GenUKI Contents

Cambridgeshire

ASHLEY

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"ASHLEY, a parish in the hundred of Cheveley, in the county of Cambridge, 3½ miles to the east of Newmarket, and 63 from London. It includes the hamlet of Silverley. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Ely, value with the vicarage of Silverley, £150, in the patronage of the Hon. W. R. J. North. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, was built in 1845. There is a national school. The Hon. W. H. North is lord of the manor.

• "SILVERLEY, a hamlet in the parish of Ashley, hundred of Cheveley, county Cambridge, 4 miles south-east of Newmarket, its post town. It was formerly a separate parish. There is no village, only two or three farmhouses. The living is a vicarage annexed to the rectory of Ashley, in the diocese of Ely. The church is in ruins."

[The above was transcribed (and edited) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868]
by Colin Hinson ©2023

Cemeteries

• The Monumental Inscriptions in the graveyards of Ashley cum Silverley are recorded in the Cambridge Records Office for the years 1826-1984.

Census

• The Census Records from 1841, 1861-1891 can be found in the Cambridgeshire Archives. In addition the 1861 Census for Ashley cum Silverley is available in full transcript form, on microfiche, from the Cambridgeshire Family History Society Publications list (search) Note: The original 1851 Census was lost at source and will never be available.

Churches

• The following Churches have their own websites:
  • St. Mary's Church, Ashley

Church History

• The church of St. Mary, opened in November, 1845, is a cruciform building of flint with Bath stone dressings, and consists of chancel, nave and transepts and a western turret containing one bell: the church was restored in 1907 at a cost of £700, and affords 300 sittings. The register dates from the year 1746. The living is a rectory, with the nominal vicarage of Silverley annexed, joint net yearly value £350, including 273 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the Earl of Harrowby, and held since 1904 by the Rev. William George Dodd M.A. of Quenns' College, Cambridge and rural dean of Cheveley.
• The church of All Saints, SILVERLEY, about 1 mile distant, is in ruins, the tower only remaining. There was also a older church on the Dalham road, but few traces of which now exist. [Kelly's Directory - 1929]
• There is further information and photographs of the Church on Ben and Mark's Cambridgeshire Churches website.

Church Records

• Church of England
  • Ashley, St Mary: Records of baptisms 1746-1939, marriages 1746-1836, burials 1746-1925 and banns for 1755-1915 reside in the Cambridgeshire Archives.The Bishop's Transcripts for the years 1563-1640 and 1663-1836 can be found in the Suffolk Record Office, microfilm copies being available in the Cambridgeshire Archives for the years 1563-1640 and 1663-99. Indexes to transcripts exist in Cambridgeshire Archives for the years 1746-1840 and for Bishops' Transcripts 1630-40, 1663-1747. Parish register transcripts of Ashley St Mary, 1630-1840, are available in full transcript form, on microfiche, from the
  Cambridgeshire Family History Society Publications list (search)
• Clare Grant has transcribed the parish records and will be happy to look up records for anyone if they email her.
• Methodist
  • Wesleyan Methodist Church: Records exist at the Cambridgeshire Archives for baptisms 1891-1916 and for the Mildenhall Wesleyan Circuit (originally Mildenhall Division of Thetford Circuit) of which Ashley cum Silverley is part.
  • Primitive Methodist Church: Records exist at the Cambridgeshire Archives for the Wickhambrook Primitive Circuit of which Ashley cum Silverley is part.

Gazetteers

• A transcript of the Ashley parish entries from Samuel Lewis's 1835 Topographical Dictionary of England,
• A transcript of the Ashley parish entries from 1929 Kellys Directory of Cambridgeshire

Military History

• The Ashley-cum-Silverley War Memorial has been transcribed and and the men researched, it stands in the grounds of the church to the right of the main gate as you enter.

Probate Records

• Two courts cover Ashley cum Silverley as follows:
• Archdeaconry Court of Sudbury: Jurisidiction in various parishes including Ashley cum Silverley which were in the diocese of Norwich until they were transferred to the diocese of Ely in 1837.
• Records are held at the Suffolk Record Office covering Wills, 1439-1857, administrations, 1544-46, 1568-93, 1605-12, 1630-1858, inventories, 1573-76, 1617, 1625, 1640, 1650-1747. Index to wills to 1535 are published in Proceedings of Suffolk Institute of Archaeology, volume 12 and of all records to 1700 in the Index Library of the British Records Society, volumes 95 and 96.
• Consistory Court of Norwich: Records are held at the Norfolk Record Office. Wills 1370-1857, administrations, 1370-1499, 1549-1640, 1666-1857, inventories, 1584-1846. There is an index to wills covering 1370-1857 published by the Norfolk Record Society, volumes 16, 21, 34, 38 and 47.

Taxation

• Land Tax: records were compiled afresh each year and contain the names of owners and occupiers in each parish, but usually there is no address or place name. These records reside in the Cambridgeshire Archives for the years 1710, 1798 (on microfilm), 1829-32, 1878-88 and 1931-48.