Saxby, Leicestershire
| Freeby | |
|---|---|
 Freeby
|
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| Freeby shown within Leicestershire | |
| Population | 244 (2011) |
| OS grid reference | SK804201 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Melton Mowbray |
| Dialling code | 01664 |
| Police | Leicestershire |
| Fire | Leicestershire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| EU Parliament | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
Freeby is a village and civil parish in the Melton district of Leicestershire, England, about three miles east of Melton Mowbray. The parish has a population of about 300. The population at the 2011 census was measured at 244.
As well as the village of Freeby the parish includes the villages of Saxby, Wyfordby, Brentingby and Stapleford. Isaac Watts would have preached at the Congregational Church. This did not become the United Reformed Church until early 1970's.
The village was once a part of Melton Mowbray parish. At the time of Edward the Confessor it was known as "Fretheby" and "Fredebi". It was referred to as "Frieby" as late as 1816. All the properties, except the United Reformed Church, still belong to the Freeby estate. It was granted as a manor to Hugh Despencer in the 13th century and is still a manor estate. The estate later passed to Lord de Ros, presumably at the demise of the Despensers. (Hugh the elder was hanged in Bristol in 1326 for his aid to Edward II who had fled the invasion of Isabella and Mortimer: Hugh Despenser the Younger was, after trial, hung, drawn and quartered later the same year). In 1568 the lord of the manor of Freeby was Edward, 3rd Earl of Rutland. Thirty years later the manor passed to Thomas Hartopp of that ancient family of Leicestershire. Sir John Hartopp, 3rd Baronet (1658) became M.P. for Leicestershire (1678-1681), employed the non-conformist Isaac Watts and left an endowment for the education of dissenting ministers.
The estate was sold by Sir J. W. Cradock Hartopp, Bart., to Mr. Daniel Thwaites (of the Lancashire Thwaites brewery) upon whose death in 1888 it passed to his only daughter, Elma Amy, the wife of Robert Yerburgh, M.P. The estate was part of many others owned by Mrs Yerburgh and under management of the Woodfold Estates Company Management. Mrs. Yerburgh died in 1946 and from 1955 the estates and brewery were managed separately from adjacent offices at Eanam, Blackburn.
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Wikipedia