Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Find English parish information

A post on the APG mailing list led me to the "A Vision of Britain Through Time" web site. The site includes historical statistics about farming and land use, from 1801 to 2001. There are also links to Travellers Tales, Historical Maps and Census Reports.

If you know the parish or village that you want information on, you can input it into the Search box on the main page and obtain information about the place. For instance, I input Hilperton and received:

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

"HILPERTON, or HILPRINGTON, a village and a parish in Melksham district, Wilts. The village stands near the Somerset and Weymouth railway and the Kennet and Avon canal, 1½ mile NNE of Trowbridge; and has a post office under Trowbridge. The parish comprises 1, 078 acres. Real property, £3, 238. Pop. in 1851, 996; in 1861, 880. Houses, 209. The manufacture of cloth is carried on; and the decrease of pop. was caused by the substitution of power looms for hand looms. The property is divided among a few. The manor belongs to Walter Long, Esq. The living is a rectory, united with the rectory of Whaddon, in the diocese of Salisbury. Value, £418.* Patron, W. Long, Esq. The church is good, and has a tower. There are chapels for Baptists and Wesleyans, and a national school."

Interesting, and useful in understanding the circumstances of life in Hilperton in the 1851 to 1861 time frame, which is when my Richman family came to America and settled in Windham County, Connecticut.

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