Thistleton, Rutland Genealogy

Guide to Thistleton, Rutland ancestry, family history, and genealogy. Parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
THISTLETON (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Oakham, hundred of Alstoe, county of Rutland,8 miles NNE from Oakham.

The Victoria County History of Thistleton (1935) is available. It includes a history of the manor, church, advowson, and charities.

THISTLETON, a parish in Oakham district, Rutland; 4¼ miles ENE of Ashwell railway station, and 7½ NNE of Oakham.

Additional information:'

Although the church is of medieval origin only the 14th century, three stage tower, complete with gargoyles, remains. The church has been rebuilt in the late 18th by the Brudenells, and the rector, the Rev Sir J Henry Fludyer, Bart to whose family the elaborate chancel is probably a memorial. The newer building is fourteenth century in style however the shape of the apse is, unusually, half an octagon externally and a semi circular shape inside. Most of the internal fittings, including the font and the organ, are relatively modern.

RAF Cottesmore
Close by, to the south of the village, lies the RAF Cottesmore airfield established a few years before WWII and an important base ever since. On 8 September 1943 the United States Army Air Forces took the facilities over, under the designation USAAF Station 489, flying troop transport aircraft. In anticipation of the station's future use by airborne forces, 32 Horsa gliders were delivered for storage in July 1943.

The USAAF Ninth Air Force, with a mission to support the ground forces, was about to be re-deployed to the UK and IX Troop Carrier Command was established immediately at Cottesmore after this became effective on 16 October 1943. The IX Troop Carrier Command was basically a re-designation of the existing headquarters at the station until facilities at Grantham were ready. Early in February 1944, the USAAF began movement of the 52nd Troop Carrier Wing and its groups from Sicily to the Grantham area, the wing headquarters reaching Cottesmore on the 17th. This HQ soon transferred to nearby Exton Hall, a mansion surrounded by parkland.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church Records
Thistleton parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

To find the names of the neighboring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.


 * Records are also available at the Record Office for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland and the Northamptonshire Record Office.

Poor Law Unions

 * Oakham Poor Law Union, Rutland

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Rutland Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain