Blaby

• A cemetery of one acre was set aside in 1868 with two mortuary chapels. It was under the control of the parish council's burial board.
   
• Tim HEATON has a photograph of the Mill Lane Cemetery on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2011.
   
• The cemetery is also listed on Nature Spot for its wildlife diversity.
   

• The parish was in the Wigston sub-district of the Blaby 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 10 covers Blaby.
   
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
   

• The Anglican parish church is dedicated to All Saints.
   
• The origin of the church is uncertain, but was probably 12th century.
   
• The church was completely restored and reseated in 1902.
   
• The church seats 400 people.
   
• Mat FASCIONE has a photograph of All Saints Church on Geo-graph, taken in February, 2017.
   

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1561.
   
• The church is in the rural deanery of Guthlaxton (first portion).
   
• The Leicestershire & Rutland Family History Society have indexed Blaby baptisms from 1560 - 1920, burials from 1568 - 1911 and deaths from 1568 - 1911. These have been published on microfiche.
   
• The Society of Genealogists holds copies of parish registers including baptisms from 1560 - 1921 and marriages from 1568 - 1837 which can be studied at their library in London.
   
• The original records are held at the The Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland.
   
• The Baptist chapel was built here in 1807.
   
• The Congregationalists built a chapel here in 1855.
   
• Andrew TATLOW has a photograph of the Congregational Church on Geo-graph, taken in August, 2006. The Chapel is on Park Road.
   
• The Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built here before 1871.
   
• Andrew TATLOW also has a photograph of the Methodist Church on Geo-graph, taken in August, 2006. The Chapel is on Winchester Road and appears to be a newer building.
   

• Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
   
• The parish was in the Wigston sub-district of the Blaby Registration District.
   

Blaby is a small town, a parish and a suburb in the conurbation now known as Leicester city. It used to be a separate village and parish about 4 miles south of Leicester and 101 miles north of London. The parish includes the chapelry of Countesthorpe and covered 3,300 acres in 1887. A branch of the River Soar passes just north of the village, as does the Union Canal.

If you are planning a visit:

• By automobile, take the A426 motorway south out of Leicester city.
   

• Geograph
• Flickr

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from Blaby to another place.

• In the 1800s and early 1900s, most of the workers in the parish were frame-work knitters turning out stockings.
   
• On Blaby District Council website, see "heritage" in the A to Z index for information on Blaby and nearby villages.
   

• Blaby Hall is an ancient building, formerly the seat of the PEVERIL family, the VERNONs and the RUTLAND families.
   
• The Hall was restored about 1850 and in 1881 was the residence of the Misses STONE.
   

• See our Maps page for additional resources.
   

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SP566972 (Lat/Lon: 52.569688, -1.166341), Blaby which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

• The East window of the parish church was filled with stained glass in memory of the men of Blaby who fell in the Great War,.1914-18; there is also a tablet on which, are inscribed their names.
   
• Mat FASCIONE has a photograph of the War Memorial on Geo-graph, taken in June, 2007. The War Memorial is on Lutterworth Road near Park Road.
   
• There are seven Commonwealth War Graves in Blaby Cemetery.
   

The Commonwealth War Graves are for (data from the CWGC site):

• This place was both an ancient parish in Leicestershire and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
   
• The parish was in the ancient Guthlaxton Hundred in the southern division of the county.
   
• In 1881 to 1891, this parish was reduced in size from 3,300 acres to 1,332 acres.
   
• In April, 1935, this parish was reduced by 23 acres to enlarge Countesthorpe Civil Parish.
   
• One year later, in April, 1936, this parish was reduced by 35 acres to enlarge Wigston Magna Civil Parish.
   
• Blaby is now part of the Leicester Urban Area.
   
• You can contact the local Parish Council regarding civic or political issues, but they are NOT staffed to assist you with family history research.
   
• District governance is provided by the Blaby District Council.
   

• Bastrady cases would be heard in the Leicester petty session hearings.
   
• As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, this parish became part of the Blaby Poorlaw Union.
   

Year	Inhabitants
1801	1,258
1841	1,896
1871	1,066
1881	1,303
1891	1,646
1901	1,842
1911	1,959
1921	2,012
1931	2,329
1951	2,991
1961	4,242

• The Public Elementary School (National School) was built about 1845.