Shoby is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

and former

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

north east of

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

, now in the parish of Grimston, in the Melton district, in the county of

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

, England. In 2000 it had an estimated population of 39. In 1931 the parish had a population of 49.

Gregory Brokesby Gregory may refer to: People and fictional characters * Gregory (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gregory (surname), a surname Places Australia *Gregory, Queensland, a town in the Shire of ...

who was a resident of Shoby became the

Sheriff of Leicestershire This is a list of Sheriffs and High Sheriffs of Leicestershire, United Kingdom. The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries mos ...

in 1632.

History

The name "Shoby" means 'Sigvald's farm/settlement'. Shoby was recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

as ''Seoldesberie''. Shoby is a deserted medieval village, it was deserted between 1350 and 1400 because of the Black Death or retreat from marginal lands. Shoby had a priory, a building is now on the site, which was formerly Priory Farmhouse and now called "Shoby Priory" and is a Grade II listed building. Shoby was an extra-parochial area, in 1858 it became a civil parish, on 1 April 1936 the parish was abolished and merged with Grimston.

References

External links

Hamlets in Leicestershire Former civil parishes in Leicestershire Borough of Melton {{Leicestershire-geo-stub