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Gunby St Nicholas

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Caution: There are two Gunbys in Lincolnshire. The other one is Gunby St.Peter near Spilsby.

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Archives & Libraries

The Library at Grantham will prove useful in your research.

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Cemeteries

Andrew TATLOW has a photograph of the Churchyard at Gunby on Geo-graph, taken in June, 2008.

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Census

  • The parish was in the Colsterworth sub-district of the Grantham Registration District.
     
  • After an 1890 district re-organisation, the parish was placed in the new "Grantham South" sub-district of the Grantham Registration District.
     
  • Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
     
  • The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
Census
Year
Piece No.
1841H.O. 107 / 618
1861R.G. 9 / 2347
1871R.G. 10 / 3355
1881R.G. 11 / 3228
1891R.G. 12 / 2582
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Church History

  • The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Nicholas.
     
  • The church was originally built in the 15th century on what is now Main Street.
     
  • The church was rebuilt in 1869.
     
  • The church only seats about 90 people.
     
  • Andrew TATLOW has a photograph of the parish church on Geo-graph, taken in June, 2008.
     
  • Here is a photo of the Church of St. Nicholas taken by Ron COLE (who retains the copyright):
image
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Church Records

  • Parish registers exist from 1561 (some sources give 1715).
     
  • Boyd's marriage index covers the period from 1561 - 1810.
     
  • The Lincolnshire FHS has published several marriage and burial indexes for the Beltisloe Deanery to make your search easier.
     
  • Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.
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Civil Registration

  • The parish was in the Colsterworth sub-district of the Grantham Registration District.
     
  • After an 1890 district re-organisation, the parish was placed in the new "Grantham South" sub-district of the Grantham Registration District.
     
  • Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration, which started in July, 1837.
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Description & Travel

Gunby is both a small village and a parish south of Grantham, off the A1 trunk road to the west. It lies between North Witham parish to the east and Sewstern parish in neighborhing Leicestershire to the west. The parish covers just overr 1,000 acres.

There is another Gunby (Gunby St. Peter) near Spilsby. If you arer planning a visit:

You can see pictures of Gunby St Nicholas which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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History

  • Robert HARVEY has a photograph of the Medieval Cross Shaft in St. Peter's churchyard on Geo-graph, taken in November, 2019. The shaft is a Grade II listed object and a scheduled monument.
     
  • The parish had a single Inn, the Blue Fox Inn on Main street. Alan MURRAY-RUST has a photograph of the Blue Fox on Geo-traph, taken in November, 2016. Here are the names associated with the Inn in various directories:
YearPerson
1842Wm. MASON, vict.
1868Richard MASON
1872-- not listed --
1882E. HOLLINGWORTH, farmer
1913Edward HOLLINGWORTH
1930Miss Gertrude HOLLINGWORTH


There was no lodger at the Inn during the 1881 census, just family. Here is the census entry (RG 11/3228 folio 39):

RelationshipNameSexAgeWhere born
HeadEdward HOLLINGWORTHM36Pickworth, Lincolnshire
wifeBetsy HOLLINGWORTHF34Gunby, Lincolnshire
dau.Amy R. HOLLINGWORTHF10Gunby, Lincolnshire
dau.Gertrude E. HOLLINGWORTHF5Gunby, Lincolnshire
sonBenjamin HOLLINGWORTHM9Heckington, Lincolnshire
dau.Edith A. HOLLINGWORTHF2Gunby, Lincolnshire
dau.Kate HOLLINGWORTHF0Gunby, Lincolnshire
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Maps

  • See our Maps page for additional resources.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK913216 (Lat/Lon: 52.784266, -0.647739), Gunby St Nicholas which are provided by:

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Names, Geographical

  • Gunby is from Old Scandinavian for "village of Gunnhildr", and the name appeared as Gunelby in records from 1066 and 1069.
    A. D. Mills, "A Dictionary of English Place-Names," Oxford University Press, 1991.
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Politics & Government

  • This place was an ancient parish in Lincoln county and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
     
  • The parish was in the ancient Wapentake of Beltisloe in the South Kesteven district in the parts of Kesteven.
     
  • In 1931 Gunby was amalgamated into the civil parish of Gunby and Stainby.
     
  • The parish is now administered as part of the Colsterworth district parishes.
     
  • For today's local governance, contact the South Kesteven District Council.
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Poor Houses, Poor Law

  • Bastardy cases would be heard in the Spittlegate (Grantham) petty session hearings.
     
  • As a result of the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, the parish became part of the Grantham Poor Law Union.
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Population

YearInhabitants
1801113
1831152
1841166
1871135
1891162
1911123
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Schools

  • A local School Board was formed here on 20 September 1881. The district included Stainby parish.
     
  • The children of this parish attended school in Stainby.
     
  • For more on researching school records, see our Schools Research page.