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Welbeck

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John Marius WILSON's "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, 1870-72" tell us:

WELBECK, an extra-parochial tract in Worksop district, Notts; 3½ miles SW by S of Worksop. Acres, 2,410. Real property, £2,124. Pop. in 1851, 117; in 1861, 12. House, 1. A Premonstratensian abbey was founded here, in the time of Henry II., by T. de Cuckeney; was made the head of its order in 1512; was given, at the dissolution, to the Whalleys; and passed to the Cavendishes and to the Bentincks. W. Abbey, the seat of the Duke of Portland, now occupies the old abbey's site; was begun to be erected in 1604; underwent considerable alterations in 1864; is a magnificent edifice, with turrets and other ornamental features; was the deathplace, in 1848, of Lord G. Bentinck; has a riding-house and stables, 130 feet long, built in 1623-5 by the Duke of Newcastle; and stands in a splendid park 8 miles in circuit.

 

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Archives & Libraries

The Library at Worksop will prove useful in your research.

Manuscripts and Special Collections at The University of Nottingham holds a number of collections relating to the Portland family of Welbeck Abbey, the two most significant being the Portland (Welbeck) Collection (Pw) and the Portland (London) Collection (Pl).

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Census

  • The parish was in the Worksop sub-district of the Worksop Registration District.
     
  • The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
     
CensusPiece No.
1841H.O. 107 / 852
1861R.G. 9 / 2419
1871R.G. 10 3460
1881R.G. 11 3306
1891R.G. 12 / 2644
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Church History

  • Welbeck Abbey was a monestery of Premonstration canons. The Abbey was founded in 1140.
     
  • The Abbey was converted to a country house after the Dissolution (1539) and became a seat of the CAVENDISH family in the 17th century.
     
  • If you visit the Abbey, ask about the tunnels.
     
  • David PICKERSGILL has a photograph of Welbeck Abbey on Geo-graph, taken in June, 2012.
     
  • The webpage author could find no record of an Anglican parish church here.
     
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Church Records

  • This parish is not included on the International Genealogical Index (IGI).
     
  • People from this parish attended, married, baptised, etc. at St. Mary's Church, Cuckney (just south of this parish).
     
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Civil Registration

  • The parish was in the Worksop sub-district of the Worksop Registration District.
     
  • Civil Registration started in July, 1837.
     
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Description & Travel

Welbeck is a village and a parish about 3.5 miles south-west of Worksop. The parish covers about 2,400 acres.

If you are planning a visit:

  • By automobile, take the A60 between Mansfield and Worksop.
     
  • There is a caravan park near "Great Lake".
     
You can see pictures of Welbeck which are provided by:

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Directories

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Gazetteers

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History

David PICKERSGILL has a photograph of Wellbeck Abbey on Geo-graph, taken in June, 2012. The Abbey is a privately owned property by descendants of the Duke of Portland. Home of the School of Artisan Foods and the Welbeck Abbey Brewery.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire visited Welbeck Abbey just months before his assassination. He had been out shooting game with his host, the Duke of Portland. The Archduke and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, had spent the week with King George V and Queen Mary at Windsor. Accepting an invitation from the Duke of Portland to stay at the palatial Welbeck Abbey, the couple arrived by train at Worksop, Nottinghamshire, on 22 November 1913. They were met that evening by limousines to take them to Welbeck Abbey. Waiting for them was an illustrious guest list; the Austro-Hungarian ambassador, the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, Lord Curzon, the Marquis of Titchfield, Lord and Lady Salisbury and ex-Prime Minister Arthur Balfour. During his stay the Archduke had a brush with death which could have turned these later events on their head. As recalled in his memoirs Men, Women and Things, the Duke of Portland was out shooting pheasants with Franz Ferdinand when:

"One of the loaders fell down. This caused both barrels of the gun he was carrying to be discharged, the shot passing within a few feet of the archduke and myself. I have often wondered whether the Great War might not have been averted, or at least postponed, had the archduke met his death then and not at Sarajevo the following year."

Despite the narrow escape, the couple stayed for a week before continuing their travels.

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Manors

  • Welbeck Abbey was the seat of the Duke of Portland.  Much of the structure is below ground level.
     
  • William STANDEN, son of Elia STANDEN, was a lustre mounter who installed the chandeliers in the Duke of Portland's Welbeck Abbey ballroom.
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Maps

  • See our Maps page for additional resources.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK564742 (Lat/Lon: 53.261811, -1.155945), Welbeck which are provided by:

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Military History

  • After the Second World War, Welbeck House was leased to the Ministry of Defense and operated as "Welbeck College," an army training college until 2005.
     
  • There is a Roll of Honour framed and mounted in the Welbeck Club of the Welbeck Estate.
     
  • There is a Roll of Honour bronze memorial in the chapel at the Welbeck Estate. Many of the names are the same.
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Military Records

The names on the Welbeck Estate Roll of Honour (these appear to be the men who died) are:

  1. Frank Adams
  2. William Beaumont
  3. John Everett
  4. Harold Fenwick
  5. Francis William Fletcher
  6. Reginald Forster
  7. Cyril Rupert Hancock
  8. Lester Staples Holloway
  9. Alfred Jennings
  10. William Johnson
  11. William Herbert Keel
  12. George Marples
  13. Sydney Albert Millar
  14. Joe Maxwell Moore
  15. Charles Osborne
  16. John Payne
  17. Arthur Acquila Williams
  18. Arthur Charles Willies
  19. Joseph Henry Willies

The names on the Welbeck Estate Chapel bronze Roll of Honour are:

  1. Frank Adams
  2. John Henry Allcock
  3. Reginald John L Anstey
  4. William Beaumont
  5. Ernest Walter Charter
  6. Henry Charter
  7. Joseph Dolby
  8. Joseph Eaton
  9. John Everett
  10. Harold Fenwick
  11. Francis William Fletcher
  12. Reginald Forster
  13. Harold Green
  14. George Henry Hack
  15. Cyril Rupert Hancock
  16. Alfred Hill
  17. Lester Staples Holloway
  18. William Hugh Mcintosh Hotson
  19. Alfred Jennings
  20. William Johnson
  21. William Herbert Keel
  22. James Liley
  23. George Marples
  24. James Richard Mellish
  25. James Mennie
  26. James Halley Michie
  27. Sydney Albert Millar
  28. Thomas Milner
  29. George Henry Moore
  30. Leonard Moore
  31. Charles Osborne
  32. John Payne
  33. Edgar Pogson
  34. John George Hill Roberts
  35. John Henry Rowland
  36. Albert Edward Sale
  37. Harry Saunders
  38. Bertie Skelton
  39. Dent Stokeld
  40. Arthur Stubbings
  41. Arthur Acquila Williams
  42. Ernest Williams
  43. Arthur Charles Willies
  44. Joseph Henry Willies
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Politics & Government

  • This place was an ancient extra-parochial area in Nottinghamshire and became a modern Civil Parish around 1862.
     
  • This place was a part of the ancient parish of Cuckney.
     
  • The parish was in the Hatfield division of the ancient Bassetlaw Wapentake or Hundred in the northern section of the county.
     
  • District governance is provided by the Bassetlaw District Council.
     
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Poor Houses, Poor Law

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

 YearInhabitants
180166
184186
186112
187149
188172
189171
190197
1911104
192177
1931120