Allington, Dorset Family History Guide

Allington is an Ancient Parish in the county of Dorset within the borough of Bridport.

Alternative names:

Parish church: St. Swithin

Parish registers begin:

  • Parish registers: 1570
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: 1732

Nonconformists include:

Adjacent Parishes

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

ALLINGTON, a parish in Bridport district, Dorset; on the river Brit, and on the Roman road from Old Sarum to Silchester, adjacent to the Bridport railway, ½ a mile N of Bridport. Post Town, Bridport. Acres, 594. Real property, £5,511. Pop., 1,915. Houses, 376. The property is subdivided.

The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury. Value, £103. Patron, the Rev. H. Fox. The church is good. There was formerly a lepers’ hospital, founded in 1553. A fair is held on the first Wednesday in Aug.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848

ALLINGTON (St. Swithin), a parish, in the union of Bridport, hundred of Godderthorne, Bridport division of Dorset, ¾ of a mile (N. W.) from Bridport; containing 1545 inhabitants.

This parish, formerly a chapelry in that of Bridport, comprises 582a. 3r. 5p., of which 281 acres are arable, 249 pasture, and 51 homesteads. The river Brid, or Birt, runs through the locality, which may be considered as a continuation of the town of Bridport, and is within the limits of the borough.

Great quantities of hemp and flax are raised in the vicinity, and a manufacture of home and sail cloth is carried on, affording employment to a considerable number of persons. A fair for cheese and pedlery is held on the first Wednesday in August.

The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Rev. Henry Fox: the tithes have been commuted for £190. The church is in the Grecian style; it was erected in 1827, and contains 800 sittings, of which 400 are free.

An hospital for lepers, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, existed here, which, at the Dissolution in 1553, was valued at £7. 8. 4. An ancestor of the celebrated John Wesley was ejected from the ministry of Allington as a nonjuror.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848

Parish Records

Parish Registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, Census and may other types of transcriptions are available on the Dorset OPC pages

FamilySearch

Cemeteries

Monumental inscriptions, St. Swithuns Church, Allington, Dorset Author: Faulkner, Pat; Faulkner, Harold; Somerset and Dorset Family History Society. West Dorset Group

Census

Census returns for Allington, 1841-1891

Church Records

Bishop’s transcripts for Allington, 1732-1879 Author: Church of England. Parish Church of Allington (Dorsetshire)

Churchwardens’ accounts, 1796-1937 Author: Church of England. Parish Church of Allington (Dorsetshire)

Marriages at Allington, 1570-1812 Author: Church of England. Parish Church of Allington (Dorsetshire)

Parish registers for Allington, 1570-1993 Author: Church of England. Parish Church of Allington (Dorsetshire); Dorset Record Office

Land and property

Overseers records, 1698-1864 Author: Allington (Dorset)

Occupations

Overseers records, 1698-1864 Author: Allington (Dorset)

Poorhouses & Poor Law

Overseers records, 1698-1864 Author: Allington (Dorset)

Schools

School records for Allington, 1834-1951 Author: Allington National School (Allington, Dorsetshire)

Taxation

Overseers records, 1698-1864 Author: Allington (Dorset)

Directories

An Address from the County of Dorset on the Elementary Education Bill, May 9 1870

To the Right Honourable The EARL de GREY and RIPON President of Her Majesty’s Privy Council and To the Right Honourable W. E. FORSTER MP Vice President

We the undersigned Clergy and Laity of the Archdeaconry and County of Dorset, accepting the principle of the Elementary Education Bill now before Parliament, by which in existing Schools perfect liberty of Religious Teaching is guaranteed to the Managers, together with perfect liberty of withdrawal from such Teaching to the Parents of the Children, do earnestly deprecate any Alteration in the Bill which may affect such principle.

At the same time we are prepared to concede, if necessary, the substitution for the so-called Conscience Clause, of an Enactment which shall confine the Teaching of the Formularies of any Denomination to the first part of the School Hours.

ALLINGTON

Henry Fox, incumbent
Edward W. May, M.A. curate
Charles Edmunds, church warden
James Fry, church warden
Joseph Balson, schoolmaster
George Balson, baker
J. Hoare, grocer
Henry Addington Bayley, deputy commanding general
George Allen, baker and grocer
W. Stone, organist

Source: An Address from the County of Dorset on the Elementary Education Bill, May 9 1870 by Dorset. Published by H. Spicer, Dorset County Chronicle Office, 1870.

Administration

  • County: Dorset
  • Civil Registration District: Bridport
  • Probate Court: Court of the Archdeaconry of Dorset
  • Diocese: Salisbury
  • Rural Deanery: Bridport
  • Poor Law Union: Bridport
  • Hundred: Bridport Borough; Godderthorne
  • Province: Canterbury