Bagshaw's 1846 Trade Directory of Derbyshire
Measham township and populous village on the Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Tamworth road, 3½ miles S.S.W. from Ashby, contains 1,573 acres of land. Rateable value, £4,281. The executors of the Marquis of Hastings, George Moore, Esq., and Edward Stevenson, Esq., are the owners. The church, St Lawrence, a perpetual curacy, value £97, was given to Repton priory, but afterwards belonged to the priory of Gresley ; has been augmented with £1,600, parliamentary grant. The executors of the Marquis are patrons and impropriators, and the Rev. Jonathan Kirk Stubbs, M.A. incumbent. The church was repewed and a gallery erected, in 1842, at a cost of £1,600, raised by subscription, aided by a grant, and now contains 616 sittings, of which 316 are free. It is very tastefully fitted up, and the windows are all adorned with stained glass. The Parsonage is a neat house, west of the church. The Ashby de la Zouch canal passes through the village, at the south end. Mr Edward Meeson has two factories employed in manufacturing smallwares, of which one is worked by a steam engine of 30 horses power, the other by water. Upwards of 300 persons are employed. On the 30th November, 1836, a tape factory was burnt down ; and on the front of an adjoining corn mill, which was preserved, a tablet is placed in remembrance of Sir George Rowland Beaumont, who resided at Cole Orton Hall, in Leicestershire, and brought his own fire engine and servants, and assisted in extinguishing the fire. In 1310, a market on Tuesday and a fair for three days at the festival of the Translation of St Thomas the Martyr, were granted to William de Beresford, who then possessed a manor in Measham. A market house was built not many years ago, by Joseph Wilkes, but was afterwards converted into a dwelling house, and the market discontinued. Fairs are still held here, on the 1st of May and the 1st Monday in November. The Methodists have a large brick chapel, and the General Baptists a handsome chapel, which was rebuilt in 1841, at a cost of £1,000, and contains 700 sittings. A national school for boys and girls was built in 1829, and an infant school in 1833 ; upwards of 200 attend. A British school was established in 1844, and is held in the General Baptist school room ; 78 boys and girls attend.
Measham Hall, a neat mansion, 1½ mile E. from Measham, stands on a lawn of 30 acres, and is the seat of William Wootten Abney, Esq.
Measham Field House, the handsome residence of Robert Choyce Esq., 1 mile N.E. from Measham. It was erected in 1800, by William Abney, Esq.
DONISTHORPE AND OAKTHORPE, township - for which, see Church Gresley parish.
CHARITIES. - Thomas Monk, in 1713, devised all his messuages, lands, &c., situate in the liberties of Austrey, in the county of Warwick, and Blaby and Countesthorpe, in the county of Leicestershire. Of this charity, of which the income is about £271 19s. 9d., Measham is entitled to a residue ; and in 1826, £20 was paid for the poor. Sometimes £4 or £5 has been paid to Measham school.
Susanna and Deborah Hall, in 1660, gave James Abney and two others £200 in trust for their use during their lives, and afterwards to the poor of Measham, from which, eventually, Waltonway close, in Donisthorpe, and three poles of Mease Meadow, and the outdrift every fourth year, and two beast gates in the said meadow, were conveyed, in 1682, to the poor of Measham ; and in 1688, Pockey close, in Waltonway, and two leys and a rood of land in a close called the vale of Belvoir, and four poles in Mease Meadow, and two beast gates in Branbury Meadow, and one beast gate in the Peat Leys pasture, in Donisthorpe, were conveyed for the use of the poor. The above premises let for £36 6s. 11d. per annum. This, with other charities, is distributed to the poor on St. Thomas’s day.
Henry Hullock, Dean of Rochester, in 1704, gave to the poor of Measham £6 a-year, issuing out of his lands at Ringwold, near Dover. In 1805, the estate was sold, and this rent charge secured on a part of it purchased by Mr John Upton. The yearly sum of £5 4s. is received, the residue, 16s., being deducted for land tax.
In a book containing the account of the charities of this parish, there is an entry dated 23d December 1805, stating that the trustees of Mr Wilkes’ estate paid that day £50, (save £1 to the executor of William Hill,) as the bequest of the late William Hill of Leicester to the poor of Measham, with interest, amounting to £22 15s., and also £20 for “principal money lodges in his hands,” with 20s. for one year’s interest thereon, making together £92 15s. Of this sum, £90 was, in 1805, placed in the Ashby and Measham bank, and in 1806 was added thereto from the general fund of the charities. In 1818, the sum of £45 was placed in the same bank, the amount of a legacy given by the will of Sarah Hill. The interest on the above sums £7 5s., per annum, is distributed on St Thomas’s day. In the parliamentary returns of 1786, a donation of £30 to the poor is mentioned, in the hands of the minister and inhabitants. This sum is lent to the trustees of the Hinckley turnpike road, at 5 per cent., which is regularly paid, and distributed with the others. Mrs Salisbury is supposed to have left £60 for a school, but we have not been able to obtain any information to assist us in tracing the gift.
POST OFFICE. - Miss Caroline Proudman, postmistress. Letters by mail gig from Atherstone
Abney Wm. Wootten, Esq., The Hall
Adcock Thomas, corn miller, Steam mill
Bamford James, currier and leather cutter
Bennet Enoch, basket maker
Bonass Mrs Ann
Cape Thomas, draper
Chamberlain Thomas, burnishing stone mkr
Choyce Robert, Esq. Field house
Edwards Rev. Wm. Baptist minister
Fairweather John, canal agent
Fisher Samuel, plumber and glazier
Harding John, saddler
Hudson James, gardener, The hall
Ironmonger John, coalmaster
Meeson Edwd. Esq. smallware manufacturer
Parker Philip, confectioner
Perkins John, chair turner
Rutter Catherine, straw hat maker
Shipley John, brickmaker
Staples Rev. George, Baptist minister
Stevenson Edward, Esq.
Stubbs Rev. Jon. Kirk, M.A. Parsonage house
Taylor Miss Fanny
Wade Mrs Sarah
Whitworth John, wheelwright
Whyman Wm. hair dresser and trunk maker
Wileman Wm. senr. bricklayer
Wileman Wm. junr. stone engraver
INNS & TAVERNS
Boot, Wm. Wright
Queen’s Head, Samuel Cooper
Union, Samuel Fisher
White Hart, John Walker
White Swan, Joseph Baxter
William IV, Thomas Spencer
BEERHOUSES
Ball John
Nichols Thomas
Whetton Thomas, and gardener
ACADEMIES
British, Henry Smith
National, Jph. Pickard, and registrar for Measham dist.
National Infant, Martha Allerton
BAKERS
Ball John
Sharpe Wm
Whitworth John
BLACKSMITHS
Boss Wm. and boiler maker
Litherland Edward
Rice John
BOOT & SHOE MAKERS
Jones Thomas
Moseley John
Smith Joseph
Wileman Henry
Wright Benjamin
BUTCHERS
Bonsell James, and grazier
Dennies Henry
Dennies Henry, jun.
Ison Henry
FARMERS
Ball John
German, Geo. Field
Harding John
Ironmonger John
Mason James
Reson Mary
Walker Benjamin
Yeomans Samuel, and maltster
GROCERS
Buckley Martha
Jewsbury John
Orgill Henry
Proudman Caroline
Shipley John
Whitworth Ann
Whitworth John
JOINER
Lilley John
BUILDERS & TIMBER MERCHANTS
Lilley Joseph & Geo
TAILORS & DRAPERS
Hastelow Thomas
Kallem Wm
Proudman Thomas
SURGEONS
Ball John, Woodhouse
Pearce Wm. Wall
COACHES & CARRIERS
Coach from Ashby to Coventry daily
Omnibus from Ashby to Birmingham, Monday, Thursday and Saturday
WATER CONVEYANCE
To London, from Trading Port, Ashby-de-la-Zouch canal, twice a-week. - John Ball conveys the goods to Ashby.
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