Gosberton
Gosberton is both a village and parish which lies about 110 miles north of London. It is also 6 miles north-west of Spalding and lies south-west of Boston. The parish includes the hamlets of Cheal, Belne, Rigbolt (Rightbolt), Westhorpe and part of Risegate and is bounded on the north by Quadring parish and on the south-east by Surfleet parish. The parish covers 7,729 acres of flat fenland, drained by many small canals.
The village lies just north of the Risegate Eau drain. For researchers who wish to visit:
- By automobile, the A152 trunk road passes through the village.
- The Fox Peterborough site tells about coach service available from most major cities.
- Check our Touring page for additional resources.
- The records of burials in the Church graveyard are held by the church, and as it is a "closed burial ground", the records are housed at Lincolnshire Archives.
- There is a cemetery a short distance from Gosberton Church and the records of this are held by the Gosberton Parish Council.
- Gosberton was in the Gosberton sub-district of the Spalding Registration District.
- Hart's Grounds, an extra-parochial part of Gosberton, was in the Swineshead sub-district of the Boston Registration District.
- We have the complete 1891 Census for Gosberton and Surfleet (some Enum. Districts overlap).
- Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
- Here is a table of census years and Piece Numbers, where known.
Census
Year |
Piece Numbers |
| 1841 |
H.O. 107 / 607 |
| 1851 |
H.O. 107/2096 |
| 1861 |
R.G. 9 / 2322 |
| 1871 |
R.G. 10 / 3346 |
| 1881 |
R.G. 11 / 3202 |
| 1891 |
R.G. 12 / 2561 |
| 1911 |
R.G. 14 / 19485 |
- The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul.
- There is a photograph of St. Peter and St. Paul's Church on the Wendy PARKINSON Church Photos web site.
- Here is a photo of the church, from a distance, taken by (and copyright of) Gordon WALTON.
- And this is a photo of the front of the church, taken by (and copyright of) Gordon WALTON.
- This photo shows the church sign, and was also taken by (and copyright of) Gordon WALTON.
- Here is another photo of the church, taken by (and copyright of) Chris BRAND.
- Here is a photo of Saints Peter and Paul Church, taken by Ron COLE (who retains the copyright):
- Gosberton Clough and Risegate were formed into an ecclesiastical parish in December, 1912, and covered parts of the civil parishes of Gosberton, Surfleet, Quadring and Sempringham.
- The Anglican parish church in Gosberton Clough was dedicated to Saint Gilbert and Saint Hugh.
- The church was built in 1904.
- Here is a photo of Saint Gilbert and Saint Hugh Church, taken by Ron COLE (who retains the copyright):
- The parish registers exist from 1656.
- Check our Parish Register Extracts for Gosberton. Remember, it is not a transcription, so always check the source.
- Farne HUNT provides her transcription of the Parish Register as a Comma-Separated File (importable to MS-Excel or other desktop database programs).
- The LFHS has published several indexes for the West Elloe Deanery to make your search easier.
- The Baptists, Wesleyan Methodists and Free Methodists had chapels in Gosberton and there were Wesleyan Methodist and Primitive Methodist chapels at Risegate. For information and assistance in researching these chapels, see our non-conformist religions page.
- The Baptist chapel was founded in 1656 and seated 212 members.
- David HITCHBORNE has a photograph of the Methodist Chapel on Geo-graph, taken in May, 2004.
- Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.
- The parish was in the Gosberton sub-district of the Spalding Registration District.
- Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which began in July, 1837.
- A local history of Gosberton, "A Brief History of the Church and Parish of Gosberton in the County of Lincoln," by Walter Jenkinson Kaye, Jun., FSA, was published in Spalding. It can be found on FHL film 0452545. He has also produced a film version with the same title.
- There is also the book "The Gosberton Area - a glimpse into the past," by Pam Paling, published in Spalding in 1992. The ISBN is 0 9520276 0 7. Cost is about £5. One source is Mike at: Bookmark, 29 The Crescent, Spalding, Lincs, PE11 1AF, UK. Tele: 01775 769231
- Gosberton is also mentioned in "Aspects of Spalding Villages," by Michael J. Elsden, cost is approx. £19.95.
- Gosberton was a brickmaking center for many centuries and clay pits still dot the area. One is now part of the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.
- The village used to hold an annual pleasure fair each July.
- A local Gas Works was erected in the village in 1872.
- There was a strong Temperance Society in Gosberton. The following notice appeared in the Lincolnshire Free Press in 1877 regarding the Public Hall (later a "Hotel") in Gosberton:
"We understand on good authority that the terms of the deed whereby Earl Brownlow granted a piece of land for the erection of this building having been violated at a recent Volunteer Corps dinner by the sale of intoxicating liquors in it, the good Templars took the matter up and have informed the magistrates of the deed and that for the future the magistrates have informed them that no such licence was granted.
We hope the authorities over the building did not know that application for the licence was made, though it is difficult to understand in so small a place that common gossip did not reach their ears.
We hear that other parties propose to violate another part of the conditions by having a bar there, which is contrary to the deed whereby the Earl made the grant.
We are open to contradiction and hope we are wrong but the thin end of the wedge has been allowed to be put in.
We ask.... Who is to blame?"
- Gosberton Hall was demolished some time before 1992. In 1830, the Hall was the site of a school of considerable repute, run by Charles F. BOYER.
- The National Grid Reference for the village is TF 2432.
- An Ordnance Survey "Explorer 249" map will show detail of 2.5 inches to 1 mile scale.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
- The Royal Flying Corps opened a relief airfield here in World War I.
- The name Gosberton is from the Old German and Old English Gosbert+tun, or "Village of Gosbert". In older times it had been Gosbert+cirice, or "Gosbert's church", which is why, in the 1086 Domesday book, the village is given as Gosebertechirche.
[A. D. Mills, "A Dictionary of English Place-Names," Oxford University Press, 1991]
- The present form of the name was first used in 1510.
- The name is spoken by locals as "Gos-bur-tun".
Famous people of Gosberton include:
- Peter of Gosberton church, a pledge to Walter, Hugh's son in AD 1202.
- Captain Richard George CALTHROP, a Land Tax Commissioner in 1866 and a local farmer.
- In 1851, Ellen DRAPER and her parents emigrated from Gosberton to Linwood in South Australia where in 1888 she was the postmistress. She married Samuel James KEYNES there in 1873.
- Sir Thomas Boor CROSBY, 1830 - 1916, well-respected Doctor, knighted in 1906, Lord Mayor of London in 1911. He was responsible for setting up the Titanic Trust which raised funds for the survivors and relatives.
- Mr. Charles BOYER, 1831 - 1894, the founder of Gosberton Hall School, a well-known scholastic establishment in the district. Mr. BOYER was a leading Wesleyan in the district.
Other surnames in the parish records include HUDSON, HUNTON(S), BARRON, and EVERITT/EVERETT/EVERIT.
- This place was an ancient parish in Lincoln county and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
- The parish was in the ancient Kirton Wapentake in the South Holland district in the parts of Holland.
- You may contact the Gosberton Parish Council regarding civic or political issues. They are NOT staffed to assist you with family history questions.
- For today's district governance, visit the South Holland District Council site.
- Bastardy cases would be heard in the Kirton and Skirbeck petty session hearings.
- As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act reforms, the parish became part of the Spalding Poor Law Union.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1801 |
1,189 |
| 1821 |
1,618 |
| 1831 |
1,951 |
| 1851 |
2,091 |
| 1871 |
2,167 |
| 1881 |
2,104 |
| 1891 |
1,825 |
| 1901 |
1,825 |
| 1911 |
1,973 |
| 1921 |
2,022 |
| 1991 |
2,678 |
- A large National School was built here in 1856 with room for 200 children.
- The Clough and Risegate School was built here in 1878 with room for 200 children.
- See our Schools page for more information on researching school records.
- Gosberton is perhaps better known in recent times for having a school for students with moderate learning difficulties: Gosberton House School on Westhorpe Road. The Gosberton Community Primary School on High Street continues to be the school used by most children in the community.
Last updated on 29-October-2015
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