Thurlby near Bourne

The Library at Bourne will prove useful in your research.

Julian P. GUFFOGG has a photograph of the church graveyard on Geo-graph, taken in June, 2015.

• The parish was in the Bourne sub-district of the Bourne Registration District.
   
• Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
   
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:

• There has been a Christian Church here since 925 AD. That church was pulled down around the year 1100, except for the tower and a new Norman nave, chancel and aisles were built.
   
• The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Firmin. Some sources give the spelling as St. Fermin.
   
• The Norman chancel was pulled down in 1240. The old nave was extended 18 feet and a new chancel erected. Two porches were added.
   
• In the 14th century, the church tower was extended and a 36 foot spire was added.
   
• The church was restored in 1856.
   
• The church was extensively repaired in 1929.
   
• The church seats 400.
   
• There is a photograph of St. Firmin's Church on the Wendy PARKINSON Church Photos web site.
   
• Here is a photo of St. Firmin's Church, taken by Ron COLE (who retains the copyright):
   

• Parish registers exist from 1575 (one source gives 1560).
   
• Scott ARROL provides us with a list of Early Thurlby Marriages in a Portable Document File format (You'll need Adobe Reader for this).
   
• You may wish to purchase some of the Aveland and Ness Deanery marriage indexes.
   
• The Wesleyan Methodists had a chapel here, built in 1832 and replaced in 1912. Robert HARVEY has a photograph of that chapel on Geo-graph, taken in August, 2020.
   
• The United (Free) Methodists also had a chapel built in 1861. Tim HEATON has a photograph of the original Free Methodist chapel on Geo-graph, taken in November, 2009.
   
• The Particular Baptists had a small chapel built in 1834.
   
• For information and assistance in researching these chapels, see our non-conformist religions page.
   
• Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.

• The parish was in the Bourne sub-district of the Bourne Registration District.
   
• Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which started in July, 1837.

Thurlby is both a village and parish about a mile south of Bourne. Witham on the Hill parish lies to the west and the River Glen forms part of the south-eastern boundary. The area is about 4,000 acres of flat fenland, drained by many small canals.

Othorpe is a very small hamlet 1 mile southwest of the village and Northorpe is a hamlet 1 mile north of the village. If you are planning a visit:

• The Dole Wood Nature Reserve is about one mile southwest of the village and managed by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.
   
• The A15 trunk road runs through the east end of the village itself.
   
• Colin PYLE has a photograph of entering the village from the south on Geo-graph, taken in August, 2016.
   
• Mat FASCIONE has a photograph of the busstop on the green on Geo-graph, takeen in April, 2014.
   
• Mat FASCIONE also has a photograph of a Delaine Company Bus on route 101 on geo-graph, taken in April, 2014.
   
• Stop by the Thurlby Community Center and ask to see the Schedule of Forth-coming events. You may find a conveninet talk on local history or families. Robert HARVEY has a photograph of the Lawrence Park Community Hall on Geo-graph, taken in June, 2019.
   
• Visit our touring page for more sources.

• Geograph
• Flickr

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from Thurlby near Bourne to another place.

• The "Carr Dyke," a canal of Roman origin, runs just a few yards west of the church. The Dyke extends for 56 miles from Peterborough to Lincoln. Richard CROFT has a picture of a portion of the Car Dyke on Geo-graph, taken in October, 2007.
   
• According to White's 1842 Directory of Lincolnshire. races used to be held here on the nearest Monday to Old Michaelmast Day. The directory doesn't tell us what kind of races these were.
   
• The parish was known for its fine oak trees.
   
• In the 1800s bricks were made here.
   
• The Blue Bell Public House (known as just the Bell before 1882) closed before World War I. Here are the names of people associated with the Inn in various directories:

• See our Maps page for additional resources.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference TF105168 (Lat/Lon: 52.73755, -0.364794), Thurlby near Bourne which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

• The name Thurlby is from the Old Scandinavian Thorulfr+by, or "Farmstead of Thorulfr". In the 1086 Domesday Book, the village is given as Turoluesbi.
  ["A Dictionary of English Place-Names," A. D. Mills, Oxford University Press, 1991]

• This place was an ancient parish in Lincolnshire and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
   
• The parish was in the ancient Ness Wapentake in the South Kesteven district and parts of Kesteven.
   
• You may contact the local Parish Council about civic or political issues, but they are NOT staffed to answer family history questions.
   
• For today's local governance, contact the South Kesteven District Council.

• Bastardy cases were heard in the Bourne petty session hearings on Mondays.
   
• In 1769, Ann FISHER left the interest on £100 for the benefit of the poor. It was generally given as bread at Christmas.
   
• As a result of the 1834 Poor law Amendment Act, the parish became part of the Bourne Poor Law Union.
   

Year	Inhabitants
1801	508
1831	632
1841	699
1871	844
1881	814
1891	782
1901	726
1911	756

• A Public Elementary School was built here in 1853, replaced in 1877 and enlarged in 1898 to hold up to 150 children.
   
• Rex NEEDLE has a photograph of the Old School House on Geo-graph, taken in May, 2000.
   
• A School Board was formed in 1875.
   
• For more on researching school records, see our Schools Research page.