The Parish Registers

These descriptions from the Cambridge Record Office...

1563-1687 [CALM Ref KP34/1/1]

Baptisms - 27 March 1563 - 6 February 1686/1687
One baptism 1610 written in along margin. Some baptism entries very faded, particularly 1646 - 1650. Births, not baptisms, recorded 22 December 1653 - 9 August 1661. Page containing baptisms 1683 - 1684 stained and partly illegible at top, torn along inner margin at base.

Marriages - 1 October 1567 - 5 October 1686.
Civil marriages performed 10 February 1653 - 22 September 1654; notices of banns 4 December 1653 - 26 July 1657. 

Burials - 30 November 1567 - 21 November 1686.
Missing burials: May 1676 - July 1678, all 1679. Top corner of page containing 1639 burials cut away, destroying parts of some entries. A substitute cornerpinned in and written over for 1640 entries, but subsequently lost, apart from one small fragment. Top of next page(detached) cut away but apparently no entries missing. Most burials 1647 very faint. A few incomplete entries 1650 - 1651 noted inside back cover of first register.
Top of first page in second register stained and damaged by rodents: burials before July 1657 either incomplete or illegible. Burials 1662 on back of last leaf worn & stained, only partly legible.
BURIALS IN WOOLLEN noted 1678 - 1686. 

• Top of last five pages stained, last three pages damaged by rodents. Bottom half of seventh page from end torn away
• The present single volume consists of two registers probably bound up together during the nineteenth century. The first register covers the years 1563 - 1653, with a few extra baptism entries in 1662, 1670 and 1671. The earliest entry in the second register is of a burial on 1 June 1653, but all entries up to March 1654 seem to have been copied in together.
• Memorandum of appointment of Edward Bones of Castle Camps as parish register by Thomas Benett Esquire J.P., 19 December 1653.
• Collections on briefs noted on first page of second register, only partly legible, and undated. 
• Memorandum of appointment of John Kymens as parish clerk 19 June 1681 
  Lst of twelve persons confirmed at Linton 8 September 1685. On fifth page from end.
• (Both registers bound in together between parchment covered boards. Original front cover and part of fly leaf of first register, both covers of second register missing. Other defects as noted above).

1687-1767

Baptisms - 10 April 1687 - 3 May 1767.
Three births of dissenters' children noted 1703 - 1704. Two baptism entries deleted 1711, Three deleted and entered on opposite page 1764 & 1767 entries deleted and transferred to new register (P034/01/03). One baptism 1716 inserted along margin, 'from a memorandum found in a book of Dr. Watson's'. (See below). Note that one baptism in 1760 was entered after completion of annual transcript for bishop's registry. Baptisms 1766 include 'June 15. Sarah daughter of Matthew and Mary Halls born in a barn the mother being a poor travelling woman'.

Marriages - 5 April 1687 - 8 August 1756

Burials - 1 April 1687 - 5 May 1767.
Burials in woollen noted 1687 - 1702. 
Note after first burial 1722 that baptisms, marriages and some burials for the years 1720 - 1722 were not entered until 1758, when they were 'taken from loose papers found after the death of Dr. Allix who succeeded Dr. Watson in the Rectory of Castle Camps in 1724'. (Dr. John Watson, Fellow of Emmanuel College 1696 - 1703, Rector 1703 - 1724. Buried 18 November 1724. See also P034/03/ (Dr. John Peter Allix, 1679 - 1758, Rector 1724 - 1758, Dean of Ely 1730 - 1758. Buried 'in the Church Porch' 15 January 1758).
Memoranda include: 

• On front fly leaf, declaration by John Stephens, parish clerk, that fees for burial in chancel customarily 5 guineas, with 1 guinea to the clerk; for burials in other parts of the church 13s 4d to the clerk, rector's fees unknown.
• After baptisms 1753 description of perambulation of parish boundaries with note that 'the company was entertained at Westoe with bread and cheese and ale. And again in Skillet's Fields with bread and cake and cheese and ale by the Minister. When the Perambulation was finished, the Minister gave them moreover a guinea to spend at the public houses. Men and boys 42'. 4 May 1761
• After baptisms 1767, list of families benefitting from £5 legacy bequeathed by Francis Dayrell Esq., of ShudyCamps, to the poor of Castle Camps.
• 1762 
  On following page, list of poor families receiving part of 50s.0d. paid by the executors of Mrs. Martha Watson 'for not burying her in woollen'. 1762
• After burials 1767, note on supposed annuity charged on the Westoe estate by Mr. Wenyeve, former owner, or his sister, for the poor of Castle Camps. Includes a copy of a letter sent to Joshua Ruse Jun., parish constable, by William Symons, Mr. Wenyeve's nephew, of Brettenham Hall, stating that the money was a voluntary gift, not charged on the estate and therefore not binding on subsequent purchasers.
• 1767.  Various notes on repairs and building work, including: 'The new road in Pound Lane was begun with chalk in the year 1760 and covered with gravel 1762. Continued from the Bridge to the Lane near the Lime Kiln 1761'. 'The bridge cross the road near the Pound was built at the sole charge of Richard Crop Esq. of Westoe, in the year 1761'. Rectory coach house and granary 'built of clay daubing and some part boarded and thatched ... being too much decayed to repair were taken down and rebuilt with bricks and tiled ...' 1775, brick walls in grounds built 1776, roof partly releaded, front cornice repaired and new water troughs supplied 1799
• Declaration by churchwardens and others that Gregory Lovell, Rector of Castle Camps subscribed to the articles and ordinances of the Church of England on 9 May 1694.
• At back of register, list of collections on briefs. First seven undated, but commencing with 'the first Irish brief', then dated 1691 - 1698/1699, with four subsequent, undated. Local causes include Grantchester 17 October 1695, Ickleton 18 Jan. 1698/1699 and Balsham, probably 1699.
  (Inner margins of leaves, especially at beginning damp stained; some entries faint or partly illegible. Marks of thongs of original covers on outer leaves, but volume now in parchment-covered boards, uniformly bound with P034/01/01).

1767-1790

Baptisms - 18 January 1767 - 28 October 1790. A few dates of birth recorded.

Burials - 8 February 1767 - 7 December 1790 
Note at beginning, 1767, of commencing dates of three earlier registers. (Since rebound as two, see P34/1/1,2).

1756-1813

Marriages - 8 August 1756 - 6 November 1812
Banns: 27 June 1756 - 6 June 1813 
Pages 1 - 4 and 9 - 14 of Banns crumpled and detached, also first page of Marriages; several other pages loosened.
Pasted inside front cover 'Conditions of Admission into the General Hospital at Bath, 1762'. 
(Front cover loosened, sewing weak. Calf binding).

1791-1812

Baptisms - 9 January 1791 - 27 December 1812

Burials - 1 April 1791 - 25 October 1812 
Unfilled pages of register subsequently used for notes as follows: 
(1). Notes on incumbents 1812 - 1958 
(2). Details of repairs to Church fabric, restoration, imrovements, gifts etc.:Including:

• four bells (two cracked) taken down from decayed frame 1827, sold & replaced by five bells cast by Mr. Dobson,bell-founder, Downham, 19 November 1828. (Weights and cost noted).
• Organ built by Flight and Robson bought from St. Mary the Less, Cambridge for £50. 1839.
• Church repainted, new communion table. 1846.
• West Tower collapsed 18 July 1850. Supposed Saxon burials discovered under Norman foundations. New tower begun June 1851, completed by end of 1851, at a cost of £754. £900 borrowed from Public Loss Commissioners for rebuilding and restoration, and for recasting one bell broken in fall. George Edward Pritchett of Bishops Stortford, architect. (Son of Revd. Charles Richard Pritchett late rector of Little Hallingbury). Daniel Balls of Norwich, builder, William Martin Collier of CampsHall, and Charles Leonard, churchwardens.
• Porch rebuilt at rector's expense. 1855.
• New windows in chancel to replace old wooden frames. (With note that the Revd. Wilfrid Clark, Rector 1812 - 1825 expended considerable sums on restoring the chancel about 1820. The lead from the roof was sold at that time).
• Organ enlarged by Mr. Dawson of Cambridge. 1856
• Heating apparatus installed, 1875, and churchyard enlarged on S.E. side of church 1876.
• Extensive repairs and alteration work undertaken 1882 - 1883. New chancel roof replacing low-pitched slate roof erected in 1820, new stone east window replacing cast iron one of 1856, western gallery removed, nave and chancel reseated and repaved, monumental slabs in floor and some wall monuments reset (listed in detail), new oak pulpit and lectern; piscina, part of chancel screen and matrix of monumental brass found, paint removed from font and white wash from nave stone work, walls coloured to match new plaster in chancel, new hangings, kneelers and lamps. Architect: J.P. St. Aubyn, Lambe Buildings, Temple, London. Builders: Mason & Son, Haverhill.
• Bells repaired and rehung, ringing chamber improved, 1886. New organ, reusing some pipes, built by T. Dixon, Cambridge. Brief specifications of stops, 1889.
• N. side of churchyard drained and made fit for burials. 1903
• Porch re-tiled and nave north windows repaired; ancient glass in them reset by John J. Ricket of Great Abington 'who had much experience in conservative church repairs at Babraham, Hildersham, and Pampisford'. 1908 
• New hangings, vestments and fittings, including new gilt altar cross and candlesticks. 1912 - 1913
• Nave roof restoration directed by Bowden and Weir of the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings; J.J. Ricket of Great Abington, builder. New tiles and laths, but old beams retained, spliced and repaired, as far as possible. List of contributors. 1913
• Churchyard extended 1920 and war memorial tablet erected. 1922
• 
  Various gifts, repairs and improvements to church. 1923 - 1968 .
• Detailed inventory of plate, vestments, furnishings and parish records. 1966 

(3).Matters affecting benefice: Including

• sale of Parsonage Meadow 10ac. 16p. (No. 8 on tithe map) to the Revd. C.H. Brocklebank for £450. 1904.
• Benefices of Castle Camps and Shudy Camps held in plurality. 1945.
• Rectory house, too large and in bad condition sold to Col. Stewart of Helions Bumpstead for £1500. (Commandeered during 1939 - 1945 war). 1951 

(4). Development of National school:

• Sunday school building erected in churchyard, at a cost of £138. May-July 1826
• Foundation stone of new day school laid 12 April 1865; school opened 19 April 1866.
• School enlarged. 1876, 1885
• Teaching staff increased. 1887
• School house built, alterations and improvements to school; Architect: G.E. Pritchett, Bishops Stortford. Builders: Mason & Son, Haverhill. 1892
• Repairs to old school room in churchyard used for Sunday school, damaged by war-time bombs and low flying aircraft. 1949
• Status of school changed to Church of England (Controlled). 1951
• School to be enlarged by L.E.A. to accommodate extra pupils from Shudy Campsschool (closed 1962). The latter premises to revert to trustees of Shudy Camps glebe land. 1959

(5). Parish events and celebrations:

• Parish perambulation (see also P34/1/2, 1761). 1842
• Reopening of church after restoration: services and meals for 350; list of principal subscribers. 25 September 1883.
• First known confirmation service: 47 candidates fromCastle Camps, 16 from Shudy Camps. 1887.
• Diamond jubilee celebrations: Service followed by dinner for choir and Sunday school; 'at 4 o'clock 400 adults in two companies sat down to a substantial meat tea in M. Herbert Leonard's barn and after them the children of the parish were given tea to number of 240; the evening closed with sports and dancing'. 21 June 1887.
• Pond N.W. of Rectory cleared. 1890.
• Service for coronation of George V and Queen Mary, children given medals and mugs. 22 June 1911

(6) War 1914-1919. Collections for Red Cross, lists of SERVING SOLDIERS and regiments with notes of casualties. 1914. Belgian refugee family supported atCamps End. 1915. Corrected ROLL OF HONOUR 1914 - 1916. List of those KILLED OR MISSING 1914 - 1919 
(Parchment register in calf-covered boards).

1813-1845

Baptisms - Entries continued to end of 1845 on loose sheet at back of register. Dates of birth given 1813 - 1845.

1813-1857

Marriages - 148 entries

1813-1870

Burials - Occupations stated 1813-1824

1846-1885

Baptisms - 800 entries

1870-1960

Burials - 811 entries

1837-1911

Marriages - 403 entries

1912-1929

Marriages - 50 entries

Banns 1901-1953 215 entries

1929-1954

Marriages - 50 entries

Excerpts from the Parish Registers in Italics

Memm. 4 May 1761 A Survey of the Bounds of this Parish was this day taken by Perambulation; beginning at the White Post adjoining to BUMSTED Hedge that Butts Meadow from Sheep's Pasture, belonging to the Lordship at Shudy Camps; from thence the company proceeded on the inside of Sheep's Pasture next the Lane till they came to the Moat belonging to the said Lordship; then turning to the left, continued their course along the South Bank of the Moat, and so on to the further side of Westoe Ley, by Stocking between Stocking Grove and a wood belonging to Lord MAYNARD, round Langley & Willesey Woods, the hither side of Skillets Fields to the corner of Bendish Wood. From thence almost in a direct line to the further side of the Castle Grounds by Lanham Wood to the White Post again. The Hamlet was not in this, nor, as far as appears, ever was included in any Perambulation.
NB: The Company was entertain'd at Westoe with Bread & cheese & Ale,and again in Skillet's Fields with Bread & cakes & cheese & ale by the Minister. And when the Perambulation was finish'd the Minister gave them moreover a guinea to spend at the Publick Houses. Men & Boys 42.

"The bridge cross the road near the pound was built at the sole charge of Richard Crop Esq. of Westoe in the year 1761."

"The new road in Pound Lane was begun with chalk in the year 1760, covered with gravel 1762. Continued from the Bridge to the Lane near the Lime Kiln 1761."

"1722. The remainder of the year look forward to the proper place. Baptisms for the years 1720, 1721, 1722 and marriages and part of the burials for the same years were not entered in the register till year 1758 and were all taken from loose papers found after the death of [Dr Peter Allix]."

New pole fence put up from end of wall to gate Sept, Oct 1771.

The Rectory coach house and granary "built of clay daubing and some part baorded and thatched ... being too much decayed to repair were taken down and rebuilt with bricks and tiles...." 1775.

The brick walls in the grounds were built in 1776, the roof partly releaded, front cornice repaired and new water troughs supplied in 1799.

Olmstead Hall is pre 1400. The surviving farmhouse was sold to WS Kiddy in 1920. Olmstead Hall Farm, dates back to pre 1567.

Barrack Tree at the four crossroads at the end of Broad Steet marks the grave of George Miller of Shudy Camps who hanged himself in Langley Wood and "was buried in the field near the highway in the bounds of the towne of Castle Camps, December 19th 1655"

Whitenemere Hill was formerly called Southoe.

A windmill standing just west of Lordship Farm was in use until after 1800. By 1903 there was a Post Mill, and a Steam Mill was working 1908 - 1920.

The Sunday school building was erected in the Church yard in May-July 1826 at a cost of 138 pounds. The average attendance at church in 1851 was 170 and 100 children at Sunday School.

Snippets from the Parish Registers

Burials

June 1593	two children of a begger borne in Lynetts barne at one byrthe
2 Jan 1599	Robert LINNETT, an owld blind man was kept uppon the class? Of the towne
2 Dec 1599	Joane HOCKLEY, daughter of Robert drowned by mischance
2 Dec 1599	Mrs Anne BAYNES sister to Mr John Skinner London lorde of the towne
4 Dec 1616	ANGER, son of Mr the counselle dwelling in Cambridge
2 Dec 1618	also a poor man died in our parish wich went by the wasseid and died Feb 21
22 April 1631	Aylce CARTER wid being 100 + 7 years of age
15 Dec 1633	Sir James WESTON one of the Barons of the Exchequer
1637	Robert CORNELL Died in our towne and was buried in Linton
29 Oct 1654	Thomas SETH? a stranger came into the towne to worke and fell sicke and dyed
9 Dec 1655	George MILLAR of Shudy Camps hanged hinself in Langley Wood in Castle Camps and was found ther and buryed in ye field in ye high way according to his fact in the bounds of the towne of Castle Camps (This entry has been crossed out) as written
5 Feb 1655	Alice HOCKLY kept by the towne
5 May 1683	Clement NEVILL esq who died at Trinity College in Cambridge was brought hither and buried
28 Aug 1690	Peter CHYON (BT Cynon) a distracted man sent hither by the town of Bumstead
11 Sept 1727	Wm CAMPION BT an alehouse caper
26 June 1829	Robert MITCHELSON a traveller killed in a quarrel about 28
30 Aug 1830	Elizabeth SMITH a traveller supposed from the neighbourhood of Ipswich age unknown
1 June 1769	Thomas YOUNG a youth 8 years old from the East Indies drown'd in a pond at Westoe May 30

Baptisms

10 Dec 1716	John BARKER son of James and Margaret -taken from a Mum? Found in a book of Dr Watsons in his own handwriting
23 Oct 1603	George BUCK son of Jhon. citizen of London & of Jone his wife then journing with wife in thehouse of Robert Maskall OTP being his brother inlaw
10 Jul 1704	Thomas BUTCHER son of John and Dorothy. Birth, dissenter
22 May 1704	James CHALLICE son of John and Frances, Dissenter
23 Sept 1696	Susanna FLACK daughter of John and Mary. born in wedlock but begotten in fornication
15 June 1766	Sarah HALLS daughter of Matthew and Mary born in a barn the mother being a poor travelling woman
2 Feb 1703	Daniel HANCOCK son of Thomas and Jane. Dissenter
29 Aug 1847	Elizabeth HETT? duaghter of James and Susan. Bury St Edmonds servant born as she states Aug 25 1825
1 June 1829	John William HOUSEMAN son of John William and Rebecca. Stepney Govt Officer
17 Jul 1763	Elizabeth ADAMS dau of Sarah & (as she hath made oath) Thomas Stubbing illegitimate
7 May 1769	Sarah WEBB daughter of Jane WEBB as she hath made oath Thomas Stubbing illegitimate