Cambridgeshire
Suffolk
Contents
The rough list of monumental inscriptions taken from the graveyard is recorded in the Cambridge Records Office.
The Census Records from 1841-1891 can be found in the Cambridge Record Office and at Wisbech Library. In addition the 1851 Census for Ely is available in full transcript form, on microfiche, from the Cambridgeshire Family History Society Bookstall.
"Holy Trinity church, formerly the Lady Chapel of the cathedral, is a rectangular edifice of stone, consisting of five cathedral bays, in the Late Decorated style, and was begun in 1321, by John Wisbech, a monk, from a design by Alan de Walsingham, then subprior, and finished in 1349;its unusual position, northward of the choir, is owing to the circumstance of a public road passing over the ground at the east end of the cathedral which would have otherwise have been its site, and which would then have made this cathedral the longest in the world; the interior of the church, to the level of the window sills, is surrounded by a singularly beautiful arcading of canopied ogee arches, richly feathered and inclining forward; the spaces between the windows which are of great size, with finely conceived tracery, are similarly treated, and above spreads a superb vaulting intricately groined, and studded with bosses, illustrating the history of the Virgin, and other subjects; the east window is of seven, and the west is of eight lights; exterior space above each is filled with an arcade of nine crocketed arches, and at the west end a similar arcade extends below the window, with other arches and shields at the sides; the whole of these arches retain moulded pedestals, but of the 32 figures which they once supported, none now exist; the building is 100 feet long by 46 wide and 60 feet high, its only fault being its undue width, but this is amply compensated for by the wonderful and exquisite beauty of it's parts and especially for the ' gorgeous and unrivalled series of stone stalls, ' which constitute its choicest feature; there is one bell, dated 1648, and a sanctus bell, inscribed ' Abe gracia plena;' these, however, are not hung above the church, but in a belfry at the school opposite: there are 600 sittings. The register dates from the year 1559."
[Kelly's Directory - 1900]
Ely Holy Trinity: Records of baptisms 1599-1877, marriages 11559-1881, burials 1599-1863 and banns 1754-1881 reside in the Cambridge Record Office. The Bishop's Transcripts for the years 1602-52, 1662-1859 can be found in the Cambridge University Library. Indexed transcripts exist in the Cambridge Record Office for baptisms 1559-1812, marriages 1754-1792 (trascripts unindexed exist for 1559-1753) and burials 1559-1812.
The Ely Holy Trinity War Memorial has been transcribed and researched.
Land Tax: records were compiled afresh each year and contain the names of owners and occupiers in each parish, but usually there is no address or place name. These records reside in the Cambridge Record Office for the years 1750-1948.
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[Last updated 20 March 2003 Martin Edwards]