Post Office Directory of 1865.
ACTON is a parish, in Babergh hundred, Sudbury union and county court
district, rural deanery and archdeaconry of Sudbury, and diocese of Ely, West
Suffolk, 3 miles northeast-by-north from Sudbury station, 71 from London, and a
mile east from Long Melford, not far from the river Stour. The church of All
Saints has nave, aisles, a small chapel called Bacon's chapel, transept, porch,
and low tower, containing 5 bells, a very handsome brass to the memory of Sir
Roger De Bures, and a marble monument to Robert Jennings, Esq., and his lady.
The earliest date of register is l564. The living is a vicarage, annual value
�265, with residence, in the gift of Earl Howe, and held by the Rev. John Edwin
Fell, M.A., of St. John's College, Cambridge. The tithes were commuted in 1838
for a yearly rent-charge of �750, half of which belongs to the vicar, Earl Howe
being impropriator of the great tithes and lord of the manor. There is a mixed
school for boys, girls, and infants; the building was enlarged 1863, at the
expense of Lord Howe. There is a small charity, called Kcddington's, which
supplies six widows with a small loaf on each Sabbath, and a pair of shoes each
yearly. Acton Place has a considerable park attached to it, and Acton Hall is
near the village. In 1861 the population was 558; area, 2,811 acres.
Parish Clerk, George Poole.
POST OFFICE.�James Nice, receiver. Letters are received through Sudbury, arrive
at 8 a.m.; dispatched at 5.15 p.m. The nearest money order office is at Long
Melford
School, Miss Annie Thomason. mistress
Fell Rev. John Edwin, M.A. [vicar]
COMMERCIAL.
Andrews Benjamin, farmer
Bear William, farmer
Bromley Benjamin, farmer
Chinery Nathan, grocer & shoe maker
Decks Henry, farmer
Green John, farmer
Green Thos. Edwd, farmer, Acton hall
Harper John, farmer
Hogger John, wheelwright
Jaques Robert, farmer
Meggs John, blacksmith
Mills William, carpenter
Nice James, shoe maker, & post office
Orpen Daniel Nice, farmer
Pettit George, Crown
Poole George, carpenter, builder & undertaker
Poole Job, boot & shoe maker & shopkeepr
Tiffen Susannah (Mrs.), farmer
Upson William, shopkeeper
Ward William, cattle dealer
Woodgate Robert, farmer, Home farm