Elton

A Description of the Village and Parish

Elton Parish is but of small extent, consisting only of 965 acres, and a small village with 79 inhabitants. It is on the Grantham Road, near the verge of the county, 4 miles east by south of Bingham.

Descent of the Manor

In the Saxon times it was called Ayleton, and was afterwards of the fee of Roger de Busli, who gave it to the Priory of Blyth. At the dissolution it was granted to the family of York, from whom it passed to the Lions, Mores, Collins and Launders, and is now possessed by William Fletcher Norton Norton Esq., who resides in the manor house, a large and handsome mansion.

Religious History and the Church

William Fletcher Norton Norton Esq. is patron of the rectory, which is valued in the King's books at £8 0s 5d, now £286, and is enjoyed by the Rev. Robert Weatherell. The church, dedicated to St Michael, is a small humble edifice, which Thoresby describes as being "dove house topped". The parish was enclosed in 1808, when land was allotted in lieu of all tithes. The feast is on Sunday after old Michaelmas Day.

People and Events

In 1780, the parish clerk found, whilst digging a grave in the churchyard, upwards of 200 silver pennies, of the reign of Henry II and, on taking them to Mrs Collin, then lady of the manor, his honesty was rewarded with a present of £10. In 1784, a blacksmith in Elton purchased a rusty piece of iron, about 2 feet long and 1½ inches in diameter, apparently solid, and which had been used as a pestal upwards of 60 years. Having some doubts about its solidity, he put it into his fire, when it exploded with great force, and a musket ball from within it grazed his side, and lodged in some coals behind him. This surprising accident led to further examination and enquiry, when it was discovered to have been a gun barrel, dug up in the year 1723, but so completely filled with earth and rust that no cavity had ever till then been noticed.

[Transcribed by Clive Henly]

A list of Trade Directories held by libraries in the modern Counties, Metropolitan Districts or Unitary Authorities of Cumbria, Darlington, Co Durham, Gateshead, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, North Tyneside, North Yorkshire, Northumberland, Redcar and Cleveland, South Tyneside, Stockton-on-Tees, Sunderland and York. This includes all or part of the historical counties of Co Durham, Cumberland, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire.

• Directories 1762-1864
• Directories 1865-1894
• Directories 1895-1914
• Directories 1914-1977
• Library Addresses

UK and Ireland: Directories

Directories were published for many large towns from about 1800, aimed at commercial travellers, though some earlier ones exist. A few decades later such publications were produced covering small towns and rural areas. These directories generally provided a brief description of each town or place covered, plus a listing of prominent residents and of the various tradesmen, and in due course were published annually. As the 19th century progressed directories became more and more comprehensive, and can be of considerable help in locating people and tracing their movements. A growing number of these directories are now being made available online or on CD-ROM.

Useful reference books:

Shaw, Gareth and Tipper, Alison. British Directories: A bibliography and guide to directories published in England and Wales (1850-1950) and Scotland (1753-1950)., (1988).

Norton, J. Guide to the National and Provincial Directories of England and Wales, excluding London, published before 1856, Royal Historical Society (1950).

Links:

• Leicester University's Digital Library of Historical Directories - The aim of this project was to make available one directory for each English and Welsh county for the 1850s, 1890s and 1910s. In addition, a sample of directories was made available for the period 1750-1849, and for the 1860s, 1870s, 1880s and 1900s.
• GENFair - listing of trade directories for many counties (CD or Downloadable).
• Protestation Returns are held in the House of Lords Library - "The Protestation Returns are the closest record we have to a census from 1642. If you can trace your ancestors back to 1642, and you know which county and parish they lived in, it may be worth looking to see if their names are in the Protestation Returns."
• The Yellow Pages Archive - the Berkshire Record Office hold the national archive of Yellow Pages telephone directories. 
• British Telecom Archives have a number of record collections of value to genealogists. Of particular value is their extensive collection of Telephone Directories, dating from 1880 to the present day, which are available on microfilm in their public searchroom.
• Residential Number Search allows searches for residential, commercial and freefone telephone numbers.
• Commercial "people finder" services are offered by ukphonebook.com and 192.com.
• Ancestry's (subscription) Schools, Directories & Church Histories people search facility.
• U.K., City and County Directories, 1600s-1900s - Ancestry
• Directories - The Genealogist