Category Archives: Milton Abbas
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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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
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
Who built the new village of Milton Abbas?
It is not certain who was responsible for the design and building of the new “model” village of Milton Abbas. The names that have vied for credit are Sir William Chambers, one of Lord Milton’s architects, and Lancelot “Capability” Brown, … Continue reading
Bills and Receipts of the Overseers of the Poor of Milton Abbas 1787- 1823
In the Dorset History Centre there are some 140 pieces of paper catalogued at PE-MIL/OV/2. These are the bills and receipts of our Overseers of the Poor. We are in the process of transcribing them. They provide further information to … Continue reading
Posted in local history, Milton Abbas, social history
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Milton Abbas shoemaker
We have the account book of Joseph Rogers 1830 – 1839. It gives a unique glimpse into the life of a shoe maker in a rural Dorset village. The handwriting of Joseph Rogers, is small and cramped and this was … Continue reading
Posted in Milton Abbas, social history, transcription
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Transcribing
This is a recent example of the kind of transcription that takes so many hours of painstaking work. It is a tiny part of the will of Richard Squybbe 1591. At least it is in English! Some wills of this … Continue reading
Posted in Milton Abbas, transcription
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A House Through Time, BBC2
We have been watching David Olusoga’s third series on ‘A House Through Time’ broadcast on BBC2 This is a fascinating programme showing how good research can bring to life ordinary people and how they faced tragedies in a particular household. … Continue reading
Posted in local history, Milton Abbas, social history
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