Alton Pancras, Dorset Family History Guide

Alton Pancras is an Ancient Parish in the county of Dorset.

Alternative names:

Parish church: St. Pancratius

Parish registers begin:

• Parish registers: 1673
• Bishop’s Transcripts: 1586

Nonconformists include:

Adjacent Parishes

• Cerne Abbas
• Piddletrenthide
• Mappowder
• Buckland Newton

Historical Descriptions

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

ALTON-PANCRAS, a parish and a liberty in Dorchester district, Dorset. The parish lies on the Downs, 2½ miles NE of Cerne-Abbas, and 7 E by S of Evershot r. station. Post Town, Cerne under Dorchester. Acres, 2,243. Real property, £2,642. Pop., 270. Houses, 55. The property is subdivided. The parish is a meet for the Blackmoor harriers. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury. Value, £208. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Salisbury. The church is good. The liberty is co-extensive with the parish.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848

ALTON-PANCRAS (St. Pancratius), a parish and liberty, in the union of Cerne, Cerne division of Dorset, 8¼ miles (N.) from Dorchester; containing 248 inhabitants. The two manors, or parcels of demesne land, called Alton Borealis and Alton Australis, till lately constituted the endowment of two prebends in the cathedral of Salisbury. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king’s books at £9; net income, £120; patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Salisbury, who are also appropriators. The church is dedicated to St. Pancratius, a nobleman of Phrygia, who suffered martyrdom under Diocletian at Rome in the third century.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848

Parish Records

FamilySearch Catalog – Free

Census

Census returns for Alton-Pancras, 1841-1891

Church Records

Bishop’s transcripts for Alton-Pancras, 1586-1879 Author: Church of England. Parish Church of Alton-Pancras (Dorsetshire)

Churchwardens’ accounts, 1730-1828 Author: Church of England. Parish Church of Alton-Pancras (Dorsetshire)

Marriages at Alton Pancras, 1674-1812 Author: Church of England. Parish Church of Alton-Pancras (Dorsetshire)

Parish registers for Alton-Pancras, 1673-1997 Author: Church of England. Parish Church of Alton-Pancras (Dorsetshire); Dorset Record Office

Land and property

Land tax assessments for Alton-Pancras, 1780-1832 Author: Great Britain. Court of Quarter Sessions of the Peace (Dorset)

Poorhouses & Poor Law

Parish registers for Alton-Pancras, 1673-1997 Author: Church of England. Parish Church of Alton-Pancras (Dorsetshire); Dorset Record Office

Schools

Parish registers for Alton-Pancras, 1673-1997 Author: Church of England. Parish Church of Alton-Pancras (Dorsetshire); Dorset Record Office

Taxation

Land tax assessments for Alton-Pancras, 1780-1832 Author: Great Britain. Court of Quarter Sessions of the Peace (Dorset)

Maps

Vision of Britain historical maps

Administration

• County: Dorset
• Civil Registration District: Dorchester
• Probate Court: Court of the Peculiar of the Dean of Salisbury
• Diocese: Salisbury
• Rural Deanery: Pre-1847 – None, Post-1846 – Whitchurch
• Poor Law Union: Cerne
• Hundred: Alton Pancras Liberty
• Province: Canterbury