| Name | Alton Pancras |
| Alt names | Alton-Pancras | source: Family History Library Catalog | | Altone | source: Domesday Book (1985) p 93 |
| Type | Ancient parish, Civil parish |
| Coordinates | 50.817°N 2.433°W |
| Located in | Dorset, England |
| See also | Alton Pancras Liberty, Dorset, England | |liberty in which it was the sole component | | Cerne Rural, Dorset, England | rural district 1894-1933 | | Dorchester Rural, Dorset, England | rural district 1933-1974 | | West Dorset District, Dorset, England | district municipality covering the area 1974-2019 |
- the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia
Alton Pancras (#1 on map) is a civil parish and a small village in Dorset, England. In the UK census of 2011 it had a population of 175.
The village church is dedicated to Saint Pancras, which provides part of the village name. The parish was formerly a liberty, containing only the parish itself.
The parish covers 920 hectares (2,280 acres) at the head of the valley of the River Piddle. The valley is on the dip slope of the Dorset Downs and drains from north to south. Several small side combes extend east and west. In the east the parish includes part of a tributary valley at Watcombe Bottom, north of Plush (located in Buckland Newton parish (#3)), and in the northeast it extends north of the escarpment to Alton Common in the Blackmore Vale. The underlying geology of the parish is mostly chalk. Alton Pancras village is sited in the valley near the source of the River Piddle at an altitude of about 125 metres (410 ft). The altitude of the parish varies between about 255 metres (837 ft) at its highest point on the hills to the west, to about 110 metres (360 ft) at its lowest point where the river leaves the parish in the south.
Alton Pancras village is situated on the B3143 road, which connects it to the county town of Dorchester 9 miles (14 km) to the south. Other local travel links include Maiden Newton railway station 7 miles (11 km) to the southwest, and Bournemouth International Airport 26 miles (42 km) to the east.
For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Alton Pancras.
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Governance
Alton Pancras was originally a parish in the Alton Pancras Liberty, one of the early subdivisions of the county of Dorset. From 1894 until 1933 it was part of the Cerne Rural District, and from 1933 until 1974 part of the Dorchester Rural District. (Cerne Rural District was abolished in 1933.)
In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, all urban and rural districts across England were abolished and counties were reorganized into metropolitan and non-metropolitan districts. Alton Pancras joined the non-metropolitan West Dorset District.
Under another set of local government reforms adopted on 1 April 2019, West Dorset District was abolished, and the County of Dorset (excluding Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole) became a single unitary authority. The area is now administered by Dorset Council.
Dorset Research Tips
One of the many maps available on the website A Vision of Britain through Time is one from the Ordnance Survey Series of 1900 illustrating the parish boundaries of Dorset at the turn of the 20th century. This map blows up to show all parishes and many of the small villages and hamlets. The internal boundaries on this map are the rural districts which are indicated in WeRelate's "See Also" box for the place concerned (unless it is an urban parish).
The following websites have pages explaining their provisions in WeRelate's Repository Section. Some provide free online databases. Some are linked to Ancestry.
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- GENUKI makes a great many suggestions as to other websites with worthwhile information about Dorset, but it has left the 19th century descriptions of each of the ecclesiastical parishes to UK Genealogy Archives which presents facts differently. Neither GENUKI or UK Genealogy Archives deal with the more modern civil parishes.
- FamilySearch Wiki provides a similar information service to GENUKI which may be more up-to-date, but UK Genealogy Archives may prove more helpful.
- A Vision of Britain through Time has
- organization charts of the hierarchies of parishes within hundreds, registration districts and rural and urban districts up to 1974
- excerpts from gazetteers of the late 19th century outlining individual towns and parishes
- reviews of population through the time period 1800-1960
- The contents of the Victoria County History is provided by British History Online for many English counties, but not for Dorset. Instead they have provided the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments of England (RCHME Inventory Volumes) published in 1972 in five volumes covering the county in geographical areas. Thes articles describe buildings rather than towns and villages, but may be of use in researching a manor-owning family.
- More local sources can often be found by referring to "What Links Here" in the column on the left.
Censuses
UK censuses are taken every ten years in the years ending in "1". There was no census in 1941. Details are not made available for 100 years after a census. A number of online databases (both paid and free) provide transcriptions of censuses up to 1911. Most of these provide information for an individual or a family. Many also provide images of the originals and thus allow browsing of a page or perhaps a whole enumeration district. The 1921 census was published in January 2022. It is available at FindMyPast with a charge additional to the usual subscrition to view the manuscript entries (there is no extra charge to view the index).
The Dorset Online Parish Clerks provides a good number of 19th century census transcriptions as well as lists of baptisms, marriages and burials as recorded in the parish. The formal Home Office Numbers (those starting with HO used in 1841 and 1851), the Registrar General Numbers (starting with RG in later decades, and the Enumeration District Numbers are included. There is an illustrated article to introduce each parish.
The 1841 census differed from the later ones in two different ways.
- The question "where born" was to be answered either with the words "in county" (or "y") or "out of county" (or "n") with perhaps a more specific place in the case of those born abroad.
- Ages for adults (usually those over 15, though some enumerators gave specific ages up to 20) were rounded down to the nearest 5 years. (i.e., for persons aged 15 years and under 20 write 15; 20 years and under 25 write 20; 25 years and under 30 write 25; and so on up to the eldest interval.
From 1851 onwards people were asked for the county and civil parish in which they were born whether in or out of the county, and ages were expressed exactly (in months for infants).
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