Lymington Hampshire Family History Guide

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Lymington is a chapelry of Boldre Ancient Parish in Hampshire.

Other places in the parish include: Croydon and Buckland.

Parish registers begin:

  • Parish registers: 1658
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: 1780

Nonconformists include: Baptist, Countess of Huntingdon Methodist, Independent Methodist, Independent/Congregational, Irvingite/Catholic Apostolic Church, Particular Baptist, Roman Catholic, and Wesleyan Methodist.

Adjacent Parishes

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

LYMINGTON, a town, a parish, a sub-district, a district, and a division, in Hants. The town stands on the W bank of the Lymington river, contiguous to the Solent, at the terminus of a railway 4 miles long from the Southwestern at Brockenhurst, and 16 miles SW by S of Southampton.

It was known at Domesday as Leutune. The manor belonged then to Roger de Ivry; passed to the De Reeder’s, and to Isabella de Fortihus; and went afterwards to the Courtenays, whose three golden bezants still figure in the town’s arms. A large ancient earth-work, called the Buckland Rings, in the form of an irregular circle, surrounded by a deep trench and a double vallum, and defended on two sides by outworks, is about a mile to the N; and so many as about 200 lbs. of Roman coins were found in 1744.

Salt works, at the mouth of the creek, probably date as far back as the ancient British times; adjoin large heaps of wood ashes, which are supposed to have been the refuse of workingS by the ancient Britons; were of so much importance in the time of Henry I. as to give the town then a good export trade in salt; continued till the latter part of last century to be carried on in so many as forty salterns, and to yield a very large amount of duty; fell gradually off till they employed no more than two or three salterns; and are noted for the production also of Epsom salts, or sulphate of magnesia.

An import trade in French wines was considerable in the time of Henry I.; and so important was the port in the time of Edward III., that it then fitted out and manned nine ships for the defence of the coast, while Portsmouth fitted out and manned only four. Guidott, the physician, was a native of the town; and the Earl of Portsmouth takes from it the title of Viscount.

The town consists chiefly of one long street, intersected at right angles by several smaller ones; has, of late years, undergone very considerable improvement; and contains many neat and commodious houses. The part near the shore commands very fine views; the beach affords good facilities for salt-water bathing; the environs are studded with handsome villas and mansions; the neighbourhood is highly beautiful, and gives amlple scope for pleasant excursions; a neck of land 4 miles to the S, terminates in the attractions of Hurst Castle; and steamers, during summer, go twice a week to Ryde and Portsmouth, and several times a day to Yarmouth and Cowes.

The chief public buildings are a town hall, assembly rooms, a theatre, a literary institute, a bridge, a church, two dissenting chapels, an endowed school, and a workhouse. The church is a brick and stone structure of different periods, much patched and altered from its original character; has a fine E window, restored in 1865, and enriched with an ancient and costly glass painting of the Crucifixion; has also an embattled tower; and contains a monumental bust ofColborne by Rysbrack, and a monument to Capt. Rogers by Bacon.

The town has a head post office, a railway station with telegraph, two banking offices, and two chief inns; is a seat of petty sessions, a polling-place, a sub-port to Southampton, and a coast-guard station; and publishes a weekly newspaper. A weekly market is held on Saturday; fairs are held on 12 and 13 May, and 2 and 3 October: and ship-building and a coasting-trade are carried on.

The harbour has a commodious quay and storerooms; admits vessels of 300 tons; and prior to 1731, when damage was done to it by the construction of a dam to the N of the town, admitted vessels of 500 tons. The entrance of the creek has good and facile anchorage in from 4 to 6 fathoms, and is a favourite shelter for vessels belonging to the Royal Yacht squadron.

The town is a borough by prescription; sent two members to parliament, till 1867, but now sends only one; and, under the new act, is governed by a mayor, 4 aldermen, and 12 councillors. Corporation income in 1845, £292. Amount of property and income tax charged in 1863, £1,420. Electors in 1833,249; in 1868,349. The municipal or old borough comprises only the portion of Lymington parish called Hundred Acres; but the parliamentary borough includes the entire parish of Lymington and part of the parish of Boldre.

Real property of the m. borough in 1860, £7,553; of the rest of the borough, £8,722, of which £115 were in gas-works. Pop. of the m. borough in 1851, 2,651; in 1861, 2,621. Houses, 483. Pop. of the p. borough in 1851, 5,282: in 1861, 5,179. Houses, 1,025.

The parish includes the tythings of Buckland and Croydon; and comprises 1,497 acres of land, and 880 of water. Pop. in 1841, 4,182; in 1861, 4,098. Houses, 802. The living is a p. curacy, annexed to the vicarage of Boldre, in the diocese of Winchester.

The sub-district contains also the parishes of Boldre and Brockenhurst, and parts of the New Forest extra-parochial tracts of Lady-Cross-walk, Whitley-Ridge-walk, Rhinefieldwalk, and Wilverley-walk. Acres, 24,267. Pop., 8,070. Houses, 1,622.

The district comprehends also the subdistrict of Milford, containing the parishes of Milford, Hordle, and Milton, and part of the extra-parochial tract of Wilverley-walk. Acres of the district, 42,169. Poorrates in 1863, £6,692. Pop. in 1851,12,153; in 1861, 12,094. Houses, 2,479.

Marriages in 1863,68; births, 332, of which 32 were illegitimate; deaths, 181,of which 51 were at ages under 5 years, and 10 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 836; births, 3,355; deaths, 2,149.

The places of worship, in 1851, were 11 of the Church of England, with 5,603 sittings; 3 of Independents, with 934 s.; 7 of Baptists, with 1,818 s.; 2 of Lady Huntingdon’s Connexion, with 242 s.; 2 of Primitive Methodists, with 246 s.; 1 of the Catholic and Apostolic church, with 192 s.; and 1 of Roman Catholics, with 30 attendants.

The schools were 20 public day-schools, with 1,582 scholars; 22 private day-schools, with 550 s.; 16 Sunday schools, with 1,521 s.; and 2 evening schools for adults, with 37 s.

The inmates of the workhouse, at the census of 1861, were 151.

The division contains the hundreds of Christchurch-upper half and New Forest-upper half. Acres, 40,599. Pop. in 1851,9,502. Houses, 1,919.

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

Parish Records

School Records

Discover your ancestors who went to school in England and Wales between 1870 and 1914. Explore their school records to find their birth date, admission year and the school they attended. You may also be able to discover their parents’ names, father’s occupation, exam results and any illnesses that led to absence from school.

Lymington National School 1857-1872 Admissions

Lymington National School 1857-1872 Logs

Bankrupts

Below is a list of people that were declared bankrupt between 1820 and 1843 extracted from The Bankrupt Directory; George Elwick; London; Simpkin, Marshall and Co.; 1843.

Smith William Lymington Hants surgeon and apothecary March 29 1833

Administration

  • County: Hampshire
  • Civil Registration District: Lymington
  • Probate Court: Courts of the Bishop (Episcopal Consistory) and Archdeaconry of Winchester
  • Diocese: Winchester
  • Rural Deanery: Fordingbridge
  • Poor Law Union: Lymington
  • Hundred: New Forest
  • Province: Canterbury