Kelly's Directory 1879
Transcription by Mike Strange ©
DERSINGHAM is a village and parish situated half a mile from the station on the Lynn and Hunstanton Railway 8½ miles north-north-east from Lynn and 107 from London, in the Western division of the county, Freebridge Lynn hundred, Docking union, Lynn county court district, rural deanery of Lynn, and archdeaconry and diocese of Norwich, situated on the Lynn and Hunstanton road. The railway station is situated about three quarters of a mile west from the village. The church of St. Nicholas is a large ancient structure in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel which contains some fine Decorated windows and sedilia much mutilated, nave with clerestory, aisles, south porch and a square embattled tower containing 6 bells : the chancel is divided from the nave by an old carved oak screen, some of the tracery of which has been restored : in the south aisle is a curious alter-tomb in memory of the Pell family dated 1607 : there are some ancient brasses and several ancient and curious marble slabs, and an ancient font with a handsome old carved oak cover : the church was thoroughly restored between 1877 and 1879 at a cost of £5000; Dr Bellamy defrayed the cost of the restoration of the nave, the Ecclesiastical Commissioners that of the chancel supplemented by £800 raised by subscription : the building was entirely reseated with open pews of wainscot, with pulpit of the same, and a handsome brass lectern erected. The living is a vicarage, tithe rent charge £380, net yearly value about £300 in the gift of the Rev· J. Bellamy D.D., President of St John's College, Oxford, and held by the Rev. Edward William Penny, M.A. of St John's College, Oxford. A new rectory was completed in 1877, it is built of carr stone and red bricks, and stands on a pleasant elevation. The Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists have each a chapel here. At the enclosure of the common, 75 acres of land were reserved for the benefit of the poor. There is a charity of about £21 annual value, arising from nine acres of land, left by different donors, and £5 from land at Snettisham, left by Mrs. Pell in 1732, these amounts are expended in coals, which are distributed to the poor of the parish. The Old Hall is a large plain building of carr stone, stuccoed standing in the centre of the village, the seat of John B. Goggs esq. Here are five manors of which H. R. H. The Prince of Wales and the Rev. James Bellamy D.D. are lords, and they and John B. Goggs esq. are the principal landowners. The soil is light mixed : subsoil, principally chalk and carr stone. The crops are generally on the four-course system. The area is 3,472 acres, rateable value £4,885 2s : and the population in 1871 was 901.
Parish Clerk, Benjamin Lines.
POST, MONEY ORDER AND TELEGRAPH OFFICE & Savings Bank. - Enoch Beckett, postmaster. London & other letters are received through Lynn by mail cart; arrive at 6.30 a.m & are dispatched at 6.30 p.m. There is also a WALL BOX cleared at 5.45p.m.
The Church of England Schools were largely added to in 1875. H.R.H. the Prince of Wales gave the site while the cost of building operations - nearly £500 - defrayed by Dr. Bellamy. Alfred Firth, schoolmaster and Miss Firth, infants' mistress.
Railway Station, Francis Perry, station master
CARRIERS TO LYNN - Abraham Davis $ William Flegg, tuesday & saturday, returning same day. There are several other carriers to & from Lynn passing through the village.
Coe Christopher, Rose cottage
Goggs John B. The Hall
Penny Rev. Edward William, M.A. [vicar]
Stanton Richard, Ling house
Stanton Robert
Thwaites Samuel
COMMERCIAL.
Asker John, broker
Balding Robert, cattle dealer & farmer
Balding Thomas cattle dealer
Beckett Enoch, grocers, draper & post office
Boothby Alfred, farmer & coal merchant
Bunn James, coal agent
Bussey Matilda & Maria (Misses), frmrs
Chambers George, bricklayer
Chambers William, bricklayer
Daniel James, fisherman
Daniel Samuel, fisherman
Daniel William, fisherman
Davis Abraham, carrier to Lynn
Daw Robert, gardener
Dodman William, blacksmith
Farrin Robert, brick maker & farmer
Fitt Matthew, farmer, baker & corn miller, Dersingham mill
Flegg William, broker & carrier
Garman Robert Hendry, baker
Jackson James, farmer
Jannoch Theodore, nurseryman and florist.
Jarvis James William, baker
Mann George, farmer
Melton Edward, beer retailer
Mitchell Edward, wood hurdle maker
Mitchell Henry, wood hurdle maker
Parker John William, draper & grocer
Rands Francis, butcher
Raspberry Charles, Alexandra
Reynolds Elizabeth (Miss), shopkeeper
Riches James, wheelwright
Riches John, farmer
Rolfe Frank Hanslip, shopkeeper
Senter Francis Sheldrick, market gardener
Smith John, Dun Cow
Smith William, White Horse
Stanton Richard and Robert, farmers, Ling house
Taylor Enoch, Cock Inn .
Taylor Thomas, Coach & Horses P.H.
Terrington Frederick, butcher
Terrington Henry, shoe maker
Terrington John, boot maker
