Place:Hamble le Rice, Hampshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Hamble le Rice is a village and civil parish in the Eastleigh District of Hampshire, England. It is best known for being an aircraft training centre during the Second World War and is a popular yachting location.

Hamble le Rice is located on the south coast of England, southeast of Southampton. The village can also be described as situated at the tip of the Hamble Peninsula (between the Southampton Water and the River Hamble), and is bounded landwards by the parishes of Netley and Bursledon.

Although previously known as "Hamble", "Hamelea", "Hammel", and "Ham-en-le-Rice", the village's official name is now Hamble le Rice. The name "Hamble" is still in common usage.

The area is home to the remains of a defensive structure dating to the reign of King Henry VIII. Known as St. Andrews Castle, investigations suggest that it consisted of a rectangular structure fronted by a gun-platform with a semi-circular layout. The whole thing was protected by a moat with a further two gun-platforms mounted on the counterscarp. The structure was intact as late as the early 17th century.

Hamble le Rice was the home of an aircraft training centre during World War II for aircraft including the Spitfire, the Lancaster and the Wellington. The south airfield has long since disappeared and the north airfield has been reduced in size to make way for housing.

Hamble le Rice was an ancient parish in the Mainsbridge Hundred and a civil parish. It was part of the South Stoneham Rural District from 1894 until 1932 and of the Winchester Rural District from 1932 until 1974. It is now part of the non-metropolitan Eastleigh District.

Research Tips

• GENUKI has a list of archive holders in Hampshire including the Hampshire Record Office, various museums in Portsmouth and Southhampton, the Isle of Wight Record Office and Archives.
• The Hampshire Online Parish Clerk project has a large collection of transcriptions from Parish Registers across Hampshire.
• A listing of all the Registration Districts in England and Wales since their introduction in 1837 together with tables listing the parishes that were part of each district and the time period covered, along with detailed notes on changes of parish name, mergers, etc. Do respect the copyright on this material.
• The three-storey City Museum in Winchester covers the Iron Age and Roman periods, the Middle Ages, and the Victorian period.
• Volumes in The Victoria County History Series are available for Hampshire through British History Online. There are three volumes and the county is covered by parishes within the old divisions of "hundreds".

A collection of maps on the A Vision of Britain through Time website illustrating the English county of Hampshire over the period 1832-1932 (the last two are expandible):

• The Hundreds of Hampshire, a map from HMSO Boundary Commissioners, dated 1832
• Hampshire showing parishes in their Rural Districts as of 1900, a map from the Ordnance Survey
• Hampshire showing parishes in their Rural Districts after the alterations of 1932, a map from the Ordnance Survey

• A group of maps of the post-1974 municipal districts or boroughs of Hampshire on Wikipedia Commons
• Victoria County History of Hampshire, volume 3, chapter on Hamble le Rice.