Blanckley one name study
Blanckley one name study
The Blanckleys of Melton Mowbray
Records of Blankleys in Melton Mowbray date back to the mid 1500s, during the reign of Edward VI, when, in 1551, Margareta Blankley was baptised in Melton Mowbray’s parish church and, in 1553, when John and Robert Blankley were tenants of dissolute monastic land at Ab Kettleby, three miles to the north.
16th century parish records
Melton Mowbray’s “St Mary's Church is the largest and "stateliest" parish church in Leicestershire, with visible remains dating mainly from the 13th-15th centuries. The stonework in the lowest section of the tower, which has Norman windows, dates from 1170, although there were certainly one or more Anglo-Saxon churches on this site before the Norman one. It is built on a plan more usual for cathedrals and the 100-foot (30 m) tower dominates the town, and is a rare example of a parish church with aisled transepts (one of only five in the country) a feature usually found only in a cathedral. It contains a number of notable monuments including the tomb of Roger de Mowbray, 1st Baron Mowbray”. Source: Wikipedia
John Blankley’s transport business
Melton-Mowbray, Sept. 10, 1735.
Whereas John Hackett , Melton-Mowbray Carrier, having left off carrying to London : This is therefore to satisfy the Country, that John Blankley, Melton-Mowbray Carrier, now goes from Melton-Mowbray to London every Week with a Carriage, and carries any Goods or Passengers at a reasonable Rate. He takes in Goods or Passengers at Great Dalby, Burrow on the Hill, Tilton on the Hill, New-Inn, Tur-Langton, Church-Langton, and Market-Harborough, at which Places any Person may have Goods or Passengers carried to or from London at a reasonable Rate. The Waggon goes early on Wednesday Mornings up by Tilton, and early on Friday Mornings down in Winter. Peform'd (if God permit) by John Blankley.
Source: Stamford Mercury 9 October 1735
Ab Kettleby tenants of Edward VI
“…the part of the king’s messuage in Abkettelbye, Leic., in tenure of John Blankley and all the land there in his tenure, and the messuage and land there in tenure of Robert Blankley, which belonged to Kykbellers priory…”
Kykbellers priory corresponds to Kirby Bellars Priory, 3.5 miles west of Melton Mowbray.
Below: St Mary’s, Melton Mowbray. Source: Wikimedia Commons
Melton Mowbray’s famous pork pies
The Leicestershire town of Melton Mowbray has been known for its pork pies since the 1700s — a by-product of the local cheesemaking industry (stilton is produced nearby), whose surplus whey proved ideal for fattening pigs.
Source: National Geographic
