Place:Semley, Wiltshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Semley is a village now in the modern parish of Sedgehill and Semley in Wiltshire, England. The village is about 3 miles (4.8 km) north-east of Shaftesbury in neighbouring Dorset. Semley was originally a separate ancient and civil parish in the Chalk Hundred and the Tisbury Rural District.

Semley seems to have been part of an estate that King Eadwig granted to the Benedictine Wilton Abbey in AD 955. The Abbey retained the manor of Semley until the Dissolution of the Monasteries (circa 1535), when it surrendered all its lands to the Crown. In 1541 Henry VIII granted Semley to Sir Edward Bayntun and his wife Lady Isabel, but in 1572 their son Francis restored it to the Crown.

In the same year Elizabeth I granted Semley to Matthew Arundell of Wardour Castle (about 15 miles (24 km) west of Salisbury, Wilts), who was knighted in 1574. Sir Matthew's son Thomas Arundell was created Baron Arundell of Wardour in 1605. The Wardour estate has held land at Semley ever since, but much has been sold off since 1806.

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Semley. There is further description of transfers of land ownership in Semley over the centuries and also a description of the church and non-conformist chapels.

Research Tips

• Victoria County History - Wiltshire - Vol 13, pp66-79 - Parish: Semley. British History Online. University of London.
• From this Ancestry page you can browse the Wiltshire parishes which have parish register transcripts online, quite often from very early dates. However, reading the early ones requires skill and patience. Transcriptions should also be in FamilySearch.
• A further collection of online source references will be found on the county page for Wiltshire.