Author Archives: miltonabbashistorygroup
John HAM – the Millionaire of Milton Abbas
John Ham was baptised on 21 May 1760, the youngest son of James Hobell and Charity Ham (neé Gould, later Hallett). His parents were married in 1747. They had a daughter, Elizabeth, born in 1749 but she only lived for … Continue reading
Posted in family history, local history, Milton Abbas
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Changing views of ‘Justice’
Our Old Town Project group have been busy researching our rural Dorset village over the past few years. We have found out the things that you won’t find in the history books – forget mad King George and his profligate … Continue reading
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More News!
Do you know how people lived in Georgian Britain? Most of them didn’t go to Bath to take the waters, nor live in towns. Most of them, 80%, worked on the land, were very poorly paid and lived in crowded … Continue reading
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New information revealed
We are working our way through transcribing the Surveyors of the Highways records that we have in our possession. They show both the people paying the poor rates and their assessment, and the accounts which give the names of the … Continue reading
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Overseers of the Poor Account Books
The Milton Abbas Local History Group have transcribed 60 000 records of all their Overseers of the Poor Account books from 1771 to 1836, and we are finding they are a fantastic resource for researching local and family history. They … Continue reading
Exhibition 28 – 30 August 2021
At last! Now we can hold our exhibition. We have so much to show that it will be in both St James Church, Milton Abbas and the Reading Rooms, Milton Abbas. Lots more details here. We do hope you can … Continue reading
You must be interested in history or you wouldn’t be looking at our website!
Researching history can be lonely, we know what it is like, we have been doing it a long time! But it is exciting too – the chase for that vital piece of information, that brick wall broken through, that old … Continue reading
Posted in family history, local history, Milton Abbas, social history
Tagged history, Milton Abbas, research
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Stop Press! Latest Findings
From a lease of nearly 250 years ago! We have recently transcribed this lease which is in the Dorset History Centre. It confirms that in 1773 the trustees of the school were active and looking after the free grammar school … Continue reading
Posted in Damer, exhibitions, grammar school, local history, Milton Abbas, social history, transcription
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Poor House or Work House?
Did you know that there was a Poor House in the new village of Milton Abbas? This was not called a work house in our records until 1804, and was built after the houses in the Street but before the … Continue reading
Grist
Every parish had its Overseers of the Poor who were responsible for raising the ‘poor rates’ and for the payments to the poor. The agricultural labourers (ag labs) in Dorset at this time were some of the poorest in the … Continue reading
