Alton Pancras, Dorset Family History Guide

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ALTON PANCRAS is a parish and small village, 8 miles north from Dorchester railway station and 2½ east from Cerne, in the petty sessional division and union of Cerne, Dorchester county court district, diocese of Salisbury, archdeaconry of Dorset, and rural deanery of Whitchurch third portion.

Alternative names:

Parish church: St. Pancratius / St Pancras

Parish registers begin:

  • Parish registers: 1673
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: 1586

Nonconformists include:

Adjacent Parishes

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

ALTON-PANCRAS, a parish and a liberty in Dorchester district, Dorset. The parish lies on the Downs, 2½ miles NE of Cerne-Abbas, and 7 E by S of Evershot r. station. Post Town, Cerne under Dorchester. Acres, 2,243. Real property, £2,642. Pop., 270. Houses, 55. The property is subdivided. The parish is a meet for the Blackmoor harriers. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury. Value, £208. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Salisbury. The church is good. The liberty is co-extensive with the parish.

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

A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848

ALTON-PANCRAS (St. Pancratius), a parish and liberty, in the union of Cerne, Cerne division of Dorset, 8¼ miles (N.) from Dorchester; containing 248 inhabitants. The two manors, or parcels of demesne land, called Alton Borealis and Alton Australis, till lately constituted the endowment of two prebends in the cathedral of Salisbury. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king’s books at £9; net income, £120; patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Salisbury, who are also appropriators. The church is dedicated to St. Pancratius, a nobleman of Phrygia, who suffered martyrdom under Diocletian at Rome in the third century.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848

Parish Registers

Marriages at Alton Pancras 1674 to 1812

Parish Records

FamilySearch

Census

Census returns for Alton-Pancras, 1841-1891

Church Records

Bishop’s transcripts for Alton-Pancras, 1586-1879 Author: Church of England. Parish Church of Alton-Pancras (Dorsetshire)

Churchwardens’ accounts, 1730-1828 Author: Church of England. Parish Church of Alton-Pancras (Dorsetshire)

Marriages at Alton Pancras, 1674-1812 Author: Church of England. Parish Church of Alton-Pancras (Dorsetshire)

Parish registers for Alton-Pancras, 1673-1997 Author: Church of England. Parish Church of Alton-Pancras (Dorsetshire); Dorset Record Office

Land and property

Land tax assessments for Alton-Pancras, 1780-1832 Author: Great Britain. Court of Quarter Sessions of the Peace (Dorset)

Poorhouses & Poor Law

Parish registers for Alton-Pancras, 1673-1997 Author: Church of England. Parish Church of Alton-Pancras (Dorsetshire); Dorset Record Office

Schools

Parish registers for Alton-Pancras, 1673-1997 Author: Church of England. Parish Church of Alton-Pancras (Dorsetshire); Dorset Record Office

Taxation

Land tax assessments for Alton-Pancras, 1780-1832 Author: Great Britain. Court of Quarter Sessions of the Peace (Dorset)

Dorset Historical Directories

Directory Transcriptions

Kelly’s Directory of Dorsetshire 1880

ALTON PANCRAS is a parish and small village, 8 miles north from Dorchester railway station and 2½ east from Cerne, in the petty sessional division and union of Cerne, Dorchester county court district, diocese of Salisbury, archdeaconry of Dorset, and rural deanery of Whitchurch third portion.

Holcomb is half a mile north west

Parish Clerk, George Lovelace

National School, Miss Mary Ann Bailey, mistress

Collard Rev Edwin Curwen vicar

COMMERCIAL

Coombs William bricklayer
Cox Joseph mason

Draper Richard dairyman

Edwards Thomas miller
Elworthy Ann Mrs farmer

Masters Alfred shopkeeper & shoe maker

Staby Charles Brooks farmer

Source: Kelly’s directory of Hampshire, Dorsetshire, Wiltshire (the Isle of Wight, and the Channel Islands).
By Kelly’s directories, ltd · 1880

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.

ALTON PANCRAS

Edwin C Collard, clerk in holy orders

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: Dorchester
  • Probate Court: Court of the Peculiar of the Dean of Salisbury
  • Diocese: Salisbury
  • Rural Deanery: Pre-1847 – None, Post-1846 – Whitchurch
  • Poor Law Union: Cerne
  • Hundred: Alton Pancras Liberty
  • Province: Canterbury