Place:Buckminster, Leicestershire, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Buckminster is a village and civil parish within the Melton District of Leicestershire, England. It is on the B676 road, between the town of Melton Mowbray and the A1.

The parish is located in the northeast of the county, on the border with Lincolnshire, and also includes the hamlet and former parish of Sewstern. Nearby places are Coston, Wymondham and Sproxton in Leicestershire, and Stainby over the border in Lincolnshire. Quite close by is the Viking Way, which follows the boundary with Lincolnshire.

Many properties in the local area and Grantham are owned by Buckminster Estates, who are linked with the Tollemache family who live in Buckminster Park: the former home of the Earl of Dysart. They have connections with Helmingham Hall in Suffolk. The village pub is called the Tollemache Arms.

The parish church of St John the Baptist was built during the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries and was restored and improved in 1883. It is a Grade I listed building.

The Dysart Mausoleum which stands near the church was built around 1800 by the trustees of the estate of Lionel Tollemache, 8th Earl of Dysart, who died in 1798. It is a Grade II* listed building.

end of Wikipedia contribution

Local Administration

The parish was part of Melton Mowbray Rural District from 1894 until 1935 when the rural district was abolished and replaced by the Melton and Belvoir Rural District which covered a larger area. A year after the introduction of the new rural district its parishes were reorganized and reduced in number from 68 to 25.

In 1974 a new nationwide organization of local government was introduced in which rural and urban districts were replaced by "non-metropolitan" districts. In the northeast of Leicestershire this meant little save for the fact that the principal town of Melton Mowbray, formerly a separate urban district, was now governed by the same body (Melton District or Borough) as the rural area that surrounded it.

Research Tips

• The map on the place-page for Melton Mowbray Rural District illustrates the location of the various parishes and the geographical and administrative changes that occurred in 1936.
• From this Findmypast page you can browse the Leicestershire parishes which have parish register transcripts online.
• From this Ancestry page you can browse the Leicestershire parishes which have parish register transcripts online.
• For both of the above sites, a subscription is charged. Transcriptions of these records may also be available free of charge on the FamilySearch website.
• A further collection of online source references will be found on the county page for Leicestershire.