Althorpe
- Althorpe was part of the Crowle sub-district in the Thorne Registration District.
- In addition to the standard census records, the Lincolnshire Archives hold special census returns that were taken in 1850 and 1853.
- Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
- The Lincolnshire Family History Society has published surname indexes on fiche or in booklet form for each of these census years under the title "Gainsborough with Isle of Axholme". These are available by credit card from the Federation of Family History Societies Bookstore with worldwide shipping. Please note that these are SURNAME indexes only, and do not show first names, age or relationships. The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
Census Year |
LDS Film/Fiche No. |
Piece No. |
LFHS Surname Index |
| 1841 |
0438760 |
H.O. 107/62x |
Fiche |
| 1851 |
0087609 |
H.O. 107/21xx |
Booklet |
| 1861 |
0543146 |
R.G. 9/24xx |
Fiche |
| 1871 |
0847320 |
R.G. 10/34xx |
Booklet |
| 1881 |
1342136 |
R.G. 11/329x |
| 1891 |
6098980, 3 fiche |
R.G. 12/3870 |
Booklet or Fiche |
- The Anglican parish church is dedicated to St. Oswald and was erected in 1483 by Sir John NEVILLE, during the reign of Edward IV.
- An additional churchyard was consecrated in 1856.
- The church seats 250.
- There is a photograph of St. Oswald's Church on the Wendy Parkinson web site under her "Still more Lincolnshire churches".
- Here is a photograph St. Oswald's Church supplied by Ron Cole (who retains the copyright):

- Anglican parish registers are on deposit from 1672 - 1975, but Bishop's transcript entries go back to 1599.
- The Family History Library in Salt Lake City has the parish register on microfilm covering 1672 to 1975 and the Bishop's Transcript from 1599 to 1836 on another microfilm.
- Althorpe is in the Isle of Axholme Deanery.
- The Wesleyan Methodists built a chapel here in 1834 and the Primitive Methodists built their's at Derrythorpe in 1868. 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 Crowle sub-district in the Thorne Registration District.
- Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which began in July, 1837.
Althorpe is one of the eight original parishes in the Isle of Axholme in the far northwest corner of Lincolnshire. It lies on the west bank of the River Trent about a mile north of the M180 Mortorway, about 4 miles west of Scunthorpe and 16 miles north of Gainsborough. The parish includes the small township of Keadby and the hamlet of Derrythorpe. Until 1850, Amcotts was also part of Althorpe parish.
Agriculture, in the form of grain and market greens, is the principle industry in the parish. If you are planning a visit:
- See the histories and descriptions of Althorpe and Amcotts provided by the
Isle of Axholme FHS.
- John LANGLEY, a native of Althorpe, was lord mayor of London in 1576.
- The Hull and Gainsborough steamers use to pass by the village daily, stopping at Burringham and Keadby.
- Keadby used to be a terminus of the Keadby-Stainforth canal built in 1782 and a link to the railways. The canal ceased commercial operation in the 1970's.
- The National Grid Reference is SE 8309.
- 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 name Althorpe is from the Old Scandinavian ali+thorpe, meaning "farmstead of a man called Ali." In the 1086 Domesday Book it is rendered as Aletorp.
[A. D. Mills, "A Dictionary of English Place-Names," Oxford University Press, 1991]
- The parish was in the western division of the ancient Manley Wapentake in the West Lindsey district in the parts of Lindsey.
- In 1850, Amcotts parish was formed from the northeast portion of Althorpe parish.
- Some records indicate that Keadby may have been its own parish before 1800.
- In the 1972 redistricting, Althorpe became part of the Boothferry District, which is now in the County of Humberside (formerly Lindsey, Lincolnshire).
- The parish became part of the Thorne Poor Law Union after the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1801 |
563 |
| 1831 |
888 |
| 1881 |
1,394 |
| 1901 |
1,028 |
| 1991 |
1,740 |
- A school board was formed on 18 Dec. 1874.
- A local public elementary school was built in 1876 and replaced by a modern building in 1975.
- For more on researching school records, see our Schools Research page.
Last updated on 23-June-2009
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Lincolnshire County Coordinator.
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