In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Bosmere like this:
BOSMERE, a lake, a district, and a hundred in Suffolk. The lake lies 1 mile SE of Needham-Market; is an expansion of the river Gipping; covers about 30 acres; and abounds with fish. Bosmere Hall, the seat of the Hall family, is adjacent.—The district comprehends the subdistrict of Needham-Market, containing the parishes of Great Blakenham, Baylham, Barking, Creeting-St. Mary, Creeting-All-Saints, Creeting-St. Olave, Little Stonham, Earl Stonham, Badley, Battisford, Ringshall, Great Bricett, Willisham, Offton, Nettlestead, Somersham, Little Blakenham, Bramford, and Flowton; and the subdistrict of Coddenham, containing the parishes of Coddenham, Gosbeck, Hemingstone, Ash-Bocking, Swilland, Henley, Akenham, Claydon, Barham, Ashfield-with-Thorpe, Framsden, Helmingham, Pettaugh, Winston, Debenham, Mickfield, and Stouham-Aspall, and the parochial chapelry of Crowfield. ...
Acres, 57,899. Poor rates in 1866, £8,376. Pop. in 1861, 16,174. Houses, 3,547. Marriages in 1866, 124; births, 481,-of which 46 were illegitimate; deaths, 309,-of which 91 were at ages under 5 years, and 11 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 1,084; births, 5,231; deaths, 3,131. The places of worship in 1851 were 39 of the Church of England, with 6,823 sittings; 8 of Independents, with 3,065 s.; 7 of Baptists, with 1,171 s.; 1 of Quakers, with 200 s.; 1 of Wesleyan Methodists, with 84 s.; and 2 of Primitive Methodists, with 114 s. The schools were 24 public day schools, with 1,169 scholars; 37 private day schools, with 697 s.; 41 Sunday schools, with 2,103 s.; and 2 evening schools for adults, with 63 s. The workhouse is in Barham. The hundred bears the name of Bosmere and Claydon; and is mainly identical with the district, but of less extent. Acres, 49,331. Pop., 13,128. Houses, 2,848.
Bosmere through time
A Vision of Britain through Time includes a large library of local statistics for administrative units. For the best overall sense of how the area containing Bosmere has changed, please see our redistricted information for the modern district of Mid Suffolk. More detailed statistical data are available under Units and statistics, which includes both administrative units covering Bosmere and units named after it.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Bosmere in Mid Suffolk | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/20194
Date accessed: 19th June 2013
Not where you were looking for?
Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "Bosmere".
