Alton Pancras, Dorset Family History Guide
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:
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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
Land and property
Poorhouses & Poor Law
Schools
Taxation
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