Smisby or Smithsby, Derbyshire
Historical Description
Smisby or Smithsby, a parish, with a village, in Derbyshire, 2 miles N by W of Ashby-de-la-Zouch railway station. Post town and money order and telegraph office, Ashby-de-la-Zouch. Acreage, 1271; population, 306. There is a parish council consisting of five members and a chairman. The manor belongs to Lord Donington. The scene of the toumament described in Sir Walter Scott's " Ivanhoe" is within 200 yards of the village, and the idea of that work occurred to Sir Walter on the tower of Smisby church. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Southwell; gross value, £50. The church is ancient, and consists of chancel, nave, aisle, and an embattled western tower. There is a Wesleyan chapel.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Derbyshire | |
| Hundred | Repton and Gresley | |
| Poor Law union | Ashby-de-la-Zouch |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The Phillimore transcript of Marriages at Smisby 1720-1812, Derbyshire, is available to browse online.
Ancestry.co.uk, in conjunction with the Derbyshire Record Office, have the Church of England Baptisms (1538-1916), Marriages and Banns (1538-1932), and Burials (1538-1991) online.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Smisby or Smithsby from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Smisby)
- Kelly's Directory of Derbyshire, 1899
Land and Property
A full transcript of the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Derbyshire is online.
Maps
Online maps of Smisby or Smithsby are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Derbyshire papers online: