Place:Soberton, Hampshire, England

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

Soberton is a village in the Meon Valley, Hampshire, England and is bordered by villages such as Newtown and Droxford. It is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Sudbertone" and "Sudbertune", and comes under the local authority of Winchester District or "City of Winchester" since 1974.

Key features of Soberton include the War Memorial at its centre, the early 16th century Church of St Peter & St Paul and The White Lion, the village's 17th century public house. The church is part of one of the largest ecclesiastical parishes in the UK. The village was part of a well-established smuggling route during the 18th century, and a vault beneath the church was used for the storage of contraband.

Soberton was originally a chapelry of the ancient parish of Meonstoke.

Research Tips

• Victoria County History of Hampshire, volume 3, chapter on Soberton.
• 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