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Brinsley

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"BRINSLEY, or Brunsley, a hamlet and a chapelry in Greasley parish, Notts. The hamlet lies on the river Erewash, the Nottingham canal, and the Midland railway, near High-Park, 7 miles SE by S of Alfreton; and has a post office, of the name of Brinsley, under Alfreton. Pop., 1,139; chiefly stocking makers and colliers. The chapelry till very recently was annexed to the vicarage of Greasley, but is now a separate benefice. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lincoln. Value, £133. Patron, the Duke of Newcastle. The church was built in 1862. There are two Wesleyan chapels."
[John Marius WILSON's "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales," 1870-72]

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Archives & Libraries

The Library at Nottingham will prove useful in your research.

The is also a county library at Eastwood that has a local history section and a selection of local newspapers.

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Census

  • The parish was in the Greasley sub-district of the Basford Registration District.
     
  • The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
     
Census
Year
Piece No.
1841H.O. 107 / 857
1851H.O. 107 / 2125
1871R.G. 10 / 3477
1891R.G. 12 / 2661
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Church History

  • There are two churches in the Brinsley area.
     
  • The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint James the Great.
     
  • The church was built in 1837-38.
     
  • The church was restored in 1877.
     
  • The church seats 300.
     
  • The ecclesiastical parish was formed in 1861 from Greasley.
     
  • There is a book entitled "BRINSLEY AND ST JAMES THE GREAT," by Ztan Zmith (yes, the spelling is correct). Mr. Zmith has published some 23 books about the area.
     
  • Bill HENDERSON has a photograph of The Church of St James The Great on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2008.
     
  • The Anglican church at Underwood is dedicated to Saint Michael and All Angels.
     
  • The church was built in 1890.
     
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Church Records

  • The Anglican parish register dates from 1861.
     
  • The church was in the rural deanery of Mansfield.
     
  • The Wesleyan Methodists had two chapels here before 1881.
     
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Civil Registration

  • The parish was in the Greasley sub-district of the Basford Registration District.
     
  • Civil Registration began in July, 1837, but entries before 1896 may be listed as Greasley parish.
     
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Description & Travel

Brinsley is both a township and a parish. The parish lies 137 miles north of London, 7 miles north-west of Nottingham and 2.5 miles north-west of Greasley. The parish borders Derbyshire on the west and covers 958 acres.

If you are planning a visit:

  • By automobile, take the M1 motorway to the A610 trunk road at roundabout 27 and turn west. At the second roundabout, just past Underwood, you should be on the A608. Brinsley is just ahead, on the right.
     
  • Alternatively, by automobile, you can take the A610 just past Eastwood and turn right onto the A608.
     
  • Brinsley Parish Hall on Cordy Lane is available for wedding hire or an event like a large family reunion.
     
You can see pictures of Brinsley which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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History

  • In Saxon times this area was densely forested.
     
  • Brune was a Saxon who settled here, drained the marshy land and cleared some of the forest away.
     
  • The Plague came to this area in 1666.
     
  • Coal seams used to be on the surface in the parish, so, naturally, a lot of coal was mined here starting in the late 18th century.
     
  • D.H. LAWRENCE's father, Arthur, worked in Brinsley pit and this locality was the scene for some of LAWRENCE's books and short stories.
     
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Maps

  • See our Maps page for additional resources.
     

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK457496 (Lat/Lon: 53.041327, -1.31978), Brinsley which are provided by:

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Military History

The Nottinghamshire county website tells us that:

"A wrought iron screen in the chancel of St James the Great was erected in memory of the parishioners who died in the Great War (Faculty dated 20 October 1919). A brass plaque commemorates the gift: 'The chancel screen was erected by public subscription in memory of the following parishioners who laid down their lives in the Great War (names). 'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.'".
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Military Records

These are the names on the War Memorial as provided by the Nottinghamshire county Memorial website.

  1. William Dunn
  2. Gerald Gilbourne
  3. Walter Gilbourne
  4. Arthur Hatton
  5. John William Hollis
  6. Edgar Jepson
  7. John Newton
  8. Jeremiah Paxton
  9. Thomas William Pryor
  10. Cecil Smalley
  11. Samuel Vickers

Harold WARD lost his life during World War II.

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Politics & Government

  • This place was an ancient extra parocial area of county Nottingham and became a modern Civil Parish in April, 1896. The parish was created from part of Greasley Civil Parish.
     
  • This parish was in the Broxtowe Hundred or Wapentake in the northern division of the county.
     
  • The Parish Council has a website with information about the parish. NOTE: They are NOT staffed to help with family history searches.
     
  • District governance is provided by the Broxtowe Borough Council.
     
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Poor Houses, Poor Law

  • Bastardy cases would be heard in the Nottingham petty session hearings.
     
  • Because of the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, this parish became a part of the Basford Poor Law Union when the parish was formed in 1896.
     
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Population

 YearInhabitants
18611,139
18711,316
18911,423
19011,418
19111,691
19211,953
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Schools

  • A National School (mixed) was erected here in 1869 and enlarged in 1892 to serve up to 350 students.