Measham

The Measham Library is on Thorpe Road off High Street. It is a branch of the Leicester County Council Library System. It is open 4 days each week (verify by phone if you are visiting). The Library has sections for Local Studies and Family History research.

Phillip JEFFREY has a photograph of the Measham Library on Geo-graph, taken in January, 2014.

• The cemetery of 2 acres opened in 1880.
   
• The cemetery is administered by the Parish Council.

• The parish was in the Measham subdistrict of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Registration District.
   
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
   

• The Anglican parish church for Measham is dedicated to Saint Lawrence.
   
• The church building apparently dates from at least 1220.
   
• This chancel was renovated in 1843.
   
• The church seats just over 600.
   
• Michael FAHERTY has a photograph of St. Lawrence's tower on Geo-graph, taken in October, 2012.
   

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1683 for baptisms and 1677 for burials.
   
• The church was in the rural deanery of Akeley (western division).
   
• The Wesleyan Methodists had a chapel here before 1871 and built a new one here in 1906.
   
• Alan MURRAY-RUST has a photograph of the Methodist chapel on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2010.
   
• The Primitive Methodists had a chapel built in 1859.
   
• The Baptists had a chapel founded in 1811 and rebuilt in 1841.
   
• The Roman Catholic Church of St. Charles Borremeo was built in 1881.
   

• Civil Registration started in July, 1837.
   
• The parish was in the Measham subdistrict of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Registration District.

"MEASHAM is a village and parish, in the hundred of Repton and Gresley, county of Derby, though locally situate in the western division of the hundred of Goscote, county of Leicester, about three miles and a half S.S.W. from Ashby-de-la-Zouch, the canal of which name passes through the village; and the parish is bounded on the west, north, and south, by the river Mease. There are potteries in the neighbourhood, which give employment to some of the inhabitants, but the majority are employed in agriculture, and many farmers and graziers of great respectability are resident in the parish."[Description from Pigot and Co's Commercial Directory for Derbyshire, 1835]

"MEASHAM, a village, a township, a parish, and a sub-district, in the district of Ashby-de-le-Zouch, and county of Derby. The village stands on the Ashby-de-la-Zouch canal, near the river Mease and the boundary with Leicestershire, 3½ miles SW by S of Ashby-de-la-Zouch r. station; and has a post office under Atherstone. -The township comprises 1,490 acres. Real property, £6,301. Pop., 1,569. Houses, 337. The parish contains also parts of the hamlets of Donisthorpe and Oakthorpe. Real property, with the rest of Donisthorpe and Oakthorpe, £8,624. Pop., 1,639. Houses, 348. The property is divided among a few. Measham Hall is the seat of W. Abney, Esq.
The manufacture of silk fabrics and small ware is largely carried on; and there are a steam-boiler and chain manufactory, and a small brewery. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £97. Patron, the Marquis of Hastings.
The church is good; and there are chapels for Baptists and Wesleyans, a large national school, and charities £325. -The sub-district contains only the Measham township portion of the parish, but contains also three entire parishes and part of another electorally in Leicestershire, and another parish partly in Derby and partly in Leicester. Acres, 9,457. Pop. 4,109. Houses, 917."
[John Marius WILSON's "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales", 1870-72]

Christine JOHNSTONE has a photograph of the Village Sign on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2011.

• Geograph
• Flickr

• Rosemary LOCKIE provides a transcription of the Measham entry from Pigot & Co's Commercial Directory for Derbyshire (1835).
   
• Ann ANDREWS provides a transcription of the Measham entry from Kelly's Directory of the Counties of Derby, Notts, Leicester and Rutland (1891).

• The transcription of the section for Measham from the National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin HINSON.

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from Measham to another place.

Alan MURRAY-RUST has a photograph of The White Swan Pub. on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2010.

Measham Hall stands about 1.5 miles east of the town of Measham. It was the seat of William W. ABNEY in 1857.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK334121 (Lat/Lon: 52.705544, -1.507119), Measham which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

You can find a photograph of the Measham War Memorial at Military Images.Net.

Measham also has a Garden of Remembrance as photographed by Tim Heaton in February, 2019.

The names on the War Memorial (all are beleived killed in action) are:

1. ATKINS John, Sapper 96478, 171st Tunnelling Coy, Royal Engineers
2. BAILEY Alfred, Private 16081, 8th Leicestershire Regt.BELCHER Fred Joseph. Lance Sergeant 40777, 1st Leicestershire Regt.
3. BLAKE Nigel Everard, Sapper 25034, 2nd Field Squadron, Royal Engineers
4. BLAKE William Gildea, Sergeant 14459
5. BUCK Joseph, Lance Corporal 40588, 12th West Yorkshire Regt.
6. BUCKLEY Ernest, Private 18751, 1st Leicestershire Regt.
7. CALLAGHAN John, Private 16295, 6th Leicestershire Regt.
8. CLIFF Arthur, Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry [CWGC have no Arthur Cliff/Cliffe serving with this unit.)
9. COLVER George Henry James, Private 1720, 1/5th Leicestershire Regt.
10. EDMUNDS William. Henry. Sergeant 1244, 1st Royal Warwickshire Regt.
11. ENSOR Richard, Sergeant 16294, 6th Leicestershire Regt.
12. FOWKES Harry Arthur, Lance Corporal 341653, 1/5th Leicestershire Regt.
13. HART Benjamin, Private 76407, 20th Manchester Regt.
14. HART Ernest Harry, Gunner 184500, 1 Battery, 117th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery
15. HART John Charles, Able Seaman R/4810, Howe Battalion, Royal Navy Division, RNVR
16. HART Joseph, Private 241873, 2/5th Battalion, Leicestershire Regt.
17. HARVEY Percy James, Private 4090, 1/6th North Staffordshire Regt.
18. HASKEW Clement Charles, Flight Cadet 1958 Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, formerly 80549, 3rd Durham Light Infantry
19. ISON John Edward, Private 19277, 2nd Eastern Ontario Regt. Canada
20. JERRAMS Thomas Henry, Sapper 14998, 18th Fortress Coy, Royal Engineers
21. JOHNSON Arthur, Rifleman A/200206, 10th Kings Royal Rifle Corps
22. KENT Reuben , Private 29000, 7th Leicestershire Regt.
23. KINSON Thomas, Private 17255, 7th Leicestershire Regt.
24. LEE Bernard, Private 30065, 2nd East Leicestershire Regt.
25. LORD Joseph, Lance Corporal 18018, 8th Leicestershire Regt.
26. MEAKIN John William, Lance Corporal 12039, 1/5th Leicestershire Regt.
27. MEEK Joseph, Private 66105, 2nd Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
28. NEWBOLD George John, Lance Corporal S/5705, 11th Rifle Brigade
29. NEWBOLD Harry Buckley, Private 202495, Royal Berkshire Regt.
30. PARRITT Frederick Charles Higham, Private 34709, 10th Worcestershire Regt.
31. RAGAN James, Private 240705, 2/5th Yorkshire Light Infantry
32. RILEY Charles Herbert, Able Seaman, R/4705, A Coy, Hood Battalion, Royal Navy Division, RNVR
33. ROACH George Edward, Private 47036, 6th Leicestershire Regt.
34. SAMSON Ambrose John, Private 13643, C Coy, 7th Leicestershire Regt.
35. THOMSON John 2nd Lieutenant, 5th Kings Liverpool Regt.
36. TURNBULL James , Private 12154, 3rd Coldstream Guards
37. VEASEY Francis Leonard, Private 40200, 8th Leicestershire Regt.
38. WADDELL David Adams, Lieutenant, 4th Gordon Highlannder
39. WHETTON James, Private 15537, 6th Leicestershire Regt.
40. WILEMAN Evan ,Private 16845, 15th Royal Warwickshire Regt., brother of Michael who also fell
41. WILEMAN James Henry, Private 2731, 1/5th Leicestershire Regt.
42. WILEMAN John, Private 44926, 43rd Machine Gun Corps, formerly 4552, Leicestershire Regt.
43. WILEMAN Michael Ernest, Private 241661, C Coy, 7th Leicestershire Regt.
    
    World War II:
    
44. BOURNE Albert Ernest, Guardsman 2621834, 5th Grenadier Guards
45. CRISP Charles Starkey, Lance Corporal 4856576, 6 Air Bourne Division, Provost Coy, Corps of Military Police
46. GLOVER Frederick Joseph, 5th East Yorkshire Regt.
47. HARRIS Frederick, Sergeant 563782, 228 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
48. HARRISON Frederick John, Signalman 2349325, Royal Corps of Signals
49. HAYNES Walter Edward, Private 5388106, 7th Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Regt.
50. PEPPER Thomas Richard, Private 7374283, Royal Army Medical Corps
51. SMITH George Bernard, Aircraftman 1st Class, 1069715 Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
52. SPARE Wilfred Arthur, Lance Corporal 14381495, 2nd Cameronians Scottish Rifles
53. TIMMS Cyril, Flying Officer 179873, 114 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
54. WILLIAMSON William H, Home Guard [Not listed with the CWGC

Jane TAYLOR in Redcar contributes this snippet from the Derby Mercury of 3 November 1803, MARRIED: "On Tuesday se'nnight, at Measham, in this county, Mr. STEVENSON of Snareston, to Miss JEWSBURY, of the former place."

Jane TAYLOR also notes that the 19 April 1804 issue tells us: MARRIED: "On Wednesday, at Measham, in this county, Mr. Ed. MAMMATT, to Miss SIMMONDS, daughter of the late John SIMMONDS Esq. and grand-daughter of Joseph WILKES,. Esq. of Measham."

Jane TAYLOR in Redcar has this announcement from the Derby Mercury of 6 September, 1804: "MISC: A few days since John SMITH, a labouring man, being employed to load some timber upon a drug at Measham, in this county, was unfortunately so much injured thereby as to occasion his death."

Jane also notes that the April 30 1801 edition has this entry: "DIED: At her house, at Measham Lodge, in this county, on Monday the 6th instant, in her 70th year of her age, Mrs Mary BAKER, widow of the late John BAKER, of Wolverhampton, gentleman."

Measham produced a large number of bricks for local construction. At first, the quality of the bricks was not very good and in 1480 William HASTINGS, the 1st Baron Hastings, brought in Italian brickmakers to supervise the process and improve the quality.

• This place was an ancient parish in Derbyshire and it became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
   
• This parish was in the ancient Repton and Greasley Hundred (or Wapentake).
   
• In May, 1897, civil administration of this parish was passed to Leicestershire.
   
• In March, 1884, this parish was reduced in size to enlarge Ravenstone parish with the hamlet of Snibstone.
   
• In April, 1936, this parish was reduced by 487 acres to enlarge Ashby de la Zouch.
   
• You may contact the Measham Parish Council regarding civic or political matters, but they are NOT funded to help you with family history research.
   
• District governance is provided by the North West Leicestershire District Council.

• Bastardy cases would be heard in the Swadlincote petty session hearings.
   
• As a result of the 1834 Poorlaw Amendment Act, this parish became a member of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Poorlaw Union.

Year	Inhabitants
1801	1,417
1841	1,615
1851	1,294
1861	1,190
1871	1,226
1881	1,153
1891	489
1901	473
1911	443
1921	441
1931	508
1951	405
1961	433

• A Public Elementary School (mixed) was built here in 1829 and was enlarged in 1837 and 1896 to hold 270 students.
   
• A Council School (held at the Baptist Assembly Hall) was opened for 120 infants in 1844.  This is often called a British School.
   
• A Catholic School (mixed and infants) was opened for 130 students prior to 1900.