorial on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2009.
     
  • Andrew ABBOTT has another perspective of the War Memorial on Geo-graph, taken in May, 2020. This building was dedicated on 3 May 1924 to the 30 men lost in World War I.
     
  • David LALLY also has a photograph of the Crimean War Memorial outside the parish church on Geo-graph, taken in June, 2010.
     
  • Alan MURRAY-RUST has a photograph of the Crimean War Memorial plaque on Geo-graph, taken in August, 2013.
     
  • Steven CRAVEN also has a photograph of the Crimean War Memorial on Geo-graph, taken in January, 2020. He notes that it has a plaque dedicated to Sgt. W. JOWETT who died in 1856.
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Military Records

Some individuals appear on more than one war Memorial.

  • These are the names on the Beeston St. John the Baptist Church War Memorial, as given by the Nottingham County Council site. The memorial consists of five bronze plaques set into carved wooden ogee arches in the organ sconce.
  1. Phillip Abell
  2. John William Aby
  3. Frederick Adcock
  4. Walter Russell Frank Adcock
  5. Percy Douglas Alsop
  6. William Aram
  7. Fred Barrett Armitage
  8. Sidney Robert Armitage
  9. Harry Ashton
  10. Clarence Henry Austin
  11. Samuel R. Bagshaw
  12. Harold Bailey
  13. Albert Ernest Barker
  14. Reginald Horace Barker
  15. Arthur Edward Barnes
  16. Clarence Edward Barnes
  17. Harry Barnes
  18. William Edward Barsby
  19. William Edward Bates
  20. William Sydney Baxter
  21. Robert Heald Beckett
  22. Thomas Henry Belfield
  23. Harold George Bennett
  24. John William Bettle
  25. Percy Douglas Bettle
  26. Arthur Edward Blacknell
  27. Horace Arthur Blackwell
  28. Arthur Joyce Blagdurn
  29. Sydney Storer Boot
  30. Samuel Gilbert Booth
  31. Wilfred Frank Booth
  32. Alfred Sydney Bostock
  33. Percival Bowlzer
  34. George Brackner
  35. John William Brackner
  36. William Brackner
  37. Benjamin Brewer
  38. Harry Brewster
  39. Howard Charlton Brown
  40. William Charles Brown
  41. John Robert Bruce
  42. Harold Buckingham
  43. Thomas Henry Buckley
  44. Samuel Burdett
  45. Fred Bust
  46. Enoch Bywater
  47. John Robert Bywater
  48. William Henry Bywater
  49. John Robert Calcraft
  50. Ernest Edward Calladine
  51. Alfred Harold Calvert
  52. John Calvert
  53. Thomas H. Calvert
  54. Joseph Stanley Castledine
  55. William Chalk
  56. Thomas Walter Church
  57. Edgar Clark
  58. William Clarke
  59. Arthur Ernest Clarke
  60. Thomas Clark
  61. Alfred Ernest Clifford
  62. John Robert Clifford
  63. Percy Cordo
  64. Joseph Corthorn
  65. Harry Coulson
  66. John Thomas Cowlishaw
  67. Francis Henry Cox
  68. John Cox
  69. John Arthur Cox
  70. John Robert Cox
  71. George Coxon
  72. James Coxon
  73. John Morley Crampton
  74. Henry Croom
  75. Albert Cudworth
  76. Horace George Cudworth
  77. John Cudworth
  78. Albert O. Dawn
  79. Charles Dean
  80. George Alfred Dean
  81. Harry Dewey
  82. Charles Thomas Dixon
  83. Alfred Frederick Otterbine Dobson
  84. Robert James Draycott
  85. Arthur Ellis
  86. Claude William Fisher
  87. Henry Foster
  88. Frederick Donald Fox
  89. George Foxall
  90. Alfred Franklin
  91. Samuel Freeman
  92. Arthur Percy Frettingham
  93. Charles C. Garner
  94. George Arthur Gimson
  95. Thomas Glover
  96. George Goodall
  97. Samuel Goodall
  98. Luke Goodband
  99. Richard Gosling
  100. Charles Edward Green
  101. Joseph Greening
  102. Andrew Victor Guy
  103. William Henry Haddon
  104. Percy Haddon
  105. James Hallam
  106. William Hancox
  107. Leslie Hewitt Hardstaff
  108. Enoch Henry Harper
  109. Frank Harper
  110. Harry Harper
  111. Horace Hartshorn
  112. Samuel Leonard Hartshorn
  113. Arthur Hayes
  114. Claude Edward Hayes
  115. Clarence Hazzledine
  116. Francis Hazzledine
  117. George Hazzledine
  118. Harold Hazzledine
  119. John Hodgkinson
  120. Lot Hodgkinson
  121. Joseph R. Hogg
  122. Ernest Holland
  123. Ernest Hollingsworth
  124. Herbert Arthur Holloway
  125. Arnold Holmes
  126. Herbert Horne
  127. Leonard Hoult
  128. Henry Hudston
  129. William Dann Humphreys
  130. Frederick Hunt
  131. Arthur William Jackson
  132. Cecil Samuel Jackson
  133. Evelyn Arthur Jackson
  134. William Robert Jackson
  135. William Harold Jackson
  136. William Henry Jackson
  137. Ernest Edward Jarrett
  138. Frank Arnold Jebbett
  139. Horace Edgar Jeffries
  140. George Ethelred Jenoure
  141. Frank Arnold Johnson
  142. John Henry Johnson
  143. James Kerry
  144. Thomas Branson Knowles
  145. E. Lambert
  146. Ewart Reginald Lanes
  147. John Dalby Lawton
  148. Thomas Lawton
  149. Harry Lea
  150. John Brazier Lea
  151. Albert Lee
  152. Frank Lee
  153. Harold Lee
  154. George William Letting
  155. Walter Lewis
  156. Bertie Mark Limb
  157. Frederick William Lowe
  158. Eric Geoffrey Luntley
  159. Harry Manley
  160. Robert Manley
  161. Maurice Charles Mansfield
  162. James Martin
  163. Albert Edward Mee
  164. John Moodie
  165. George Henry Newbutt Moore
  166. Wilfred Leslie Mosley
  167. H. Morton
  168. Arthur James Newton
  169. George Henry Newton
  170. Arthur Nicholls
  171. Albert Samuel Oldham
  172. Frank Oldham
  173. George Oldham
  174. John Oldham
  175. Walter Oldham
  176. William Wilmot Oldham
  177. Ernest Orchard
  178. Albert Edward Osborne
  179. Alfred Percival Page
  180. Fred Paling
  181. Arthur Henry Parker
  182. Frank Parkes
  183. Morris Edward Pass
  184. Thomas Peach
  185. Percy Hewitt Peadon
  186. Richard Robert Pearce
  187. Stephen Hetley Pearson
  188. William Lawrence Pearson
  189. George Albert Pembleton
  190. William Phillips
  191. Frederick William Piggin
  192. Frank William Val Pilmore
  193. Percy Pilmore
  194. Claude Archibald Porter
  195. Alfred William Preston
  196. Sidney Levers Price
  197. Ernest Pridmore
  198. Henry Edmund Priestley
  199. Charles Prowett
  200. Charles Deschamps Randall
  201. George Samuel Gaunt Richardson
  202. Thomas William Riley
  203. Herbert Healey Robinson
  204. Percival Robinson
  205. Sidney Pearson Robinson
  206. Sydney Robinson
  207. William Robotham
  208. Wilfred Rogers
  209. Maurice Rooms
  210. Frank Alan Rothera
  211. George John Rowland
  212. Arthur Charles Russell
  213. Harry Edward Ryall
  214. William Charles Ryall
  215. Walter James Saunders
  216. John Francis Scott
  217. George William Searson
  218. Fred Sewell
  219. Ernest George William Sharp
  220. William Shrewsbury Sharpe
  221. Alfred Nathan Sibley
  222. Edward Marshall Singleton
  223. Charles Slack
  224. Arthur Matthew Smedley
  225. Archibald Benjamin Smith
  226. A. E. M. Smith
  227. Benjamin M. Smith
  228. Charles Albert Smith
  229. P. Smith
  230. Wilfrid Smith
  231. Vincent Joseph Solloway
  232. Thomas William Sparrow
  233. John Edgar Spencer
  234. Gervase Thorpe Spendlove
  235. Bernard Henry Spray
  236. John George Stafford
  237. Bernard Greig Stark
  238. Garnet Stenson
  239. Thomas William Stevens
  240. John Stevenson
  241. George Rowland Straw
  242. Charles Claude Sturt
  243. George Ernest Sutton
  244. Thomas Frederick Sweeney
  245. Oliver Tailby
  246. E. O. Taylor
  247. Albert Tebbutt
  248. Charles Tebbutt
  249. Harry Tebbutt
  250. William Thomas Tebbutt
  251. John Thorley
  252. William Hugh Thornhill
  253. Charles Howard Thorpe
  254. Ernest Samuel Tonks
  255. George Henry Towle
  256. Reginald Ernest Trease
  257. Percy Turner
  258. Albert Edward Turton
  259. Cyril Arthur Turton
  260. John Samuel Turton
  261. William Thomas Turton
  262. Guy Luntley Tutin
  263. William Wallis
  264. Harold Henry Walton
  265. Harry Ward
  266. Joseph Thomas Watts
  267. Leonard George Lewis Webb
  268. Joseph William West
  269. Charles Henry Whadcoat
  270. Arnold Wheatley
  271. Walter George Wilkins
  272. James Frederic Williams
  273. Arthur E. Wright
  1. Benjamin Brewer
  2. John Robert Calcraft
  3. Herbert Horne
  4. Wiliam Addison Lake
  5. Ewart Reginald Lanes
  6. Albert Edward Mee
  7. Albert Edward Osborn
  8. Thomas Peach
  9. Frank William Val Pilmore
  10. Ernest Pridmore
  11. Wilfred A. Rogers
  12. Arthur Matthew Smedley
  13. Benjamin Smith
  14. Adam Torrance
  15. Cyril Arthur Turton
  1. Fred Barrett Armitage
  2. Robert Heald Beckett
  3. Arthur James Newton
  4. Charles Deschamps Randall
  5. Oliver Tailby
  1. Harry Ashton
  2. William Edward Barsby
  3. Percy Douglas Bettle
  4. Wilfred Frank Booth
  5. George Brackner
  6. William Brackner
  7. Samuel H. Burdett
  8. L. Coxon
  9. Harry Foxall
  10. George Arthur Gimson
  11. Thomas Glover
  12. B. Goodhall
  13. Harry Harper
  14. L. Hartshorn
  15. Francis Hazzledine
  16. Harold Hazzledine
  17. Ernest Holland
  18. William Dann Humphreys
  19. C. Huntley
  20. William Robert Jackson
  21. John Brazier Lea
  22. James Martin
  23. Stephen Hetley Pearson
  24. Frank William Val Pilmore
  25. Percy Pilmore
  26. Bernard Poules
  27. Thomas William Riley
  28. Harry Edward Ryall
  29. Alfred Nathan Sibley
  30. Benjamin Smith
  31. Bernard Henry Spray
  32. Thomas Frederick Sweeney
  33. Albert E. Tebbutt
  34. A. Tonks
  35. Albert Edward Turton
  36. Cyril Arthur Turton
  37. Arnold Wheatley
  • These are the names on the St. John's Sunday School War Memorial plaque (WWI), as given by the Nottingham County Council site.
  1. Howard Charlton BROWN
  2. Frederick Donald FOX
  3. Frank Herbert FOX
  4. Percy Hewitt PEADON

Ernest HAYES (1898–1938): was a three-time Military Medal winner in the First World War, died in Beeston.

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Names, Geographical

The earliest recorded name given to the area was Bestune. It appears as such in the 1086 Domesday Book.

There is also a village of Beeston which is a suburb of Leeds in West Yorkshire. Make sure that you are researching in the correct place.

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Orphans & Orphanages

In 1881 there was a Beeston Childrens' Orphan Home on Broughton Road. It moved, in 1882, to Imperial Road. In 1943 it became an Adoption Society and changed the name to The Children's Homes, Beeston. In 1949 the facility became the Silverwood Hostel.

There appears to be some confusion about the above facility. It was "gifted" to the city of Nottingham, but they claim to have no record of that transaction and claim that the facility belongs to Nottingham county, who also do not have a record of such transaction. BEWARE of government agencies bearing gifts!

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Politics & Government

  • This place was an ancient parish of Nottinghamshire and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
     
  • This parish was in the Broxtowe Hundred or Wapentake.
     
  • In 1935 the Civil Parish of Beeston was abolished and an area of 1,428 acres and 14,759 people were amalgamated to create Beeston with Stapleford Civil Parish.
     
  • The remaining 173 acres and 1,256 people were amalgamated into Nottingham Civil Parish.
     
  • The parish is currently governed as wards in the Broxtowe Borough Council.
     
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Poor Houses, Poor Law

  • Bastardy cases would be heard in the Nottingham petty session hearings.
     
  • Beeston had its own workhouse for the poor by 1775. This was operated under the Poor Law statute of 1601. When the Gilbert Act was passed in 1782, this workhouse became a poor house for the elderly and infirm poor. Working or able-bodied poor were denied entrance. The web-page author does not know the history of this facility.
     
  • The Common Land was enclosed here by an Act passed in 1809. Parts of Bramcote Moor were enclosed in 1847.
     
  • After the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, this parish became a part of the Basford Poor Law Union.
     
  • Four Almshouses were built in 1897 in Broughton Street to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria .
     
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Population

 YearInhabitants
1801948
18211,534
18312,530
18412,807
18513,016
18713,134
18814,479
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Schools

  • A 5-member School Board was formed in 1881.
     
  • In 1881, there was a National School on Brown Lane.
     
  • In 1881, there was a Mill School for girls. It provided half-time education for girls in the employ of the silk mill run by John WATSON and his son.
     
  • In 1881, there was a Wesleyan School in the town.
     
  • The eastern edge of Beeston abuts the University of Nottingham's main campus, through which runs Beeston Lane.