Extract from Kelly's Directory of Cambridgeshire 1912
(kindly transcribed by Dave Edwards)
DODDINGTON is a parish, formerly comprising the chapelry and market town of March and the hamlets of Benwick and Wimblington; but by an Act of Parliament passed in 1856, called "Doddington Rectory Division Act" (19 & Vict. C. 1), which came into operation on the death of a former Rector, in Nov. 1868, these places are now distinct parishes; it is in the Northern division of the county, hundred and union of North Witchford, Isle of Ely, petty sessional division and county court district of March, and in the peculiar archdeaconal jurisdiction of the Bishop of Ely. The village is on the main road between March and Chatteris, equi-distant 4 miles from each place, and 1 £ miles south-west from Wimblington station on the Cambridge, St. Ives and Wisbech branch of the Great Eastern railway. The parish is supplied with water by the Wisbech waterworks. The church of St. Mary is an ediface of stone, in the early English style, consisting of a fine chancel, nave, aisles, north and south porches, vestry and a western tower with spire containing a clock and 5 bells: the chancel, separated from the nave by carved oak screen, was restored in 1891 at a cost of £978, and a vestry screen, the gift of J.H. Marshall esq. of Grimsby, erected at a cost of £103; the nave was restored in 1892 at a cost of £800; the stained west window, a memorial to John Thomas Waddington esq. was presented by his widow about 1867; the stained east window was presented in 1891 by T.R. Harding esq. as a memorial to his wife and other members of the Harding family; the stained south window in the sanctuary was presented by Mrs. Peyton in 1907, in memory of her husband, General Francis Peyton, and there are other windows to the Richards and Peyton families, besides several tablets to the Peyton family, whose family vault is under the chancel; the church affords 600 sittings. The living is a rectory, net yearly value £1,026 with residence, and including 61 acres of glebe, in the gift of Lt.-Col. Sir Algernon Francis Peyton bart. J.P. and held since 1887 by the Rev. Frederick Charles Marshall M.A. of St. John£s College, Cambridge. This living was formerly the richest in England, but under the Act of 1856 and a previous Act in 1847 (10 & 11 Vict. C. 3) it is divided into seven rectories, viz. Benwick, Doddington, Wimblington, March Old Town, March St. Peter, March St. John and March St. Mary. Here is also a Wesleyan chapel. Lieut.-Col. Sir Algernon Francis Peyton bart. of Swift£s House, Bicester, who is lord of the manor, and William Welcher esq. are the principal landowners. The Workhouse for the North Witchford Union, erected here about 1838, is a large building of light-coloured brick, and will hold 283 inmates, the average number being about 108. The St. Mary£s Church Reading and Recreation Rooms form a picturesque structure of brick, erected on a site given by the rector, and presented to the parish by Col. and Miss Harding; there are 98 members. A clock tower with four dials was erected in 1897, at a cost of £90, in commemoration of the Diamond Jubilee of Her late Majesty Queen Victoria; there is also a fire engine house. The soil is clay and fen; subsoil, clay. The chief crops are potatoes, wheat, beans, oats and roots. The area is 7,037 acres of land and 17 of water; rateable value, £17,373; the population in 1901 was 1,486, including 8 officers and 124 inmates in the North Witchford Workhouse.
Primrose Hill and New World are in the neighbourhood of Doddington.
Parish Clerk, William Pauley.
Post, Money Order and Telegraph and Telephonic Express Delivery Office.
Edmund Burton Clarke jun. sub-postmaster.
Letters arrive from March at 4 a.m. & 1.30 p.m.; dispatched at 9.45 a.m. & 9 p.m.
Pillar Boxes. - Cop Alder, cleared at 8.35 a.m. & 6 p.m. & New World, 8.55 a.m. & 6.20 p.m.
North Witchford Rural District Council
The parishes in the District are - Benwick, Doddington, Manea, Welches Dam & Wimblington. The area is 26,088 acres; the population in 1911 was 5,215.
Council meets at Doddington monthly.
Chairman, Arthur Goodman, Doddington, March.
Officials.
Clerk, George Sharman, Broad Street, March
Treasurer, Francis Maltby Bland, Barclay & Company£s Bank, Wisbech
Medical Officer of Health, Cecil Edward Stephens M.D., C.M. Edin. The Lindens, Doddington
Surveyor of Highways & Inspector of Nuisances, A.W. Broker, Wimblington
North Witchford Union
Board day, fortnightly, Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the Workhouse, Doddington.
The North Witchford Union comprises - Benwick, Chatteris, Doddington, Manea, March, Welches Dam & Wimblington. The area of the union is 59,584 acres; rateable value at Lady Day, 1912, £122,349; the population in 1911 was 18,877
Chairman of the Board of Guardians, Frederick Grounds, Elwyn House, March
Clerk to the Guardians & Assessment Committee, George Sharman, Bank buildings, Broad Street, March
Treasurer, F.M. Bland, Barclay & Company£s Bank, Wisbech
Collectors to the Guardians, Relieving & Vaccination Officers, Chatteris district, Edwin J. Richardson, Westmoor house, London road, Chatteris; March district, Edwin Vawser, West End, March
Collectors of Poor Rates, March district, Edwin Vawser, jun. West End, March; Chatteris & Welches Dam districts, Charles Hammerton, Chatteris; Wimblington district, Edwin Neville; Doddington district, George A. Palmer; Benwick district, William Moore, Benwick; Manea district, Frederick W.S. Wattam, Manea
Medical Officers, No. 1 district, Cecil Edward Stephens M.D., C.M. Edin. The Lindens, Doddington; No. 2 district, Frank Arthur Evison M.R.C.S. Eng., L.R.C.P. Lond. Broad Street, March; No. 3 district, Alfred Charles Stanley Waters M.R.C.S. Eng. L.R.C.P. Lond. High Street, March; No. 4 district, Thomas Black M.B., C.M. Glas. The Elms, Manea; No. 5 district, Oswald Horrocks L.R.C.P. & F.R.C.S. Edin., D.P.H. Eng. High street, Chatteris
Public Vaccinators, No. 1 district, Cecil Edward Stephens M.D., C.M. Edin. The Lindens, Doddington; No. 2 district, Frank Arthur Evison M.R.C.S. Eng., L.R.C.P. Lond. Broad Street, March; No. 3 district, Thomas Black M.B., C.M. Glas. The Elms, Manea; No. 4 district, Oswald Horrocks L.R.C.P. & F.R.C.S. Edin., D.P.H. Eng. High street, Chatteris
The Workhouse erected in 1836, is a structure of brick, & will hold 283 inmates; Josiah Selby, master; Cecil Edward Stephens M.D., C.M. Edin. Medical officer; Mrs. Selby, matron
North Witchford Registrations District
Superintendent Registrar, George Sharman, Bank buildings, Broad Street, March
Registrars of Births & Deaths, March sub-district, Edwin Vawser, March; deputy, Peter H. Davis, High street, March; Chatteris sub-district, Edwin J. Richardson, Westmoor house, London road, Chatteris; deputy, Sidney J, Angood, High street, Chatteris
Registrars of Marriages, Peter Hughes Davies, High Street, March; Deputy, Joseph Collingwood, Market Place, March; John Willis, High street, Chatteris; Deputy, Frank Angel, Park Street, Chatteris
Council Schools
A Committee of six managers was formed July 1, 1903, for the control of the school; meets at School 1st Tuesday in every month at 7 p.m.
Correspondent, J.H. Haigh, Education offices, March
Attendance Officer, William Henry Yorke
Public Elementary Schools, built in 1878, at a cost of £1,851, for 220 scholars; average attendance, 140; the schools are partly supported by an endowment of £46 10s, belonging to the old free school; William Orton, master; Miss Ann Jane Humpage, infants£ mistress
Fire Brigade, John Wlikerson Yorke, supt
Police, Constable Hedley Ernest French, in charge
Carrier to March - Mrs. Litchfield Webb, daily
Private Residents
Clarke Edmund B. sen
Harding Miss, The Hermitage
Marshall Rev. Frdk. Chas., M.A. Rectory
Stephens Cecil Edwd. M.D. The Lindens
Tibbett John, Askham House
Welcher William, Coney House
Commercial
Barlow Thomas, beer retailer
Bates William, cottage farmer
Bays James, farmer
Bellamy William, farmer, Cop alder
Bosworth Charles, cottage farmer
Burton William, farmer
Butcher Geo. T. farmer, Ingle house
Cawthorn Frederick, Three Tuns P.H.
Chapman William, farmer
Clarke Edmund Burton, jun. grocer, Post Office
Clarke Edmund Burton, sen. Insur. Agt
Cordell Oliver, cottage farmer
Dack Arthur, shopkeeper
Dack Matthew, coal merchant
Dack William, bricklayer
Darwood Mark, farmer
Darwood William, clothier
Driver John & Fred, farmers
Driver Matthew, boot repairer
Dunham George, builder
Fisher Sarah Jane (Mrs.), farmer
Fisher William, butcher
Fovargue Daniel, farmer
Fovargue Isaac, farmer
Gavins Parkinson, farmer
Goodman Arthur, farmer
Green Arth. beer retailer, Primrose hl
Green Henry, beer retailer
Grey David, beer retailer
Guy Arthur, farmer
Harding Abinger John, beer retailer
Hart William, beer retailer
Haskett James, miller (wind & oil)
Hatch Brothers, bakers
Hatch Alfred, cycle agent
Heaps John Thomas, farmer
Henson Stephen, hair dresser
Hicks Alfred, beer retailer
Jackson Thomas, farmer
Jones James, farmer
Judd John Thomas, farmer
Judd Sarah (Miss), shopkeeper
Kingham Herbert William, farmer
Lambert George Wm. insurance agnt
Lavender Edward, farmer
Lenton John Edward, farmer
Lenton William, blacksmith
Marchant Richard, farmer
Marshall George, saddler
Miller William, farmer
Minett Curtis, cottage farmer
Nightingale John, bee farmer
Palmer George Alfred, plumber & rate collector
Pamby William, beer retailer
Radford William J. beer retailer
Read Nellie (Miss), grocer
Richards Henry, George P.H.
Richardson Edwin J. registrar of births & deaths for Chatteris sub-district (attends every Thursday 12 to 1)
Sharwood John Herbert, painter & assistant overseer
Stephens Cecil Edward M.D. & C.M. Edin. Surgeon & medical officer & public vaccinator, No. 1 district & medical officer to workhouse, North Witchford union & medical officer of health to North Witchford Rural District Council, The Lindens
Stimpson Annie Sophia (Mrs.), grocer
Stokeley Alfred, baker
Tibbett John, farmer, Askham house
Wade Robert, ecclesiastical builder, monumental stone & marble mason
Ward John Thomas, grocer & draper
Watts Henry, baker
Webb Frederick Charles, farmer
Webb Lichfield (Mrs.), carrier
Welcher John & William, farmers
Welcher Charles, farmer
Welcher John Glen, threshing machine owner
Welcher Richard, cottage farmer, Parsons£ drove
Whittome Jn. Wm. Eastmoor house
Wool Arthur, beer retailer
Wright George Edward, butcher
Yorke John & William, wheelwrights
Yorke Alfred James, cottage farmer
Yorke John, blacksmith
Yorke William Henry, carpenter