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Bingham

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"Bingham, the capital of the Deanery and Hundred to which it gives name, is pleasantly situated on the Nottingham and Grantham road, 10 miles east by south of the former. 11 miles south-west of Newark, and 123 miles north-north-west of London. Though once of considerable repute from the religious establishment and collegiate church, of a date nearly as old as the conquest, it is now merely a straggling and inconsiderable market town, having a branch from the Nottingham and Grantham Canal. The Nottingham and Grantham Railway passes through this town and has a neat station here. Here are a few stocking frames employed in the Nottingham trade. The market place is large and open, and has in the centre a very convenient butter-cross. The market, which is only of trifling importance, is held on a Thursday. The fairs for cattle, horses and swine, held on February 10th and 11th, Whit-Thursday. and November 8th and 9th, are tolerably well supplied. Hirings for servants are held on Candlemas Thursday, and on the last Thursday in October, and the feast is at the November fair. The parish contains 2,054 inhabitants and 2,930 acres of land at the rateable value of £8,500. The soil is a rich red loam, and mostly belongs to the Earl of Chesterfield, who is lord of the manor, which was enclosed upwards of 170 years ago, and the tithes were commuted in 1843 for £1,445 per annum. Petty sessions are held here every alternate Thursday. In 1852 there was a neat lock-up and police station erected in Church Street."
[WHITE's "Directory of Nottinghamshire," 1853]

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Archives & Libraries

Peter BARR has a photograph of the front of the Bingham Library on Geo-graph, taken in October, 2011.

The Bingham Library in Eaton Place has a useful website with more information: Bingham Library, UK.

The Library is wheelchair friendly and has a newspaper archive.

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Cemeteries

A cemetery of two acres was formed on the Grantham Road in 1888.

The cemetery is managed by the parish council.

John Mellors tells us that:

"At the end of the 1888 burials the following note appears: "The new cemetery began to be used in this year and the churchyard was partially closed by order of the Home Secretary." "NB The names of those persons buried in the cemetery from this date (1888) to Jun 28th 1910 are not recorded in this Register or in any book belonging to the Church" signed H. R. M. HUTT rector on 28 Jun 1910

The new cemetery is called "The Cemetery on the Banks".

Kate JEWELL has a photograph in the Cemetery on Geo-graph, taken in May, 2006.

David GEARING has a photograph of the handsome church Lychgate on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2017. This lychgate was designed in 1881 by the vicar's son, Frank MILES.

Alan MURRAY-RUST has a photograph of a Chest tomb on Geo-graph, taken in October, 2016. The tomb is just outside the church and holds the remains of William TIMM, d. May 1822.

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Census

  • The parish was in the Bingham sub-district in the Bingham Registration District.
     
  • The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
     
Census
Year
Piece No.
1841H.O. 107 / 853
1861R.G. 9 / 2483 & 2484
1871R.G. 10 / 3546 & 3547
1881R.G. 11 / 3380
1891R.G. 12 / 2717
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Church History

  • There was an ancient collegiate church and guild dedicated to Saint Mary, which was dissolved in the reign of Edward VI (circa 1480).
     
  • The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary and All Saints.
     
  • The church was built in the Norman period, apparently in the 14th century, around 1320. The oldest part of the church still standing is the base of the tower dated 1220, the nave and chancel were built about 100 years later.
     
  • On 21 September, 1775, the church spire and clock were damaged by lightning.
     
  • The church was restored from 1845 to 1853.
     
  • The roof was restored and a part of the south wall rebuilt in 1874.
     
  • The church will seat 500.
     
  • Richard CROFT has a photograph of St. Mary & All Saints' Church on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2011.
     
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Church Records

  • The Anglican parish register dates from 1598 for all entries and is in good condition.
     
  • The church was in the No. 2 deanery of Bingham.
     
  • The Wesleyan Methodists had a chapel built here in 1818 and renovated it in 1869.
     
  • The Primitive Methodists had a chapel built here in 1849.
     
  • David BEVIS has a photograph of the former Methodist Chapel on Geo-graph, taken in June, 2013.
     
  • Wikipedia tells us that: "A new Bingham Methodist Church and social centre, built by public subscription, opened on 1 April 2016 at Eaton Place, on the site of the earlier church."
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Civil Registration

  • The parish was in the Bingham sub-district in the Bingham Registration District.
     
  • Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
     
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Correctional Institutions

  • The Police station and lock-up was built here on Church Street in 1852. It was in this building that petty session hearings took place. The county Court was held at the Chesterfield Arms Inn.
     
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Description & Travel

This small town, parish, subdistrict, district and wapentake lie on the road between Nottingham and Grantham, 119 miles north of London, 11 miles south-west from Newark and 9 miles east of Nottingham. The parish covers about 3,054 acres.

The town sits in the Vale of Belvoir. If you are planning a visit:

  • By automobile, take the A52 east out of Nottingham or west out of Grantham in Lincolnshire.
     
  • The A46, the old Roman Fosse Way, passes just to the west of the town.
     
  • Trent Barton provides passenger bus service to the town.
     
  • There is a railway near the town, but the author was unable to find scheduled passenger service.
     
  • Alan MURRAY-RUST has a photograph of the train station tracks on Geo-graph, taken in January, 2007.
     
  • David GEARING has a photograph of the Market Place on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2017.
     
  • Nigel THOMPSON has a photograph of the famous Bingham Butter Cross on Geo-graph, taken in March, 1983.
You can see pictures of Bingham which are provided by:

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Directories

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Gazetteers

John BARTHOLOMEW's "Gazetteer of the British Isles, 1887" described Bingham as:

Bingham, par. and market town with ry. sta., in co. and 8½ miles E. of Nottingham, 3054 ac., pop. 1673; P.O., T.O. Market-day, Thursday. Lord Sherbrooke, the statesman, was born here in 1811.
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Genealogy

Robert LOWE, first Viscount Sherbrooke (1811–1892), was a statesman born in Bingham into the family of the Rector of the parish.

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History

  • At the Norman Conquest Bingham was the property of two Saxon chieftons, Hoge and Helga.
     
  • Bingham obtained a Market Charter in 1341.
     
  • The Plague raged here in 1646 and many of its victims are buried in a large yard near the west end of the town.
     
  • In 1710 the town was set on fire in three places, but each fire was quickly extinguished. The fires were set by a sugeon, Thomas PATEFIELD, who had long suffered from a mental derangement. His sentence was to be confined in a small two-room building in the Market Place, in which he lived for some 30 years.
     
  • The Post Office was established here in 1790.
     
  • The astronomer, Robert WHITE, was born here and died here in 1773 at age 80.
     
  • Another notable was Thomas GROVES, a poor lad who fled his apprenticeship and entered the Marines as a private, eventually rising to the rank of Colonel. He died in 1790 after 75 years of service.
     
  • The Statute for hiring servants was held on the second Tuesday in November.
     
  • The Butter Cross, in the Market Place, was built by subscription in 1841.
     
  • Richard CROFT has a photograph of the Butter Cross on Geo-graph, taken in November, 2008.
     
  • Roger TEMPLEMAN has a photograph of The Wheatsheaf Pub. on geo-graph, taken in September, 2018.
     
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Maps

  • See our Maps page for additional resources.
     

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK708396 (Lat/Lon: 52.949121, -0.947722), Bingham which are provided by:

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Military History

  • In 1881, E company of the Notts Rifle Volunteers (2nd Battalion) were here with Captain L. M. PARKINSON, commanding.
     
  • In 1912, Bingham was home to the A Squadron of the South Nottingham Hussars. Commanding was Major Sir Maurice BROMLEY-WILSON, bart., Captain P. H. WARWICK was 2nd in command, and the drill instructor was Sergt.-Major A. CROUCH.
     
  • Maurice BROMLEY-WILSON was born in Winthrope, Notts, in June, 1875, to Captain Sir Henry (Harry) BROMLEY, 5th Baronet and Adela Augusta (Ada) Bromley (RICHARDS). He died in 1957 without issue.
     
  • The World War I War Memorial is a set of new panels installed in the 15th century chancel screen in the parish church. This memorial was dedicated in June, 1921.
     
  • For World War II two panels were added to the screen.
     
  • After World War I, Ann HARRISON raised the money to buy a Roll of Honour Book. This contains the names of 202 who served. The book also contains the names of those who fell in World War II.
     
  • John M. has a photograph of the former drill hall on Geo-graph, taken in May, 2014. It is now Long Acre Studios.
     
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Military Records

Harry Churchill BEET (1873–1946), awarded a Victoria Cross for valour at Wakkerstroom, South Africa, in the Second Boer War on 22 April 1900, was born at Brackendale Farm near Bingham on 1 April 1873. His hometown was Long Eaton, Derbyshire.

For a photograph of the Bingham War Memorial and the list of names on it, see the Nottingham County site.

Much of this same information can be found at the Southwell and Nottinghamshire Church History site.

These are the memorial names from the Nottinghamshire War Memorial site:

  1. William Henry Barratt
  2. George William Braithwaite
  3. Arthur Brown
  4. Thomas Alfred Buggins
  5. Frank Burrows Flowers
  6. Eric Henry Cabourn
  7. Herbert Cowdell
  8. Sydney Cuddy
  9. John Derry
  10. Joseph Dunsmore
  11. Sydney Harold Fewster
  12. Frank Green
  13. Charles Edwin Hackett
  14. Frank Harris
  15. Robert Reynolds Henshaw
  16. Thomas Wilfred Henshaw
  17. Leonard Henry Hickman
  18. Albert Amos Hill
  19. Percy William Hind
  20. Richard Webster Jardine
  21. Ernest Johnson
  22. George Kettleband
  23. Walter Kirk
  24. George William Marriott
  25. Charles Penson
  26. George Rowe
  27. William Singleton
  28. William Singleton
  29. George Frederick Squires
  30. Frank Lawrence Starbuck
  31. Fred States
  32. George Thornton
  33. William Welch Tomkinson
  34. William Mabbott Widnall
  35. George Wilford
  36. Frederick K. Wright
  37. Russell Campbell Wright
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Politics & Government

  • This place was an ancient parish in Nottingham county and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
     
  • The parish was in the north division of the ancient Bingham Wapentake in the southern division of the county.
     
  • You may contact the local Bingham Town Council regarding civic or political issues, but they are NOT staffed to help with family history lookups.
     
  • District governance is provided by the Rushcliffe Borough Council.
     
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Poor Houses, Poor Law

  • After the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, this parish became the center of the Bingham Poor Law Union.
     
  • Bastardy cases would be heard in the Bingham petty session hearings every other Thursday.
     
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Population

 YearInhabitants
18011,082
18111,326
18211,574
18311,738
18411,998
18512,054
18611,918
18711,629
18811,673
18911,487
19011,604
19111,700
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Schools

  • A National School for both sexes was built near the end of the church in 1845 to hold 200 children.
     
  • In Long Acre there is a Robert MILES Infant School which served about 120 infants.
     
  • The Wesleyan Methodists also had a day school here in the 1800s.
     
  • Jonathan THACKER has a photograph of Toot Hill School on Geo-graph, taken in May, 2016.
     
  • Bingham is a dormatory town for Nottingham University.