HISTORIC ARCHIVE
LITTON CHENEY CENSUSES
A census is taken every 10 years. Those currently available for public viewing cover the period 1841 to 1911 – data is only made
available after 100 years have passed. Each household is required to complete a census return on a particular night. Thus, it merely
provides details of who was present on that day, not necessarily of everybody who normally lives there. The data requested varies at
each census, more information being available from the later ones. However, except for major dwellings such as the church, the
school, larger houses and farms, there is no record of the actual location of each dwelling.
The boundaries of Litton Cheney Parish have been manipulated at various times during the period covered by available census data.
The following lists are taken from the introduction of each census.
1841 - see below
1851 - Covers the whole of the Parish of Litton Cheney including Loder Lands Farm, Eggardon, Stancombe Charitys, Gorwell, Ashley, Parks and
Litton Cheney Village.View transcription
1861 - Covers the whole of the Parish of Litton Cheney including Loder Lands Farm House, Eggardon Farm House, Dairy House and Cottages,
Stancombe Cottages, Combe Farm House, Dairy House and Cottages, Litton Cheney Village and Charitys, Parks Dairy House, Ashley Dairy
House and Cottages, and Gorwell Farm House and Cottages.View transcription
1871 - Covers the whole of the Parish of Litton Cheney including Litton Cheney Village, Loder Lands Farm Houses, Eggerton, Stancombe,
Charitys, Gorwell, Ashley, Parks, White Cross and Combe Farm House and Cottages. View transcription
1881 - The whole of the Parish of Litton Cheney including Litton Cheney Village, Loder Lands Farm Houses, Eggerdon Farm House
and Cottages, Stancombe Cottages, Charitys, Gorwell Farm House and Cottages, Ashley Dairy House and Cottages, Parkes Dairy-
House, White Horse, Coombe Farm House and Cottages.View transcription
1891 - The whole of the Parish of Litton Cheney is bounded on the West by Chilcombe, on the North by Askerswell, on the South by
Puncknowle and on the East by Abbotsbury.
It includes Litton Cheney Village, Stancombe Cottages, Gorwell Farm House and Cottages, Ashley Dairy House and Cottages,
Parkes Dairy House, the White Horse Inn and Coombe Farm House and Cottages. Unfortunately the census document does not
show addresses.View transcription
1901 - The whole of the Parish of Litton Cheney is bounded on the West by Chilcombe, on the North by Powerstock and the Old
Roman Road, on the South by Puncknowle and Swyre and on the East by Long Bredy.
It includes the Parish of Litton Cheney, Stancombe Cottages, Coombe Farm House and Cottages, the White Horse Inn, School
House and Cottages. Unfortunately the census document does not always show addresses.View transcription
1911 - The whole of the Parish of Litton Cheney is bounded on the West by Chilcombe, on the North by Powerstock and the Old
Roman Road, on the South by Puncknowle and Swyre and on the East by Long Bredy.
It includes the Parish of Litton Cheney, Stancombe Cottages, Coombe Farm House and Cottages, the White Horse Inn, School
House and Cottages.View transcription
Occupations
The table below summarises the occupations of Litton Cheney residents during the period covered. As one would expect, the
majority were involved with various types of farm-work. However, many now defunct (as far as the village is concerned)
occupations are listed e.g. cordwainer, brewer, baker, harness maker and, in particular, servant.
THE PASSING YEARS
The following are links to newspaper articles covering various aspects of life in Litton Cheney over nearly 200 years. Plus ça
change, plus c'est la même chose!
Life and Death
Deeds and Mis-deeds
Life in Wartime
Paul Kingston has compiled the following diaries covering every-day life in Litton Cheney during the First and Second world wars:
ABOUT LITTON CHENEY
The 1841 census gives no schedule numbers, no indication of relationship and ages over 15 years are rounded to the
nearest five years. Like all censuses, it is merely a list of names and occupations giving no idea of who owns and occupies
the land and buildings within the parish. The 1841 version is different, however, as it can be cross-referenced to the 1840
tithe map and associated apportionment. A transcription of the modified data can be viewed here. The associated tithe
apportionment can be viewed here
The parish of Litton Cheney was much larger than it is today stretching to the Roman road to the north, Gorwell to the south east
and an entirely separated area between Askerswell and Powerstock known as Loder Lands. For ease of display, the tithe maps
below have been divided into five sections:
a.
Loders Land
b.
Area north of the Dorchester to Bridport main road
c.
Area south of the Dorchester to Bridport main road
d.
Litton Cheney village
e.
Ashley & Gorwell
Occupiers of the land and buildings are denoted by coloured markers. The following table shows the main occupiers of the 581
plots identified within the tithe apportionment.
No. Plots
No. Acres
Name
Owned
Occupied
Owned
Occupied
Remarks
Richard Brinsley Sheridan Esq.
101
18
1179
148
William Legg
84
81
376
353
Walter Long Esq.
79
0
840
0
Rev Charles Fryer
59
0
426
0
Rev. Septimus Cox
45
72
143
500
Samuel Brown
23
26
100
100
All in Loders Land
Blandford Charity
22
0
164
0
Rev. Gregory Raymond
20
0
140
0
George Fry
18
33
35
177
18 plots owned by Bradford Charity
Charles Henvele Esq.
18
0
84
0
Francis Gladwyn
15
16
17
18
Richard Groves
15
23
86
114
Elizabeth Hansford
9
0
56
0
Charlotte Hunter
7
0
54
0
Parish of Litton Cheney
6
5
10
5
Includes chalkpit, sandpit, Poor House and Pound
Richard Fowler
2
0
80
0
William Symonds
0
68
0
958
All plots owned by Richard Brinsley Sheridan Esq.
Charles Fry
0
78
0
830
All owned by Walter Long esq.
John Kellaway
0
55
0
425
All in Loders Land; owned by Rev. Charles Fryer
Thomas Palmer
0
15
0
100
Thomas Baker
0
2
0
80
Plots owned by Richard Fowler
Richard Mellish
0
14
0
65
All plots owned by Charles Envele Esq.
1841 CENSUS RELATED TO THE 1840 TITHE MAP
**Note:
1901 and 1911 scholar totals estimated from children’s ages i.e. 5 to 13 which was the
compulsory period for education, although difficult to enforce. In 1841 there were 70+
children between the ages of 5 and 13 but no compulsory education.
Families
It is interesting to see how many names crop up during the period covered. Some families appear on as many as seven censuses
and may continue after the 1911 version. The table HERE lists those that appear on at least two censuses.
Map a: Loder Lands
Part of Loder Lands
Map b: North of A35
Map c: Souh of A35
Part of Ashley/Gorwell
Photo by Claire Moore 3_7_2021
LITTON CHENEY CENSUSES
