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STOKE-FERRY is a large village near the navigable river Wissey, 7 miles E.S.E. of Downham, 14½ miles S.S.E. of Lynn, 10 miles S.W. by W. of Swaffham, and 88 miles N. by E. of London; at the junction of roads from Thetford, Brandon, &c. It is in Downham union and county court district, Lynn bankruptcy district, Clackclose petty sessional division, Methwold polling district of West Norfolk, Fincham rural deanery, and Norfolk archdeaconry.
It had 684 inhabitants in 1881, living on 2059 acres of land (only 1976A. 1R. 22P. is in the rate book, the balance being waste), and has a rateable value of £3787 15s. It has a large fair for horses, cattle, &c., on December 6; and much business is done at the wharf in corn, coal, malt, &c. Its corn market, formerly held on Friday, is obsolete. Its parish abounds in limestone.
Messrs. Paine & Brettale, solicitors, Chertsey, are lords of the manor, but the soil is mostly the property of Miss Harriet Hebgin, H.S. Winfield, A.R.H. Micklefield, and Richd. Harwin, Esqs. The bridge which crosses the river, where there was anciently a ferry, was repaired and widened in 1803. The present handsome iron bridge was erected in 1839. In the 32nd of Henry III. (1248), the abbot of Ely had a grant for a market and fair here. The profits of the ferry belonged to the abbott, who broke down the bridge soon after its erection; but the Hundred Court compelled him to rebuild it.
The CHURCH (All Saints) is a small edifice in the Early English style, and consists of nave, chancel, vestry, west porch, belfry, and one bell. The tower fell down in 1578. The church was thoroughly restored and partly rebuilt in 1847, at a cost of £1200. The pulpit, reading desk, lectern, and open benches are of carved oak, and in a gallery at the west end is a good organ. The west window is filled with stained glass. Here are tablets of the Etheridge and Robinson families.
The perpetual curacy, certified at £18, and now worth about £100, was augmented in 1779 and 1801 with £400 of Queen Anne's Bounty. The Lord Chancellor is patron, and the Rev. John McGill incumbent. The great tithes have been commuted for £247 per annum, and belong to the representatives of the late G.R. Eyres, Esq. The small tithes, £227 10s. a year, are the property of the Commisioners of Woods and Forests.
Here are two chapels belonging to the Wesleyans and Methodist Free Church. The Wesleyan chapel, which was erected in 1834 at a cost of £500, and provided with a gallery in 1854, at an outlay of £70, was entirely reseated in 1869 at a cost of £200, and now contains 250 sittings.
The SCHOOL now adjoining was built in 1876 at a cost of £400.
The old Poor's land was exchanged, at the enclosure in 1818, for 2R. 26P. held by the overseers, and 22P. used as a chalk-pit. The Fuel Allotment awarded at the enclosure, consists of 25A. 3R. 6P. in the East Fen, on which all the poor cut turf, &c.
The Free School was founded, pursuant to the will of James Bradfield, Esq., who, in 1807, left £250 for the erection of the school-house, and charged his estate here with the yearly payment of £25 to the master, for the education of 25 poor children of Stoke-Ferry and Wretton. The poor widows of this parish have the interest of £50, left by the Rev. J.H. Etheridge of Maidenhead, Berks.
POST viâ Brandon. Post Office at Mr. George Watson's.
Ashley grocers, drapers, hatters, hosiers
& Rudland and milliners
ASHLEY William (A. & Rudland), and agt. for the
Ntnl. Prvdnt. Life Office
BENNETT James Smith carpenter
BITSON Matthew bread and flour dlr
BLOMFIELD Spencer chemist
BOVILL Thomas grocer and draper
BOYCE Mrs Susan vict. King's Arms
BROCK Jeremiah hawker
BROWN Charles Wm. schoolmaster
BROWN John Thomas butcher
CASE Benjn. plumber, glazier & pntr
CATCHPOLE Alfred watchmaker
CATER William baker and grocer
CHADWICK John saddler
COOK John farmer
CROSS William beerhouse & bricklyr
ELDERKIN William vict. Duke's Head, and farmer
ETHERIDGE Bradfield (E. & B.)
ETHERIDGE E. & B. corn, seed, hop, wool, wine, spirit, ale
and porter merchants and maltsters
ETHERIDGE Edward (E. & B.)
ETHERIDGE Mr Edward Wright Hawthorne villa
FARRER Miss
FLATT Mrs Elizabeth
FLATT William farmer
FRENCH William carrier
GOOSE Mr Robert
HARVEY Henry farmer
HARWIN Mr Henry
HEWSON John saddler
HILL John Bird boarding school
JAGGARD Thomas Thorrold tailor and woollen draper
JAMES Miss Margaretta day & brdng. school
JOHNSON Alfred blacksmith
KING William saddler
LARNER Henry blacksmith
LOCK John victualler, Bell
MARGARSON Thos. William veterinary surgeon and veterinary
inspector
MICKLEFIELD Anthy. Horex solr
Roger
NIX John corn miller and farmer
NUNN James beerhouse
NUNN James, jun. horse dealer
NURSE James bootmaker
NURSE William David bootmaker
OWEN George beerhouse, The Bridge
PALMER Ryfealyer engineer and machinist
Desilon [sic]
PICKFORD Mrs Sarah
POLLARD Mrs Mtha. Kezia grcr. & drpr
POLLARD Wm. baker, flour dlr. & frmr
POWELL Charles carpenter & whlwrgt
PRIOR John farmer
RICHES Pymer plumber, glzr. & paintr
RICHES William carpenter
ROLFE Frederick
ROLFE John marine store dealer
RUDLAND John James (Ashley & R.)
SALMON Benjamin farmer and carrier
SCALES John corn merchant's manager
SHARP Rev. James (Wesleyan)
SPRINGFIELD Mr. William Sparrow [see note below]
STEAD Thomas horse dealer
STEELE Mrs Elizabeth
Jane
STEELE Hy. Fredk. surgeon, medical officer for Stoke-Ferry
M.R.C.S., district of Downham union, and Oxborough
L.R.C.P. district of Swaffham union, and
registrar of births and deaths of
Fincham district of Downham union
TIPPLE William plumber & glazier
TOKELOVE John carpenter
WATSON George hairdresser, stationer, fancy repository,
pork butcher, postmaster, & agt. for
the Westminster fire and general life
offices
WILLIAMSON Alfred horsebreaker
WHISKERD Robt. Fisher brcklyr & bldr
WHITE - bootmaker
WINFIELD Fred. Chas. corn, coal, cake and seed merchant &
maltster, The Bridge; h Crescent house
WINFIELD Mrs Mary Ann
WINFIELD Mr Samuel Henry Hall
CARRIERS -- Wm. French, to Downham, daily; Benjn. Salmon, to Downham, Mon. and Fri.; Brandon, Mon. Wed. and Fri.; and Lynn, Tues. Thurs. and Sat
RAILWAY -- Downham and Stoke-Ferry
See also the Stoke Ferry parish page.
Copyright © Pat Newby.
November 2003