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Welney

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"WELNEY, 10 miles S.W. of Downham, is a village and extensive parish lying in the cultivated fens of the Great Bedford level, and like Upwell and Outwell, it lies on both sides of the Welney or Croft river, partly in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, and in R.G. Townley, Esq.'s manor of Beaupre Hall, and the Bishop of Ely's manor of the Isle of Ely. It contains 996 inhabitants, and 5,160 acres of land, of which 1,900 acres, and 405 souls, are in Cambridgeshire, and form a separate township. Both townships are in Downham Union. The Norfolk part of the parish belongs to R.G. Townley, Esq., Messrs. Little and Beeten, and several smaller proprietors. The small river which here divides the counties, is navigable to the Wisbech canal; and a little above the village is crossed by those broad drains, called the Old and New Bedford rivers, which open a direct navigation to the Ouse at Denver sluice. The New Bedford river, about 1 mile E. of Welney, is crossed by a handsome SUSPENSION BRIDGE,  . . . built by the Rev. W.G. Townley, in 1826, from a design by Captain Brown. The CHURCH is a small ancient brick edifice on the Cambridgeshire side of the parish, which keeps its poor separately. The living is a rectory consolidated with Upwell," [William White, History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Norfolk (1845) - Transcription copyright © Pat Newby]

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Welney was formerly in both Cambridgeshire and Norfolk.

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Census

  • 1851: Cambridgeshire FHS [Full transcript on microfiche, 1990s]
  • 1891: Surname List (this is a link to an archived copy)

See also Norfolk Parish Links: Censuses

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Church Directories

  • In 1883 the parish was in the Deanery of Fincham, in the archdeaconry of Norfolk.
    It could have been in a different deanery or archdeaconry both before and after this date.
  • The parish church is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin.
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Church History

Great Britain: Statute
Upwell-with-Welney separated benefices act, 1846.
An act for the division of the rectory of Upwell cum Welney in the county of Norfolk and in the Isle of Ely in the county of Cambridge: 26th June 1846.
[London, George Edward Eyre and William Spottiswoode, 1846]
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Civil Registration

For the civil registration of births, marriages and deaths between 1837 and 1930 (and for the censuses from 1851 to 1901), Welney was in Downham Registration District.

See also Norfolk Parish Links: Civil Registration

You can see pictures of Welney which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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Historical Geography

Welney is in Clackclose Hundred.

Parish outline and location.
See Parish Map for Clackclose Hundred
Description of Clackclose Hundred
1845: White's History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Norfolk
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Land & Property

Great Britain: Statute
Fenland drainage act, 1747.
An act for draining and preserving certain fenlands in the several parishes of Maney, Upwell, Welney, Downham, Witcham, and in a certain extraparochial place in Byal fen, within the Isle of Ely and county of Cambridge.
[London, Thomas Baskett, (1747) 1748]
Great Britain: Statute
Fenland drainage act, 1748.
An act for draining and improving certain fen lands within the manors and parishes of Upwell and Outwell, and the parishes of Denver and Welney, in the Isle of Ely, and counties of Cambridge and Norfolk.
[London, Thomas Baskett, (1748) 1749]
Great Britain: Statute
Fenland drainage act, 1772.
An act to amend the 1748 act.
[London, Charles Eyre and William Strahan, (1772) 1773]
Great Britain: Statute
Upwell and other parishes drainage act, 1801.
An act for more effectually draining and improving certain Fen lands within the manors and parishes of Upwell and Outwell, and in the parishes of Denver and Welney, in the Isle of Ely, and counties of Cambridge and Norfolk: 21st May 1801.
[London, George Eyre and Andrew Strahan, 1801]
Great Britain: Statute
Upwell, Outwell, Denver, and Welney level act, 1872.
An act for amending the act relating to the draining and improving of certain fen lands within the manors and parishes of Upwell and Outwell, and in the parishes of Denver and Welney, in the Isle of Ely and counties of Cambridge and Norfolk: 13th May 1872.
[London, George Edward Eyre and William Spottiswoode, 1872]

See also Norfolk Parish Links: Land and Property

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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference TL527940 (Lat/Lon: 52.522279, 0.24865), Welney which are provided by:

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Poor Houses, Poor Law