West Orchard Dorset Family History Guide

West Orchard is a chapelry of Fontmell Magna Ancient Parish in Dorset.

Alternative names:

Parish church:

Parish registers begin:

• Parish registers: 1754
• Bishop’s Transcripts: 1731

Nonconformists include: Wesleyan Methodist

Adjacent Parishes

• Childe Okeford
• East Orchard
• Manston
• Marnhull
• Iwerne Courtney
• Margaret Marsh

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

ORCHARD (West), a parish in Shaftesbury district, Dorset; on an affluent of the river Stour, 3 miles NE of Sturminster-Newton r. station, and 5¼ SSW of Shaftesbury-Post-town, Sturminster-Newton, under Blandford. Acres, 617. Real property, with East Orchard, £3, 269. Pop. of W. O. alone, 103. Houses, 24. The living is a p. curacy, annexed to the rectory of Fontmell-Magna, in the diocese of Salisbury.

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

Parish Records

FamilySearch

England, Dorset, West Orchard – Census ( 1 )
Census returns for West Orchard, 1841-1891
Author: Great Britain. Census Office

England, Dorset, West Orchard – Church records ( 2 )
Bishop’s transcripts for East Orchard and West Orchard., 1731-1880
Author: Church of England. Parish Church of East Orchard (Dorsetshire); Church of England. Parish Church of West Orchard (Dorsetshire)

Parish registers for West Orchard, 1814-1839
Author: Church of England. Parish Church of West Orchard (Dorsetshire); Dorset Record Office

England, Dorset, West Orchard – History ( 1 )
A quick look at West Orchard
Author: Nineham, Alan

England, Dorset, West Orchard – Poorhouses, poor law, etc. ( 1 )
Overseers account books, 1738-1828
Author: West Orchard (Dorset)

Administration

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