Place:West Grimstead, Wiltshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

West Grimstead is a village in Grimstead civil parish, on the River Dun in Wiltshire, England, about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) southeast of Salisbury.

Until the early 20th century, much of West Grimstead was owned by landed gentry and was part of larger estates. There are early references to the De Grimstede family, the village passing from them through the male line first to the Perots, then to the Berkeleys; next through the female line to the Breretons; again by the male line to Sir William Compton of Compton Wynyates. West Grimstead was then sold by Richard Compton to Sir Stephen Fox, later Earl of Ilchester. West Grimstead remained part of the Ilchester estate through the 18th century until it was sold to the 2nd Earl of Radnor in 1801 at the time of the parish's Inclosure Act. In 1916 the whole village was sold by the Longford Estate, mainly to sitting tenants.

The Salisbury and Southampton Canal was built close to the north of the village. In 1803 the section eastward from West Grimstead was opened, linking to the Andover Canal near Kimbridge in Hampshire; the canal was never completed as far as Salisbury and closed in 1806.

Since 1934 the village has, together with East Grimstead, elected Grimstead parish council. It is in the area of Wiltshire Council unitary authority, which performs all significant local government functions.

Research Tips

• 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.