The OPC is Lyn Brown
Semley In Years Gone By Gallery Semley Today Photo Gallery
Contiguous Parishes (Our Neighbours)
Donhead St. Andrew – Donhead St. Mary – Motcombe (DOR) – Sedgehill – Tisbury with Wardour
Websites of Interest
Semley Community History – Semley History
Parish Church of St. Leonard
St. Leonard’s Gallery St. Leonard’s Interior Gallery St. Leonard’s Churchyard Gallery
Church Backed Charities and Funding
Church Assets & Holdings
Church Officials
Rectors
Churchyard
Churchyard Memorial Inscriptions (95% complete)
Parish Register Transcripts
Baptisms
1600-1699 1700-1749 1750-1799 1800-1824 1825-1849 1850-1874 1875-1899 1900-1924 (Incomplete)
Marriages
Burials
1600-1699 1700-1749 1750-1799 1800-1849 1850-1899
Parish Registers Held at WSHC
Baptisms 1709-1916
Marriages 1709-1995
Burials 1708-1889
Parish History
Semley, a parish in the hundred of Chalk, county Wilts, 3 miles North of Shaftesbury, its post town, and 4 South West of Hindon. It is a station on the Salisbury and Yeovil line of railway. The village, which is considerable, is situated in a valley, and is wholly agricultural. In the southern part of the parish rises Semley Hill, in which the small river Sem has its source. There is a quarry of soft green stone used for building purposes. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £492 10s., and the glebe comprises 101 acres. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Sarum, value £600, in the patronage of Christ Church, Oxford. The church, dedicated to St. Leonard, is an ancient cruciform structure, with a square embattled tower containing four bells. The church was restored in 1846, when a Tisbury stone font was presented by Miss Bennet, of Pyt House. The register dates from 1657. The parochial charities produce about £4 per annum. There is a place of worship for Baptists, also a National school for both sexes. Lord Arundel of Wardour is lord of the manor. Source:- The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) – Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003
Civil Registration
July 1837-March 1936 – Tisbury Registration District April 1936-January 1978 – Mere Registration District January 1978 – Present – Salisbury Registration District New Registrar 1913
Buildings and Land
Landowners
Land Surveys
Maps
Public Houses
Bennett Arms, off A360
This is a 16th century building situated on the Wiltshire/Dorset border near the Saxon hilltop town of Shaftesbury (Dorset). Is popular with ramblers and cyclists.
Railway
Railway Gallery Southern Railways Excursion Advert to Weymouth c1963
Taxes
UK Land Tax Redemption 1798 UK Land Tax Redemption 1799
Crime and Legal Matters
Bastardy
Bastardy Examinations 1852-1854
Driving Offences
Theft
Charge of Receiving Stolen Coal 1877 Theft of the Armstrong Statue 2004
Directories
Education
Emigration and Migration
Employment and Business
Agriculture and Land
Game Notice 1805 Gamekeepers Certificates 1807 Gamekeepers Certificates 1834
Community Services
Police
Wiltshire Constabulary 1858 Metropolitan Police Pensions Record – George Ball 1848-1866
Food and Dairies
Salisbury, Semley & Gillingham Dairies 1890
Situations Vacant
Miscellaneous Documents
Non Conformity and Other Places of Worship
Baptists
Chapel Gallery Chapelyard Gallery
Roman Catholicism
Papist Oath of Allegiance 1792
People and Parish Notables
Accidents and Mysterious Deaths
Associations, Clubs, Organisations and Societies
Benefit & Friendly Societies
Wiltshire Friendly Society Membership 1827-1871 Wilts Working Men’s Benefit Society Festival & Fete 1912
Miscellaneous Clubs
Census Returns Transcripts
1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901
Elections, Polls and Voters Lists
Poll of Freeholders 1772 Poll Book 1818 Poll Book 1865 MP Nominations 2015
Family Notices
Funeral Reports
Ethel Ellen Board 1932 Harold Viney 1949 Albert John Brown 1889
Inquest Reports
Harry Bailey 1896 Thomas Burden or Burton 1868 Edward Haines 1862 Joseph Gray 1819 Alfred Mills 1899 Henry Smith 1861 Charles Vincent 1869
Sport
Horse Racing
Poor Law, Charity and the Workhouse
Probate
Administration Bonds
Inquisitions Post Mortem of Lands Held
Christopher Bennett 1638 Thomas Bennett 1635 John Grove 1629
Parishioners Wills & Inventories
Probate Index – National Archives 1584-1856
Wills Including Beneficiaries int he Parish
Anthony Bennet of Stower Provost, Dorset 1688
War, Conflict and Military Matters
War Memorials & Military Gallery
War Memorial
War Memorial WWI Memorial Plaque Roll of Honour to those Served in WWI & WWII
Boer War
Wiltshire Yeomanry – Volunteers for Active Service 1899
WWI
Books of Remembrance and War Memorials
Diocese of Salisbury Memorial Book 1914-1918
Charity Events
Dance in Aid of Wounded Soldier 1918 Supper for Returned Servicemen 1919
WWII
Acknowledgments
Many thanks to Christine & Ian Scott for providing many of the images in the churchyard gallery and for the information used to create the Churchyard survey
