Cambridgeshire
Huntingdonshire
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"FEN DRAYTON (or Fenny Drayton) is a parish and village, about 4 miles south-east from St Ives, 9½ northwest front Cambridge and 2¾ south west from Swavesey station on the St. Ives and Cambridge section of the London and North Eastern railway ; it is in the hundred of Papworth, Cambridge petty sessional division, union of St. Ives, county court district of Huntingdon, rural deanery of North Stowe and archdeaconry and diocese of Ely."
"The soil varies and in parts is very fertile producing wheat, beans, barley, oats, turnips, mangolds, potatoes and large quantities of flowers; the subsoil is gravel. The area is 1,482 acres of land and 10 of water; the population in 1921 was 246."
[Kelly's Directory - Cambridgeshire - 1929]
The Monumental Inscriptions in the graveyard of the church are recorded in the Cambridge Records Office and are available, on microfiche, from the Cambridgeshire Family History Society Bookstall.
The Census Records from 1841-1891 can be found in the Cambridge Record Office. In addition the 1851 Census for Fen Drayton is available in full transcript form, on microfiche, from the Cambridgeshire Family History Society Bookstall.
"The church is a small edifice of stone in various styles, from the Early English to the Perpendicular, and consists of chancel, nave, south aisle, north and south porches and a western tower with spire containing one bell , there is a memorial window, erected in 1901, to the late Rev. Frederick Shaw M.A. vicar here 1850-90, and to his wife: the church was restored in 1855 and the nave end south aisle were refloored and reseated in 1906 : there are 220 sittings. The register of baptisms dates from 1575: marriages, 1580; burials, 1574. The living is a rectory, net yearly value £200, with residence, in the gift of Christ's College, Cambridge, and held since 1927 by the Rev. Leonard Byam Sewood Abbott A.K.C. who resides at Conington. The Wesleyan chapel, erected in 1866, at a cost of £1,035, is of white and red dressed bricks in the Gothic style, and has a turret: the windows are partly stained, and there are 240 sittings. The proceeds of 22 acres of land are applied to parish purposes. In the village is an obelisk of stone, erected in 1920, as a memorial to the men of this parish who fell in the Great War, 1914-18."
[Kelly's Directory - Cambridgeshire - 1929]
Fen Drayton: Records of baptisms 1576-1865, marriages 1580-91, 1603-67, 1682-1835, burials 1573-1630, 1653-1912 and banns 1754-1816 reside in the Cambridge Record Office. Indexed transcripts for marriages 1580-1837 and a full baptism, marriage and burial index to 1916, including cross-references to other parish registers, also reside in the Cambridge Record Office. The Bishop's Transcripts for the years 1599-1665, 1675-84, 1712-58, 1770-76 and 1786-1861 can be found in the Cambridge University Library.
Wesleyan Methodist Church: Records exist for the Wesleyan Methodist Church baptisms 1866-1967 at the Huntingdon Record Office with photocopies at the Cambridge Record Office.
The Fen Drayton 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 1789, 1798 (on microfilm), 1829-38 and 1880-1948.
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[Last updated 21 March 2003 Martin Edwards]