ASHBY-CUM-FENBY is a parish consisting of two hamlets, six miles south from Grimsby, 3½ south-west from Holton-le-Clay and 4 miles north-west from North Thoresby stations on the East Lincolnshire branch of the Great Northern Railway and 154 from London, in the North Lindsey division of the county, parts of Lindsey, wapentake of Bradley Haverstoe, petty sessional division and county court of Great Grimsby, Caistor union, rural deanery of Grimsby No 2, archdeaconry of Stow and diocese of Lincoln.

The church of St Peter is a small but ancient structure of stone in the Norman and Decorated styles, consisting of a chancel, nave, north aisle and an embattled western tower consisting of 3 bell; the oldest portion is the south wall of the nave: one of the chancel windows contains some contemporary stained glass, and there is a very ancient stone font and a poor box: in the tower there is a recumbent cross-legged effigy of a knight of the time of Edward I. There are two other monuments, viz, one to Susanna, daughter of Sir William Drury and sister of Lady Frances Wray and the other to Sir William Wray, who died in Ashby in 1617 and lies buried in Ashby church with Frances his wife and eldest daughter of Sir William Drury, knt, of Hawstead in the County of Suffolk, and his wife, the Lady Elizabeth Stafforde, descended from the illustrious family of the Dukes of Buckingham; there is also an inscribed slab to another member of the Wray family, dated 1699: the fabric was extensively repaired in 1845: the tower was repaired in 1886 and an organ erected in 1884 at a cost of £70: there are sittings for 150 persons.

The register, including that of Fenby, dates from the year 1723.

The living is a rectory , tithe rent-charge £300, net yearly value £294, including residence built in 1849, and 44 acres of glebe, in the gift of the Lord Chancellor, and held since by the Rev James Garvey MA of Christ’s College, Cambridge, who is also rector at Brigsley.

There is a Wesleyan chapel here erected in 1836.

Lady Frances Wray erected almshouses for six poor men and women of Ashby, Barnoldby-le-Beck, Grainsby and Waith, and in 1641 her son, Sir Christopher Wray endowed them with a yearly rent-charge of £30: the two Ashby almspeople have also the interest of £100 left by the Rev John Williams MA, a former rector of the parish.

William Heaford Daubney, esq of Scartho, is lord of the manor and principle landowner.

The soil is generally stiff; subsoil clay.

The chief crops are wheat, barley, oats and turnips.

The area is 1,675 acres, rateable value £2,286; the population in 1881 was 264

Parish clerk  Joseph West

Letters through Great Grimsby arrive at 9am. Box cleared at 5.15pm. Waltham is the nearest money order and telegraph office.

Carriers to: -
Great Grimsby
William Davey, mon. wed. fri. & sat
Joseph Humberstone, tues. thurs. fri & sat
Louth
Joseph Humberstone, wed

Rev James Garvey MA, rector of Ashby and Brigsley, Rectory
William Boon     wheelwright
William Brooks     farmer
Thomas Coverdale     farmer
Charles Crisp     farmer
William Davey     carrier
Abraham Forman     farmer
Joseph Frearson     farmer
John Goodhand     tailor, draper & grocer
Joseph Humnberstone     carrier
Joseph Johnson     grazier
George Kendall     farmer
John Neep      grazier
Henry Shaw     farmer
David Starmer     farmer
Frederic Trafford     farmer
Joseph West     blacksmith & parish clerk
Robert Wright     farmer

Source: Kelly’s Directory 1889