NOTES: In medieval times there were no parish registers. Through the efforts of Thomas Cromwell in 1538 a mandate was issued by Henry VIII for churches to maintain parish records. This ordered that every parson, vicar or curate was to enter in a book every wedding, christening and burial in his parish. In 1558 Queen Elizabeth re-confirmed her father's mandate into law and many church records date from that year. Wimpole's own church records for baptisms, weddings and burials began in 1560. In 1754, the Lord Hardwicke's Act (and yes, that's our Lord Chancellor Hardwicke [1690-1764], interred in his memorial in Wimpole's Chicheley Chapel) required separate registers for banns and marriages. Banns being an announcement made in a parish church of an intention to marry. The act was passed to prevent clandestine and under-age marriages. To make the Act more effective, a special printed form was devised which called for the signatures of the officiating minister, the two witnesses and those of the bride and groom. Wimpole's church records for banns and marriages in the new format began in 1754. The date given is the date of the marriage. In England and Wales, up to 1751, the New Year always began on the 25th March (Lady Day). (x) means "his/her mark" (ie unable to write or sign). The original spelling of names (as transcribed) has been retained. (B.T.) indicates the entry as shown in the Bishop's Transcripts 1599-1812 where it differs from the entry in the local church register. For more details, see the original Introduction written by T.P.R. Layng in 1983 on the Parish Registers page.] Information, notes and comments additional to the Wimpole Registers are usually shown within [square brackets] and italics. My thanks and acknowledgments to the Parochial Church Council for Wimpole and St Andrew's Parish Church for allowing the online publication of the Church Registers. These listings are based on the provided Church Registers for the Parish of Wimpole, as transcribed and collated by T P R Layng in March 1983. Originally typed by C L and A E Hatton. Additional research for this website is by by Steve Odell. I have also compared the Layng transcript below with the commercially available Cambridgeshire Family History Society version. Any significant differences have been so identified. Local parish records on CDs can be purchased from the society.

Searching for 'Names' in the Wimpole Registers: The parish register pages for Wimpole are being progressively reset to facilitate name searches using the following 'phrase' formats within the search boxes provided [check the † symbol in the register index below]. - "John Smith" [search using quote marks around the name as shown] when looking to     match an exact name. - [John Smith] [search using square brackets around the name as shown] when looking    to match any similar name. - {John Smith} [search using braces around the name as shown] when looking to match    any approximate name. The search results will generally provide the first match found on each page. On long 'list' pages such as a register or a census page, there may well be other similar name matches further down the page and you are advised to use your browser's 'find on this page' facility to check and locate any additional matches. This alphabetical name index [originating long before the era of internet search engines...] which lists over 1000 early Wimpole 'names' [and variations] from the Registers, can still be helpful in suggesting alternate or obscure spellings of surnames. For additional help and further advice on searching, visit the site's Search page.

Wimpole Parish Registers: Baptisms:   1560-1599†   1600-1649†   1650-1699*   1700-1749*   1750-1799*    1800-1824†   1825-1849†   1850-1874†   1875-1899†   1900-1924†** Banns:   1755-1849†   1850-1900† Marriages:   1560-1599   1600-1699   1700-1799   1800-1863 Burials:   1560-1599   1600-1699   1700-1799   1800-1849†   1850-1899† * indicates page is unavailable. ** indicates some year transcriptions are available. † indicates complete page has been set to facilitate name searches.