GenUKI Contents

Huntingdonshire

Nearby places

HUNTINGDON ST. BENEDICT

"HUNTINGDON ST. BENEDICT, a parish in the town of Huntingdon."

Cemeteries

• There is no surviving cemetery for St Benedict's.

Census

• Census information for this parish (1841 - 1891) is held in the Huntingdon Records Office.
• The full 1841 Census of Huntingdon and its Parishes is available as fiche set C101.
• The full 1851 Census of Huntingdon and its Parishes is available as fiche set C51.
• A surname index of the 1881 Census of the Huntingdon Registration District, in which Huntingdon (St Benedict) was enumerated (RG11/1604, Folios 16a - 31a), and which took place on 3rd April 1881, is also available as fiche set C3.
• A full transcription of the 1891 Census of the Huntingdon Registration District (RG12/1237) in which Huntingdon (St Benedict) parish was enumerated, and which took place on 5th April 1891, is also available as fiche set C9.
• The above mentioned fiche are available from the Huntingdonshire FHS.

Church History

• The church of St Benedict's no longer exists. It originally stood on the north side of the Queen's Head Inn (44 High Street), which itself also has gone. A part of the churchyard remained well into the 20th century but all has now been built over.
• The church was granted in the time of Henry I to Huntingdon Priory by Rodbriht, the Deacon of Huntingdon, and is one of four mentioned in the Papal confirmation of 1147 to the Priory. The fabric suffered much in the English Civil War, but the tower remained standing "very ruinous and useless" until 1802 when it was taken down; some parts of the foundations of the church still remain. There are frequent bequests for the repair of the church in Wills of the late 15th and early 16th centuries.
• A plan to unite the parish with St. Mary was set on foot in 1656, and in 1661 was finally approved by Royal Warrant.

Church Records

• The following are available in the Huntingdon Records Office.
  • Baptisms: 1574-1603, 1604-1692.
  • Marriages: 1575-1603, 1605-1690.
  • Burials: 1574-1603, 1603-1701.
  • Bishop's Transcripts: 1604-5, 1608-9, 1612, 1617-19, 1626-7
  • All surviving Church records from 1693 are with St. Mary
• The Huntingdonshire Marriage Indexes include marriages from this parish. These are, at present, issued in alphabetical listings in series: 1601-1700, and are available from the Huntingdonshire FHS.

Population

• The population figues for the Huntingdon Borough were broken down further by parish. Those for the parish of St Benedict are:
• Population in 1801 - 499
• Population in 1851 - 864
• Population in 1901 - 629
• Population in 1921 - 432
• After 1921, the recording of separate population figures for each of the four parishes of Huntingdon was discontinued.