In 1778, the Manor of Kirby is bought by the Winstanley family of Braunstone.
Transcripts of some of the Parish Registers can be seen in our Records section, here.
A list of Parish-related documents that are held in the County Record Office can also be found in our Records section, here, together with a name index covering some of them (DE123/1 - 80).
Here are a few random jottings about our village history at this time.
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Diseases |
In 1728, two successive harvest failures probably left the villagers vulnerable to disease. Twelve burials between 29th July and 13th October were likely to be the result of some form of typhus. In 1784, smallpox reached Kirby, with even more devastating results. |
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The Red Cow  |
In 1782, Henry Hitchcock dies and leaves "The Red Cow" public house to his daughter, Jane Brewin. Although this pub is in Leicester Forest, the Hitchcock and Brewin families have a long association with Kirby, running right through the 19th century. They worshipped at St. Bartholomew, married there and were buried in the churchyard. Poor Fred Hitchcock was never to reach adulthood. His headstone of 1858 bears the inscription: Dear to his parents, |
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Changes in Farming |
Probate inventories appear to show that graziers are becoming, relatively, more wealthy. Livestock is perhaps becoming more profitable than growing crops. |
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The history here includes information taken from the late Jonathan Wilshere's book "Old Kirby (Muxloe)", with kind permission of the Wilshere family. |