Author Archives: miltonabbashistorygroup

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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St Samson of Dol

Also spelled St Sampson. In a recent article in Current Archaeology (373, April 2021), Chris Catling has written an article on the evidence of early Christianity in western Britain. St Samson was extremely important for Milton Abbey, or at least … Continue reading

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Mount Pleasant, Dorchester

Not Milton Abbas, but some news which may be of interest to those interested in prehistory and archaeology is a new study of Mount Pleasant, Dorchester. I have found this enigmatic henge the most interesting of all prehistoric monuments since … Continue reading

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Your family history!

Tired of reading books about kings and queens, the rich and famous? Fed up with Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn? The lives of ordinary people are just as tragic, difficult, triumphant and revelationary. How your ancestors survived the traumas and … Continue reading

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