Cambridgeshire
Suffolk
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Nearby Places
Nearby churches
"FORDHAM is a parish and village, on the road to Ely, with a station about half a mile from the village, on the Ely and Newmarket and Cambridge and Mildenhall branches of the London and North Eastern railway, 5 miles north from Newmarket, and 3 south-east of Soham, in the hundred of Staploe, union, petty sessional division and county court district of Newmarket, rural deanery of Fordham. archdeaconry and diocese of Ely."
"The soil is mixed, consisting of gravel, sand, loam and clay; subsoil, various. The chief crops are wheat, oats and barley. There are nurseries and seed growing establishments here belonging to Messrs. Charles Townsend Ltd., Charles Morley, John Golding and others. The area is 4,195 acres of land and 9 of water; the population in 1921 was 1,461."
[Kellys Directory of Cambridgeshire 1929]
"A cemetery of about half an acre was formed in 1892, and is under the control of the vicar and churchwardens."
[Kelly's Directory - Cambridgeshire - 1929]
The Monumental Inscriptions for the churchyard of St. Peter 1694-1984 are recorded in the Cambridge Records Office. These inscriptions are also 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 1841 and 1851 Census for Fordham is available in full transcript form, on microfiche, from the Cambridgeshire Family History Society Bookstall.
Abstract of Population 1821 - Census Statistical Returns 1822 - Staploe Hundred - Fordham Parish - The great increase of Population in Fordham Parish is ascribed to the grievous effect of the Poor Laws.
"The church of St. Peter is an ancient building of stone and flint in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, organ chamber, faculty chapel, south porch and an embattled western tower containing 6 bells; the chapel of St. Mary, over the north entrance, was restored and opened to the interior as a gallery in 1864 by the late William Dunn Gardner: the chancel was painted in memory of Laura Mabel Townsend by her two sisters, Edith and Minnie: the stained east and west windows and others are memorials, several windows being to members of the Townsend family: the canopies and wall decoration of the chancel were executed by Mrs. C. P. Leonard, of Fordham, and the figures were painted as a memorial to Miss Townsend by her sisters: the altar cloth was worked and presented by Mrs. George Townsend and her daughter: a pair of candlesticks was presented by Mrs. Dawson Waugh and C. F. Townsend esq. in 1927 to the memory of George Townsend esq. of Exning: the church was restored during the period 1874-91, at a cost of £3,955, since when the porch has been restored and the interior adorned with mural decoration at a total cost of over £1,000: the organ was rebuilt in 1911 at a cost of £410 there are 600 sittings. The register dates from the year 1567."
"There is a Congregational chapel, erected in 1818, and having 400 sittings, and also Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist chapels."
[Kelly's Directory - Cambridgeshire - 1929]
Fordham, St. Peter: Records of baptisms 1567-1962, marriages 1568-1953, burials 1567-1915 and banns 1754-1812, 1823-1874 reside in the Cambridge Record Office. The Bishop's Transcripts for the years 1569-1641 and 1663-1836 can be found in the Suffolk Record Office and copies on microfilm for 1567-1641 and 1663-99 can be found in the Cambridge Record Office. Indexed transcripts exist in the Cambridge Record Office for baptisms 1567-1852, marriages 1568-1837 and burials 1567-1852. The indexed transcripts of the registers are available in full transcript form, on microfiche, from the Cambridgeshire Family History Society Bookstall..
Mill Lane Chapel. records of baptisms 1819-35 and burials 1825-32 (on Microfilm) reside in the Cambridge Record Office as well as indexed transcripts of baptisms 1819-35 and burials 1825-32.
Wesleyan Methodist Church: Records exist for the Cambridge Wesleyan Circuit of which Fordham is part.
Wesleyan Methodist Church: Records exist for the Mildenhall Wesleyan Circuit of which Fordham is part.
"The Victoria Hall and Hayward Institute was erected in 1897 at a cost of £1,137, to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Her late Majesty Queen Victoria."
"A fire brigade station was erected in 1889 by voluntary contributions. Here was anciently a priory of Gilbertine canons, founded by King Henry III. as a cell to that of Sempringham, in Lincolnshire, and dedicated to St. Peter and St. Mary Magdalen. Its revenues at the Dissolution were estimated at £40. Fordham Abbey, the property of Algernon C. W. Dunn Gardner esq. is at present (1929) unoccupied."
[Kelly's Directory - Cambridgeshire - 1929]
The "1839 Pigot's Directory of Cambridgeshire" for Fordham index of Inns & Hotels, Taverns and Public Houses, Brewers & Maltsters + Wine & Spirit Merchants.
"St. John's College, Cambridge, who possess the manorial rights of Bassingbourn; Trinity Hall, Cambridge, by whom the manorial rights of Felton's manor are held ; the Cambridgeshire County Council, who are lords of the manor of Coggishall, and Algernon C. W. Dunn Gardner eaq. and the Townsend family are the principal landowners."
[Kelly's Directory - Cambridgeshire - 1929]
The Fordham War Memorial has been transcribed and researched.
Two courts cover Fordham as follows:
Archdeaconry Court of Sudbury: Jurisidiction in various parishes including Fordham which were in the diocese of Norwich until they were transferred to the diocese of Ely in 1837.
Records are held at the Suffolk Record Office covering Wills, 1439-1857, administrations, 1544-46, 1568-93, 1605-12, 1630-1858, inventories, 1573-76, 1617, 1625, 1640, 1650-1747. Index to wills to 1535 are published in Proceedings of Suffolk Institute of Archaeology, volume 12 and of all records to 1700 in the Index Library of the British Records Society, volumes 95 and 96.
Consistory Court of Norwich: Record are held at the Norfolk Record Office. Wills 1370-1857, administrations, 1370-1499, 1549-1640, 1666-1857, inventories, 1584-1846. There is an index to wills covering 1370-1857 published by the Norfolk Record Society, volumes 16, 21, 34, 38 and 47.
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 1798 (on microfilm), 1829-32, 1878-88 and 1931-48.
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[Last updated: 2 April 2005 Martin Edwards]