Bradford Abbas, Dorset Family History Guide

Bradford Abbas is an Ancient Parish in the county of Dorset.

Other places in the parish include: Clifton Maybank.

Alternative names: Bradford Abbas with Clifton Maybank

Parish church: St. Mary

Parish registers begin:

  • Parish registers: 1579
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: 1729

Nonconformists include: Presbyterian

Adjacent Parishes

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

BRADFORD-ABBAS, a village, a parish, and a subdistrict, in Sherborne district, Dorset. The village stands on the river Yeo, adjacent to the Southwestern railway, 2½ miles ESE of Yeovil station, and 3½ SW by W of Sherborne; and has a post office under Sherborne.

The parish comprises 1,139 acres. Real property, £3,055. Pop., 585. Houses, 134. The property is all in one estate. The living is a vicarage, united with the rectory of Clifton-Maybank, in the diocese of Salisbury. Value, £479. Patron, Winchester college. The church is good. An endowed school has £24; and other charities £28.

The subdistrict comprises thirteen parishes. Acres, 12,836. Pop., 3,372. Houses, 738.

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

A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848

BRADFORD-ABBAS (St. Mary), a parish, in the union and hundred of Sherborne, Sherborne division of Dorset, 4 miles (W. S. W.) from Sherborne; containing 652 inhabitants. It comprises 1139a. 1r. 30p., of which 774 acres are arable, 336 pasture, and 29 woodland: the soil is partly of a sandy and partly of a stony nature; the surface is generally hilly, and where flat subject to inundation. The river Ivel passes through.

The living is a vicarage, with which the rectory of Clifton-Mabank was united in 1824, valued in the king’s books at £7. 17. 11., and in the gift of the Warden and Fellows of Winchester College, who exchanged the living of Milbourne-Port for this in 1824. The Marquess of Anglesey has commuted his share of the great tithes for £193. 17. 11.; the Warden and Fellows receive £45, and the vicarial tithes of the parish have been commuted for £156: the glebe belonging to the impropriator comprises nearly nine acres, and that of the vicar nearly 9½.

The church is an elegant structure in the later English style, with a lofty square embattled tower of graceful elevation. The Rev. William Preston, in 1738, gave an estate now worth £24 per annum; and in 1781, Mark West and William Read gave property producing £12. 5. per annum; for which sums children are educated on the national system.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848

Parish Registers

Marriage Allegations

The following people have been recorded in the Hampshire Allegations for Marriage Licences granted by the Bishop of Winchester 1689 to 1837.

Fry, William, of Bradford, co. Dorset, husbandman, & Jane Austin, of Bromley, at Ellingham, 11 July, 1730.

Parish Records

FamilySearch

Census

Census returns for Bradford-Abbas, 1841-1891

Church Records

Bishop’s transcripts for Bradford-Abbas, 1729-1875 Author: Church of England. Parish Church of Bradford-Abbas (Dorsetshire)

Churchwardens’ accounts, 1775-1875 Author: Church of England. Parish Church of Bradford-Abbas (Dorsetshire)

England, Somerset, Banwell, Wesleyan Methodist circuit, Church records, 1838-1897 Author: Wesleyan Methodist Church. Banwell Circuit (Somersetshire); Bristol Record Office (Gloucestershire)

Parish registers for Bradford-Abbas, 1579-1992 Author: Church of England. Parish Church of Bradford-Abbas (Dorsetshire); Dorset Record Office

Parish registers for Clifton-Maybank, 1714-1789 Author: Church of England. Parish Church of Clifton-Maybank (Dorsetshire); Dorset Record Office

History

Bradford Abbas : the history of a Dorset village Author: Garrett, Eric

Poorhouses & Poor Law

Poor law records, 1798-1863 Author: Bradford-Abbas (Dorset)

Public records

Poor law records, 1798-1863 Author: Bradford-Abbas (Dorset)

Schools

Parish registers for Bradford-Abbas, 1579-1992 Author: Church of England. Parish Church of Bradford-Abbas (Dorsetshire); Dorset Record Office

School records for Bradford-Abbas, 1795-1908 Author: Bradford-Abbas School (Bradford-Abbas, Dorsetshire); Dorset Record Office

Directories

Kelly’s Directory of the Leather Trades 1880

BRADFORD ABBAS

Boot & Shoe Makers

Arnold Henry

Pitt John

Smith Mark & Son

Saddler

Rawlings John  

Administration

  • County: Dorset
  • Civil Registration District: Sherborne
  • Probate Court: Court of the Archdeaconry of Dorset
  • Diocese: Salisbury
  • Rural Deanery: Shaftesbury
  • Poor Law Union: Sherborne
  • Hundred: Sherborne
  • Province: Canterbury