Sibson is 17 miles west of Leicester, some 12 miles south of the similarly-named Snibston, near Coalville.
Illegal meetings of Presbyterians, Independents and ‘Anabaptists’ were reported here in 1669, attended by about 40 people. Their preachers were usually Mr Meade, an ejected minister from Stepney, and Matthew Clarke, former vicar of Narborough. They met on Sundays and weekdays, in the house of Mr Palmer.[1] Six dissenters were noted in the village in 1676.[2]
Thirteen out of the 46 families living in the village in 1706 were nonconformist, comprising 12 families of Presbyterians, who had a meeting house in the parish, and one of Quakers.[3] In 1709 the number of nonconformists (people, not families) was given as 4 Quakers and 20 Presbyterians. The latter met every Sunday afternoon, recently under the leadership of John Valls, a baker’s son from Nottingham, although it was said he had recently left.[4] By 1712 this group had two meeting places in the parish, worshipping together almost every Sunday Afternoon. Their ‘teacher’ was now John Jackson.[5]
In 1829, 15 Baptists met for worship in a private house.[6] No nonconformist returns were made to the 1851 religious census, and no chapels were noted in 19th- or early 20th-cetury trade directories.
Notes
[1] R.H. Evans, ‘Nonconformists in Leicestershire in 1669’, Trans. LAHS 25 (1949), p. 128
[2] A. Whiteman, The Compton Census of 1676: A Critical Edition (London, 1986), p. 332
[3] J. Broad (ed.), Bishop Wake’s summary of visitation returns from the diocese of Lincoln, 1706-1715. Part 2, Outside Lincolnshire (Huntingdonshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Leicestershire, Buckinghamshire) (Oxford, 2012), p. 887
[4] J. Broad (ed.), Bishop Wake’s summary of visitation returns from the diocese of Lincoln, 1706-1715. Part 2, Outside Lincolnshire (Huntingdonshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Leicestershire, Buckinghamshire) (Oxford, 2012), p. 887
[5] J. Broad (ed.), Bishop Wake’s summary of visitation returns from the diocese of Lincoln, 1706-1715. Part 2, Outside Lincolnshire (Huntingdonshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Leicestershire, Buckinghamshire) (Oxford, 2012), p. 888
[6] ROLLR, QS 95/2/1/187