Sheepshed, Leicestershire Genealogy

England   Leicestershire

Parish History
Sheepshed is an Ancient Parish in the county of Leicestershire. Other places in the parish include: Charnwood Forest.

SHEEPSHEAD (St. Botolph), a parish, in the union of Loughborough, hundred of West Goscote,N. division of the county of Leicester, 4 miles (W.)from Loughborough; containing 3872 inhabitants. The parish comprises 5171a. 2r. 28p. The soil is chiefly marl, clay, and a mixed loam; the surface is hilly, and the substratum contains blue granite, which is quarried for building and for the roads. The manufacture of hosiery affords employment to more than 500 families. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8. 10. 10.; net income, £350, arising from 181 acres of land; patron, C. M. Phillips, Esq. The church is an ancient structure in the early English style. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyans. John Lambert, Esq., bequeathed houses andland, now producing £60 per annum, for charitable uses.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 58-66. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51267 Date accessed: 16 May 2011.

In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Shepshed like this:

SHEEPSHED, a village and a parish in Loughborough district, Leicester. The village stands on an affluent of the river Soar, within the N E side of Charnwood forest, 4½ miles W of Loughborough r. station; and has a post-office‡ under Loughborough, and an old cross. The parish comprises 5, 280 acres. Real property, £10, 556. Pop. in 1851, 3, 759; in 1861, 3, 626. Houses, 788. The manor belonged formerly to the Gordons, and belongs now to A. L. M. De Lisle, Esq. The surface is partly hilly, rising toward the mountainous ground of High Peak; and includes Beacon hill and Bardon hill, which command very extensive views. Framework-knitting, glove-making, needle-making, and granite-working are carried on. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Peterborough. Value, £391.* Patron, A. L. M. De Lisle, Esq. The church is old, and has a tower and spire. There are chapels for Particular Baptists, General Baptists, Wesleyans, and Roman Catholics, a national school, and some charities.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
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Census records
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Poor Law Unions
Loughborough Poor Law Union, Leicestershire

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Leicestershire Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
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