Kirton in Lindsey
Note: There is more than one Kirton in Lincolnshire. See also Kirton in Holland.
There are four books available on Kirton in Lindsey (contributed by Paul THISTLETON, UK) and "Tinribs":
- "Kirton in Lindsey since 1860" A photographic history, Scunthorpe Museum Society, 1988, ISBN 0 9070980 2 9.
- "Kirton in Lindsey, a further photographic history", Scunthorpe Museum Society, 1989, ISBN 0 9070980 3 7.
- "The History of Kirton in Lindsey" by Harry A. FISHER, Spiegl Press, 1981.
- "Kirton in Lindsey, Historical Aspects" by The Kirton in Lindsey Writers Group, 1993, ISBN 0 9521185 0 5.
- The Kirton-in-Lindsey Cemetery is a public cemetery on the west side of the village on Grove Street.
- A Burial Clerk at the Town Council managers the cemetery.
- The parish was in the Brigg sub-district of the Glanford Brigg Registration District.
- Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
- The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
Census
Year |
Piece No. |
| 1851 |
H.O. 107 / 2116 |
| 1861 |
R.G. 9 / 2397 |
| 1871 |
R.G. 10 / 3427 |
| 1891 |
R.G. 12 / 2625 |
| 1901 |
R.G. 13 / 3101 |
- The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Andrew.
- The church is believed to date from early Norman times.
- The church was restored in 1860.
- The church seats 500.
- A photograph of Saint Andrew's Church is at the Wendy PARKINSON English Church Photographs site.
- Here are two photographs of St. Andrew's Church, taken by Ron COLE (who retains the copyrights):
- The Anglican parish register dates from 1585.
- The Anglican parish churchwarden accounts date from 1484.
- We have a handful of register entries from the Anglican Parish Church. Your additions are welcome.
- The LFHS has published several marriage indexes for the Yarborough Deanery to make your search easier.
- A Baptist chapel was built in 1663 and rebuilt in 1841. It was restored in 1899. David BEVIS has a photograph of the Baptist Chapel on Geograph, taken in 2011.
- A Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built in 1840, and a Primitive Methodist chapel was rebuilt in 1862. For information and assistance in researching these chapels, see our non-conformist religions page.
- Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.
- The parish was in the Brigg sub-district of the Glanford Brigg Registration District.
- Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which began in July, 1837.
In the early 1800s Kirton in Lindsey was both a village and parish in the north of Lincolnshire. The parish lies about 155 miles north of London, 10 miles north-east of Gainsborough and south of Scunthorpe. Redbourne parish lies to the east. The parish covers about 4,700 acres.
The village was an ancient market town. In recent years it has grown to a small town of about 2,700 people. If you are planning a visit:
- The town is very proud of its status as a town and its modern Sign welcoming travellers.
- Birdwatching is a popular pastime in the area.
- Visit our touring page for more sources.
- The town hosts a pleasure fair on the Green every 18th of July to honor Saint Andrew.
- In 1842, Kirton had a "House of Correction". Ann EVERATT was the matron that year, and Mr. Thomas HILL was the turnkey.
- The Kirton Gaol, noted above, had a treadmill built in 1822. Prisoners had to walk the treadmill 10 hours a day, 10 minutes on, 5 minutes off. Until 1880 there was no limit on how far the prisoners had to "climb" on a treadmill.
- The town has a Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Town Hall near the market place, built in 1897-98. It was built with stones carried up the hill from the old Kirton Gaol. The hall was renovated in 2010.
- Richard CROFT has a photograph of the Mt. Pleasant Windmill on Geograph, taken in 2006. The windmill is just to the north of town.
- John Julius ANGERSTEIN purchased the manor of Kirton in 1799.
- The national grid reference is SK 9398.
- You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, which has a scale of 2.5 inches to the mile.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
- The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) opened an airfield here in December, 1916, for a Home Defense Squadron.
- The airfield closed in June, 1919, and returned to agricultural use.
- The RAF opened a new airfield here in May, 1940, as a fighter station. Many squadrons were formed or passed through here during the Battle of Britain phase of the war.
- RAF Kirton in Lindsey was home to a Fighter Command Sector Operations Room during WWII.
- The field was placed in reserve in 1957 and was finally closed by the RAF in December, 1965. Then the Royal Artillery used its facilities as barracs until 2004.
- There is a Memorial to Eagle Squadron from World War II.
- Pat HORTON reminds me that there are Remembrance books in St. Andrews Church and you are invited to browse and leave your notes as well..
- There is a brass mural tablet inside the parish church that was put in place circa 1920 to honor the men who fell in the Great War. There is also a cenotaph that was erected on the village green in 1920 which had the names of the 38 men from Kirton who lost their lives in World War I.
- See the Kirton-in-Lindsey War Memorial site for a list of parish men and women who gave their lives in service to their country.
- Not listed on the Roll of Honour is Lloyd Henry Roper McCARTHY, Pilot Officer, Royal New Zealand Air Force, who died 14 August 1942 and who is buried in Kirton Lindsey cemetery. He was age 29, the son of Hugh D. and Alice M. McCARTHY of Auckland, New Zealand.
- There are two Commonwealth War Graves in St. Andrew's churchyard, one from each World War:
- Eric BROCKLESBY, priv., Welch Regt., age 22, died 8 Feb. 1940. Son of John William and Selina Charlotte BROCKLESBY.
- George MIMMACK, priv., 137th Field Amb. Royal Army Medical Corps, age 24, died 5 July 1919. Son of Joe and Mary Ann MIMMACK.
- There are 22 Commonwealth War Graves in the public cemetery from both World Wars.
- This place was an ancient parish in Lincoln county and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
- In Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire, both the 1900 and 1913 versions list the parish as being in West Lindsey division of the county.
- The parish was in the ancient Corringham Wapentake in the Glanford Brigg division of the county, in the parts of Lindsey.
- You may contact the current Town Council regarding civic or political issues, but they are neither funded nor staffed to do family history searches for you.
- District governance is currently provided by the North Lincolnshire Council.
- The Common Lands and the Poor Close were enclosed here in 1793.
- After the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, this parish became part of the Glanford Brigg Poor Law Union.
- Bastardy hearings would be held at the Gainsborough petty sessional division.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1801 |
1,092 |
| 1831 |
1,542 |
| 1851 |
1,948 |
| 1861 |
2,058 |
| 1871 |
1,904 |
| 1881 |
1,851 |
| 1891 |
1,623 |
| 1901 |
1,602 |
Philip MARKHAM of Denmark gives us this item from the Lincoln Mercury dated 4 March 1842:
"An Eccentric Patriarch - A short time ago died, at Kirton in Lindsey, in his 90th year, Joseph FROW, carpenter, father of Joseph FROW of Caistor. He was formerly apprenticed at Barrow upon Humber. Amongst the numerous vagaries which have characterized his life, upwards of thirty years ago he conceived the notable whim of making his own coffin, the bottom of which he constructed of different kinds of wood grooved together, which he invariably used, to the day of his death, as a portable cupboard, pantry, larder, corn and malt bin, store house and general warehouse; whenever he had occasion to move his locality, thither went upon his shoulder the coffin, with its heterogeneous contents; and he appeared much delighted with the gaping observations of passers-by. At his decease, his frail future tenement, like hisself, had got the worse for wear and cost as much in repairing as a new one. They are interred together without lamentation."
- The first School was built here in 1816, although the Grammar School had been founded in 1517.
- In 1837 an infant school was built here.
- In 1879, a local School Board took over the funds for the dissolved Grammar School. The board itself had been established in February, 1875.
- The Green School, formerly the Grammar School, could hold 130 children. It was a boys school.
- The Board built a girls' school to hold 140.
- The Board built an infants' school in 1895-96, near the church, to hold 156.
- For more on researching school records, see our Schools Research page.
Last updated on 23-January-2015
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