Foston
- The parish was in the Bennington sub-district of the Newark Registration District.
- Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
- The Anglican parish church is dedicated to St. Peter.
- The church dates back to Norman times. The north side was rebuilt in 1858.
- The church seats about 300.
- A photograph of St. Peter's church is at the Wendy Parkinson English Church Photographs site.
- Here is a photo of St. Peter's church, taken by Ron Cole (who retains the copyright):
- The parish registers for burials and baptisms exist from 1626. Marriages were included in Long Bennington's register until 1766.
- Parish registers are on file at the Society of Genealogists, covering 1646 - 1837.
- There are a handful of par. reg. entries in our Parish Register Extract. Please submit additional ones to expand it.
- Boyd's Marriage Index holds marriages from 1651 to 1837, and Pallot's Marriage Index covers 1790 - 1837.
- The LFHS has published several marriage indexes for the Grantham Deanery to make your search easier.
- The Wesleyan Methodists had a chapel here prior to 1910. For information and assistance in researching this chapel, see our non-conformist religions page.
- Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.
- The parish was in the Bennington sub-district of the Newark Registration District.
- Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which began in July, 1837.
Foston is both a village and a parish nearly 6 miles northwest of Grantham, lying just south of the River Witham. Long Bennington parish lies to the west, Westborough parish to the north, and Marston parish lies to the east. The parish covers about 2,100 acres. The Foston Beck (stream) completes the eastern border.
If you are planning a visit:
- By automobile, take the A1 trunk road west out of Grantham (toward Newark-on-Trent). The road passes just south of the village.
- Visit our touring page for more sources.
- In 1871, much of the land in the parish was owned by the Earl of Dysart, J. E. WELBY, but several smaller owners had parcels here.
- The Earl was still the principal landowner in 1913, but additional smallholders could be found.
- This map from Multimap should help you in your travels.
- The national grid reference is SK 8542.
- You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, which has a scale of 2.5 inches to the mile.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
- The name Foston is from the Old Scandinavian Fos+ton, for "farmstead of Fotr", appearing in the 1086 Domesday Book as Foztun.
[A. D. Mills, "A Dictionary of English Place-Names," Oxford University Press, 1991]
- Here's a list of surnames found in White's 1871 Directory: ALCOCK, ASHER, BAILEY, BARKER, BARRAND, BROWN, BULLIMORE, DICKINSON, DOLBY, EMMONDS, FOSTER, FREEMAN, GUY, HALLAM, HOLLIS, HOYES, HUTCHINSON, JOHNSON, KNIGHT, LINNELL, NEAL, ROBINSON, SPEED, WALTON, WARRINER, WHYLEY, WILKINSON, WILLOWS, WINTER and WRATH.
- Kelley's 1913 Directory lists these surnames: BIRKETT, BONNER, BULLIMORE, BURGIN, BURTON, DICKINSON, GIBSON, HARDWICK, HARWOOD, HORTON, HOWITT, HUTCHINSON, JONES, KEMM, KENWORTH, KUPER, MARSTON, MUXLOW, PARKER, ROBERTS, ROBINSON, ROWBOTHAM, RYDER, SPEED, WALTON, WILKINSON, WILLEY, WINTER, WOOD and YOUNG.
- Mary WILDMAN left the interest on £3 for the poor.
- A Mr. CAWSON left £3 a year from the rent of two cottages for the poor.
- John GUY established a charity of £100 to provided funds for Foston Church Sunday School.
- After the Poor Law reforms of 1834, the parish became part of the Newark Poor Law Union in 1837.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1831 |
393 |
| 1871 |
441 |
| 1891 |
342 |
| 1911 |
248 |
- A National School (later a Public Elementary school) was built here in 1847 by subscription to hold 80 children, but attendance was about half that in 1911.
- For more on researching school records, see our Schools Research page.
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[Last updated: 18-May-2008 - Louis R. Mills]
