Fenny Bentley, Derbyshire Genealogy

England Derbyshire  Derbyshire Parishes  Fenny Bentley



Parish History
Fenny Bentley St Mary Magdalene is an Ancient Parish.

BENTLEY, FENNY (St. Mary Magdalene), a parish, in the hundred of Wirksworth, S. division of the county of Derby, 2½ miles (N. by W.) from Ashbourn; containing 343 inhabitants. The manor belonged to a branch of the Beresfords of Staffordshire, who settled at this place in the reign of Henry VI. The elder branch of the Beresfords of Bentley, soon became extinct in the male line, and the manor came, by marriage with their heiress, to the Beresfords of Staffordshire, from whom it passed into various hands. Of the manor-house, a castellated mansion, there are still some remains. The parish is situated on the road from Ashbourn to Tissington, and comprises about 1000 acres, mostly good pasture land: there is a limestone-quarry. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £6. 12. 10., and in the gift of the Bishop of Lichfield: the tithes have been commuted for £60, and the glebe consists of 35 acres, with a house. The church is a small structure with a square tower, and has a curious richly-carved screen: it contains a monument, with figures of his sixteen sons and five daughters, to one of the Beresford family, who distinguished himself in the wars with France, and died in 1473.

From: 'Bentham - Berkeley', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 210-214. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50793 Date accessed: 28 March 2011.

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

Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection

Poor Law Unions
Ashbourne Poor Law Union, Derbyshire

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Derbyshire 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