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- source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
- source: Family History Library Catalog
- source: Family History Library Catalog
- the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia
Freefolk is a village in Hampshire, England. It lies to the west and almost directly alongside the village of Laverstoke; the two villages are separated by the River Test. In 1932 Freefolk civil parish was abolished and the area became part of the civil parish of Laverstoke. Since 1974 Laverstoke parish has been within the Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.
The village is about 1.5 miles (2 km) east of Whitchurch and 1 mile (2 km) west of Overton on the B3400 road between Basingstoke and Andover.
The Victoria County History of Hampshire, volume 4 states that Freefolk was a chapelry dependent upon Whitchurch until it was united to Laverstoke in 1872." and also remarks that there are no registers; they were returned in 1831 as included in those of Laverstoke. (These were the earlier registers. Those for the 19th century are indexed under Freefolk.) References are made to both Freefolk and Freefolk Manor as being the name of the parish and/or the village. According to the Victoria County History, Freefolk Manor was the main household and enterprise (the making of banknotes) within the parish.
A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Freefolk Manor from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:
- "FREEFOLK MANOR, a parish in Whitchurch [registration] district, Hants; on the Southwestern railway, 1½ mile ENE of Whitchurch. It has a post office, of the name of Freefolk, under Mitcheldever station. Acres: 800. Real property: £1,459. Population: 66. Houses: 13. Here are paper mills, where the paper used for the notes of the Bank of England has been made from the time of George I. Freefolk House is a chief residence; and Freefolk Wood is a meet for the Vine hounds. The living is a donative in the diocese of Winchester. Value: £60. Patron: M. Portal, Esq."
Research Tips
- Victoria County History of Hampshire, volume 4, chapter on Freefolk.
- 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):
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- A group of maps of the post-1974 municipal districts or boroughs of Hampshire on Wikipedia Commons
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