Bosmere & Claydon Hundred

"BOSMERE, a lake, a district, and a hundred in Suffolk. The lake lies 1 mile SE of Needham-Market; is an expansion of the river Gipping; covers about 30 acres; and abounds with fish. Bosmere Hall, the seat of the Hall family, is adjacent. The district comprehends the subdistrict of Needham-Market, containing the parishes of Great Blakenham, Baylham, Barking, Creeting-St. Mary, Creeting-All-Saints, Creeting-St. Olave, Little Stonham, Earl Stonham, Badley, Battisford, Ringshall, Great Bricett, Willisham, Offton, Nettlestead, Somersham, Little Blakenham, Bramford, and Flowton; and the subdistrict of Coddenham, containing the parishes of Coddenham, Gosbeck, Hemingstone, Ash-Bocking, Swilland, Henley, Akenham, Claydon, Barham, Ashfield-with-Thorpe, Framsden, Helmingham, Pettaugh, Winston, Debenham, Mickfield, and Stonham-Aspall, and the parochial chapelry of Crowfield.

Acres, 57,899. Poor rates in 1866, £8,376. Pop. in 1861, 16,174. Houses, 3,547. Marriages in 1866, 124; births, 481,-of which 46 were illegitimate; deaths, 309,-of which 91 were at ages under 5 years, and 11 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 1,084; births, 5,231; deaths, 3,131. The places of worship in 1851 were 39 of the Church of England, with 6,823 sittings; 8 of Independents, with 3,065 s.; 7 of Baptists, with 1,171 s.; 1 of Quakers, with 200 s.; 1 of Wesleyan Methodists, with 84 s.; and 2 of Primitive Methodists, with 114 s. The schools were 24 public day schools, with 1,169 scholars; 37 private day schools, with 697 s.; 41 Sunday schools, with 2,103 s.; and 2 evening schools for adults, with 63 s. The workhouse is in Barham. The hundred bears the name of Bosmere and Claydon; and is mainly identical with the district, but of less extent. Acres, 49,331. Pop., 13,128. Houses, 2,848."

(From John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72).)

"BOSMERE, lakelet, formed by river Gipping, 1 mile SE. of Needham Market, E. Suffolk."

(From John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887).)

Civil Registration

In 1836, White's Description of the Poor Law Unions and Registration Districts shows this Hundred to be served by the Registration District of Bosmere & Claydon.

BOSMERE & CLAYDON in 1836 - 39 parishes comprising all the parishes in the Hundred of that name, except Whitton and Westerfield which are mostly within the Liberty of the Borough of Ipswich and form part of the Ipswich Union. Bosmere and Claydon Union also includes the five parishes of Thredling Hundred namely Debenham, Ashfield with Thorpe, Framsden, Pettaugh and Winston. The Union is divided into 2 sub-districts :- Coddenham and Needham Market.

See also Suffolk Registration Districts.

Historical Geography

Historical information about boundaries and administrative areas for Bosmere & Claydon Hundred is available from A Vision of Britain.

Poor Houses, Poor Law

The Workhouse site has an interesting description of Bosmere & Claydon Workhouse.