The church of St Peter in the village of Pimperne, mid Dorset
The little village of Pimperne in Dorset is about 2½ miles north-east of Blandford Forum on the Salisbury.
The church of St Peter in Pimperne has a fine Norman arch in the porch and the parish registers date from 1559.
This is where I have found the earliest references to my GILES ancestors. My 6-great grandparents Thomas and Mary Giles had their first two children, Elizabeth and Mary, christened here in 1734 and 1739 before moving on to Tarrant Hinton to have more children, including my direct ancestor John.
At the time of the christenings at St Peter’s, Thomas was a “sojourner” in the village, so I have not yet found where he came from originally. These Gileses were wandering farm labourers.
Here are some of my pictures of the church and the village nearby…
The church of St Peter in the village of Pimperne, mid Dorset
The church of St Peter in the village of Pimperne, mid Dorset
The church of St Peter in the village of Pimperne, mid Dorset
The church of St Peter in the village of Pimperne, mid Dorset
The church of St Peter in the village of Pimperne, mid Dorset
The church of St Peter in the village of Pimperne, mid Dorset
The church of St Peter in the village of Pimperne, mid Dorset
The church of St Peter in the village of Pimperne, mid Dorset
The church of St Peter in the village of Pimperne, mid Dorset
The church of St Peter in the village of Pimperne, mid Dorset
The church of St Peter in the village of Pimperne, mid Dorset
The church of St Peter in the village of Pimperne, mid Dorset
The church of St Peter in the village of Pimperne, mid Dorset - yew berries
The village of Pimperne, mid Dorset
The village of Pimperne, mid Dorset
The village of Pimperne, mid Dorset
The village of Pimperne, mid Dorset
The village of Pimperne, mid Dorset
The village of Pimperne, mid Dorset
The church of St Peter in the village of Pimperne, mid Dorset - horse chestnuts
The Squirrelbasket 
George Hicks Wheeler (3) born in 1827, was christened in Blandford Forum on 26/07/1827. He was a farm laborer and coal carter by occupation. The identifying of George’s mother Elizabeth Hicks, explained the mystery of the middle name of ‘Hicks’ which appeared in the family names for two generations, George (3) and Charles. (4)
When aged 18 years on 16/02/1845, George married Mary Ann Horlock, aged 24 years born Pimperne 1821. At the time of the marriage in the Church of St Peter, Mary Ann’s parents lived in Pimperne about 5 km from Blandford. Witnesses to the marriage were John Tapper and Sophia Horlock, the sister of Mary Ann. Their father was Harry Horlock, a laborer. The next entry in the register was the marriage of Sophia Horlock on 12/08/1845, when she married Joseph Andrews.
Some of my Wheeler family History from Pimperne and Blandforum Forum..
I’m more than happy to have your information in my blog comments – hopefully a long-lost distant relative of yours will spot it and get in touch!
Happy ancestor hunting 🙂
I am trying to trace my Wheeler and Hawkins family in Dorset, John Hawkins b. 1812 Rebecca Wheeler b.1814 married 1838 in Jersey, Channel Islands.
I am on Ancestry but can not trace the families back to Dorset.
Any information would be appreciated.
I wish you luck in your searches!
All the best 🙂
Hello there from South Wales, UK. John Tapper who witnessed the marriage of George and Mary Ann Horlock was my 3 x great grandfather. He was parish clerk at Pimperne for 40 years from the turn of the century and witnessed many of the marriages. However, John Tapper was also related to the Horlock line – his wife being Mary Whitmarsh who was the granddaughter of Henry Horlock of Pimperne. Please email for futher details. Just out of interest, did you know that Charles Kingsley, author of the children’s classic ‘The Water babies’ was curate at St Peter’s, Pimperne in the 1840s and was probably known to all our ancestors!
I will pass your contact details on to Grahame Wheeler…
Many thanks
I am also descended from Thomas and Mary Giles of Pimperne. In fact my fathers cousin was the last Giles to live in Tarrant Hinton and left only a few years ago.
My father (David Giles) was born in Tarrant Hinton.
I would love to know if anyone has managed to reach further back than Thomas and Mary of Pimperne.
Kind regards
James H Giles
Oh wow! You are my only relative from the Tarrants! I would also love to know if anyone has gone further back – I am still looking sometimes, to see if I can find where Thomas came from originally. I fear it may have been somewhere like Blandford, where records were destroyed in the fire (I think).
If I may, I will email you to compare notes, as I would be interested to see where our Giles lines join up!
Very best wishes 🙂
joseph andrews was my great great grand father on my mothers side of the family
I will email the people who first mentioned Joseph Andrews in their comments, to tell them, and I will happily put you in touch by sharing email addresses if that’s what you both want to do.
All the best 🙂
my e.mail address is as follows miriam.ba30@outlook.com
good afternoon!
I happened upon this website whilst looking for St Peters Church Pimperne.
My family were called Day: the last one to be born in Pimperne was my ggg. grandfather Stephen Day b January 1777, before that was my gggg. granfather Moses Day b.1747 married in St Peters Church September 1770 to Jane Loader whose parents were James and Mary Loader.
I wonder if anyone has heard of this family?
Those names don’t appear in my tree, but I hope someone else happens on this page by chance and makes contact with you.
Best wishes and good luck in your ancestry hunt 🙂
Looking for information on Henry Horlock who was a shepherd in the early 1800s in Pimperne- employing at least one assistant young lad for 3-4 guineas a year! Any idea re the background of this Henry horlock please.
Happy to host your query – and I think you have received a response from someone already…
Best wishes 🙂
Hello,
This Henry Horlock is perhaps one of my ancestors. He was a shepherd in Pimperne. I think he was a son of Christopher Horlock also of Pimperene but I’ve not investigated yet. This Henry died in 1807 and left a will in which he left a cottage and contents (best bed, a clock and other items) shared amongst his daughter Elizabeth (who was married to John Whitmarsh, also a shepherd) and to his two Whitmarsh granddaughters – who later married into Tapper and Baverstock families in Pimperne. I’ve not seen reference to Henry employing a lad for 3-4 guineas a year and I would be interested to know more. Thanks.
Happy to put you two in touch!
Best wishes 🙂
Thank you very much indeed ‘Squirrel basket’ – your help is much appreciated and yes, please put me in touch with any interested parties. 🙂
Hi Jane- this is curious re Henry Horlock. it has come to light after I ordered a Deed of Settlement for a family member of my husband’s tree who was born in Witchampton in 1792 and was in the employ of Henry Horlock- shepherd- in Pimperne from 1805-1810 before joining the Dorset militia and then enlisting with 35th Regiment. It seemed to me that Henry Horlock must have had a bit of money behind him to pay the lad as he did plus give him board and lodgings in the main house. I saw the mention of the will for Henry who died in 1807 and felt there had to be a connection- but how! The Deed signed in 1832 distinctly states that he quit his said master’s service after 4 1/2 years and then joined the Militia. He enlisted with 35th Reg in 1811 so on that basis he was still with Henry Horlock at the beginning of 1810. Are there any other Henry Horlocks who would fit the bill? My husband was born in Blandford so we are familiar with the area but now live in Cheshire.
Best wishes
Caroline
Hi Caroline,
Yes, intriguing indeed! I guess there are a number of possibilities. The most obvious from my Henry’s point of view is that John Whitmarsh continued managing his father-in-law’s flock after Henry died in 1807. Certainly he is described in the 1841 census as being of independent means which always struck me as slightly incongruous with my lay idea of a lowly shepherd. Perhaps the flock was larger than we might imagine and John kept your lad on when he took over?
Alternatively of course, there was more than one Henry Horlock who was a shepherd in Pimperne at that time. I cannot comment with any certainty but I believe my Henry had a brother (Thomas?) so maybe the flock was a joint enterprise and part passed to one of the brother’s offspring named Henry?
There is a story on ‘Dorset ancestors’ about Robert Coward who was born in Stourpaine in 1819. he was illegitimate but claimed his father was a Henry Horlock. My Henry was gone by then but perhaps yours was around?
There appear to be other links with the Bastard family of Blandford and with the Horlocks of Charlton Marshall who made their fortune as slave owners and owners of sugar plantations in Jamaica. I do not know what the link is with my Horlocks of Pimperne but I imagine there is one, perhaps a few generations earlier.
Lots more digging to do I think! 🙂
Now that is really interesting as my Thomas married Jane Dobbin who was born in Dominica- in 1831 whilst he was at St Anns Fort in Barbados. He discharged himself from the regiment in 1832 and returned to Dorset -with wife Jane (Dobbin)and their daughter (also called Jane) who was born at the Fort at the end of 1831. Now I have been trying to establish anything about Jane Dobbin- and I am beginning to wonder if there is any link between slave ownership etc. i don’t even know if Jane was part of a white family or a free slave but the Charlton Marshall link is looking more intriguing!
I have been wondering why Thomas brought his wife back to Pimperne to settle in 1832 after leaving the army but I am now wondering if Horlock is the link- if indeed his wife had been connected with slaves and plantations in Dominica? how on earth am I going to unravel this one! Any idea where the farms were please?
Yes, the names of the plantations, the owners and the compensation they were paid when emancipation was passed all appear on a database of research that has been released by the University of London. Here is the link: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/ It is most interesting and whilst we might prefer not to have any of our ancestors involed, there are several Horlocks listed.
I should just correct my own information as well – Henry Horlock’s will was proved in 1809 of course not 1807 as I stated previously.
Hi Jane- this is a brilliany site butseems to cover primarily Jamaica- and I still can’t see any references as yet that link into our families at Pimperne and/or Charlton Marshall. i will keep digging!
Caroline