Extract from Piggott’s Directory of Dorsetshire 1830
Transcribed by Justin Standfield
Beer-Regis is a village and parish in the hundred of its name; 112 miles from London, and 8 from Blandford. Its name is derived from the small river Beer, upon which it is seated; and from its having been anciently a royal demesne. Queen Elfrida had a seat here, to which she retired immediately after the murder of her son-on-law, Edward the Martyr. This place had the charter of a market granted to it by King John, and was constituted a borough by Edward I; it may hence be supposed that Beer was of more importance in those days than at present; for it is now so inconsiderable that the market has fallen into disuse. The inhabitants are mostly employed in agriculture, and the cutting of wood for making faggots; the country around here being more rich in wood than any other part in the south of Dorset. The parish church is a small edifice; the living is a vicarage, of which the Rev Carrington Ley is the incumbent. Here are two meeting-houses for dissenters, and an endowed school for educating and clothing eight boys. A fair is held at Woodbury Hill, about half a mile distant, on the 18th September and three following days. The parish of Beer-Regis, including the tything of Shytterton, contained by the last returns 1,080 inhabitants.
Post – Letters are forwarded to and received from Blandford daily.
Gentry & Clergy:
Barker Rev Thomas, Burgess
Brewer William esq, Milborne
Drax John Stanley Wanley Sawbridge Erle esq, Charborough Park
Frampton – esq, Moreton
Ley Rev Carrington, Beer-Regis
Pickhard Rev George, Bloxworth
Pleydell Morton esq, Watcombe
Public Houses:
Drax’s Arms, James Kitcat
Royal Oak, John Casher
Shopkeepers & Traders:
Ash James Bryor, carpenter
Battrick John, shoemaker
Bellows William L, shopkeeper
Biles William, smith
Brydle Joseph, tailor & draper
Case Peter, linen draper
Clinch Joseph, tailor
Gallop Joshua, grocer
Gaulton Henry, cabinet maker
Gould John, grocer & confectioner
Hibbs Edward, smith
Hibbs Edward, linen draper
Hoare Robert, bricklayer
Homer Giles, tin-plate worker
House Henry, carpenter
Lane Thomas, tailor
Lane William, shoemaker
Lewis Benjamin Whitehead, grocer, draper & spirit merchant
Northover William, painter &c.
Nott Thomas, surgeon
Rossiter Jas., miller, Beer Marsh
Shave John, saddler &c.
Shepherd Francis, painter & glazier
Shepherd Thomas, bricklayer
Stroud Robert, miller
Vincent Ann, shopkeeper
Vincent John, bricklayer
White William, cooper
Winshall John, carpenter
Winsor James, ironmonger
Woolfreys John, shoemaker
Carriers:
To Dorchester, Wm. Taper, every Saturday
To Poole, Wm. Taper, every Thursday