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Blackfordby
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Description in 1871:
"BLACKFORDBY, a chapelry in Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Seal parishes, Leicester; 2 miles NW of Ashby-de-la-Zouch r. station. Post Town, Ashby-de-la-Zouch. Acres, 1,117. Real property, £3,064. Pop., 645. Houses, 129. The church was recently rebuilt. There are a Wesleyan chapel and a national school."
[John Marius WILSON's "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales", 1870-72]
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Just over the border in Derbyshire is the Library at Swadlincote.
Cris SLOAN has a photograph of part of the churchyard on Geo-graph, taken in June, 2007.
- The parish was in the Hartshorn subdistrict of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch 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.
- The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
Census Year | Piece No. |
---|---|
1861 | R.G. 9 / 2268 |
1871 | R.G. 10 / 3246 |
1891 | R.G. 12 / 2509 |
- The ecclesiastical parish was formed on 15 February, 1876, from Blackfordby chapelry and parts of Holy Trinity ecclesiastical parish of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, and Woodville and Donisthorpe ecclesiastical parishes in Derbyshire. The ecclesiastical parish extended into Derbyshire.
- The Anglican parish church for Blackfordby is dedicated to Saint Margaret of Antioch.
- The church was rebuilt in 1858 to replace a structure that had existed since the 11th century.
- A clock was added in 1920 to commemorate the 28 men who fell in World War I.
- The church seats 300.
- Mat FASCIONE has a photograph of St. Margaret Church on Geo-graph, taken in May, 2008.
- The earliest Anglican parish register dates from Febr., 1653 to Febr., 1790.
- The remaining Anglican parish register dates from 1854 for baptisms, 1813 for burials and 1876 for marriages
. - The church is in the rural deanery of West Akeley.
- The Wesleyan Methodists had a chapel here prior to 1912.
- The parish was in the Hartshorn subdistrict of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Registration District.
- Civil Registration started in July, 1837.
Blackfordby is a Civil Parish with two villages; Blackfordby and Boothorpe. It lies on the border with Derbyshire, about 120 miles north of London, 2 miles north-west of Ashby-de-la-Zouch. The parish covers over 1,230 acres.
Boothorpe is a hamlet or village which is three-quarters of a mile south-west of Blackfordby church. If you are planning a visit:
- By automobile, take the A50 west out of Leicester city to Ashby-de-la-Zouch. Blackfordby is just two miles beyond.
- Mat FASCIONE has a photograph of the Village Sign on Geo-graph, taken in May, 2008. You will note that the parish is part of the National Forest.
- Ask for a calculation of the distance from Blackfordby to another place.
- in the 1800s and early 1900s the parish made bricks, sanitary pipe and pottery.
- The village had a station on the Midland railway in 1881.
- "The Bitterman" has a photograph of the Black Lion Pub on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2010
- These are the names associated with the Black Lion Inn in various directories:
Year | Person |
---|---|
1849 | -- Not listed -- |
1863 | -- Not listed -- |
1881 | John COLE, shopkeeper |
1908 | Albert MEE |
1912 | Albert MEE |
1925 | Charles Frederick HOBSON |
- "The Bitterman" has a photograph of the Bludbell Inn on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2010.
- Blackfordby Hall is mentioned in 19th and 20th century directories, but no description or past is given.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK326176 (Lat/Lon: 52.755127, -1.518556), Blackfordby 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.
On: 27 October 2014, a new WW1 and WW2 memorial in the village of Blackfordby was unveiled near to the ancient village spring. The memorial is a stone obelisk with inscribed plaques on its base. Local school children each left a cross with a name from the war memorial. An exhibition based on wartime Blackfordby and its casualties was held in the Methodist Church (which itself contains a war memorial plaque and roll of honour).
Blackfordby’s Church of England church also has a war memorial clock in the tower.
- For centuries, this place was a chapelry and a township in Ashby-de-la-Zouch parish.
- Blackfordby became a modern Civil Parish in late 1866 during a drive to extend civil government to all people.
- The parish was in the ancient West Goscote Hundred in the Loughborough (or Western) division of the county.
- On 24 March, 1884, a detached part of Over and Nether Seal was transferred to this parish.
- On 30 September, 1897, a portion of this parish was transferred to help create Woodville Civil Parish in Derbyshire.
- On 1 April, 1936, this Civil Parish was abolished and 775 acres returned to Ashby-de-la Zouch Civil Parish and the remaining 464 acres went to Ashby Woulds Civil Parish.
- Bastardy cases would be heard in the Ashby-de-la-Zouch petty session hearings.
- Due to historical reasons, the poor of this parish participated in the charities available to the poor of Ashby-de-la-Zouch.
- As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, Blackfordby became part of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Poorlaw Union.
- The parish built a Public Elementary School near the church in 1889 to hold up to 71 children and 46 infants.
- St. Margaret's Church of England Primary School has its own website, and a short history of the school is posted.