Lincolnshire county page

Contents

Lincolnshire Towns & Parishes

Nearby Places

Freiston (or Frieston)

NOTE: There is also a Frieston hamlet in Caythorpe parish, Lincolnshire.

Census

• The parish was part of the Benington sub-district of the Boston Registration District.
  
  
• Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
  
  
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
  
  

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Church History

• A Benedictine Priory was founded here in 1114 on land donated to Crowland Abbey by Guy de CRUON or CREDON. In 1687, the Priory building and lands were granted to the DRYDEN family.
  
  
• The Anglican parish church is dedicated to St. James.
  
  
• The church is of Norman origin.
  
  
• The church was restored in 1871.
  
  
• The church is called a "ship of the Fens" and contains several Norman carvings of interest.
  
  
• Here are two photos of St. James church, taken by Ron Cole (who retains the copyright):
  
  

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Church Records

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1681.
  
  
• The Anglican parish register exists on microfilm at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The films cover baptisms and burials up to the 1890's, but marriages only up to 1837.
  
  
• The Anglican parish register is on deposit at the Lincoln Archives ro the period of 1657 to 1985.
  
  
• The LFHS has published several indexes for the Holland East Deanery to make your search easier.
  
  
• The Wesleyans and the Primitve Methodists had chapels here. The Wesleyan chapel was built in 1838. For information and assistance in researching these chapels, see our non-conformist religions page.
  
  
• Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.
  
  

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Civil Registration

• The parish was in the Benington sub-district of the Boston Registration District.
  
  
• Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which began in July, 1837.
  
  

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Description and Travel

Freiston, or Frieston, is both a village and a parish in Lincolnshire, 3 miles east of Boston. The parish covers about 5,200 acres of low, well-drained Fenland.

White's 1872 Directory describes "a pleasant straggling village, bearing the names of Church end and Halltoft-end." The parish also includes the hamlets of Freiston Shore and Crane-end (or "Scrane End"). If you are planning a visit:

• The village itself is 3 miles due east of Boston and can be reached by local roads or south off the A52 just west of Boston.
  
  
• See our Touring page for additional resources.
  
  

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Manors

• Rooshall was the manor of Henry ROGERS in 1871.
  
  
• Three smaller manors were Coupledyke Hall, Poynton Hall, and Peachy Hall. Peachy Hall had been torn down by 1871 and the land for it belonged to a Colonel LINTON.
  
  

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Maps

• The national grid reference is TF 3743.
  
  
• You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer #261 map, which has a scale of 2.5 inches to the mile.
  
  
• See our Maps page for additional resources.
  
  

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Politics and Governance

• The parish was in the ancient Loveden Wapentake in the parts of Holland.
  
  
• Kelly's 1900 Directory of Lincolnshire, and the 1913 edition, gives the parish, perhaps erroneously, as being in the Skirbeck Wapentake. White's 1842 Directory tells us the same thing.
  
  
• For today's governance, visit the local Boston Borough Council site.
  
  

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Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

• The parish's "Town Estate" purchased 7 acres in 1679. The rental revenue was distributed to the poor in the form of coal.
  
  
• Barney Field was allocated to the poor also, either in terms of rental income or direct allocation of plots for cultivation. The following individuals contributed toward the land: Benjamin MORFOOT, John ANTON, James MANN, Simon GUY, William SWIFT and others. Read the text version of the Will of Benjamin MORFOOT from 1727.
  
  
• The parish also had 15 cottages on land near the church left by Thomas TRUESDALE in 1694. These were given rent-free to poor families.
  
  
• The Common Lands were enclosed here in 1762.
  
  
• After the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, this parish became part of the Boston Poor Law Union.
  
  

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Population

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Schools

• A National School was built by subscription here around 1791 (then called a "Free School"), and was rebuilt in 1848. John HOLDEN donated just over two acres of land for it in 1723, and Benjamin MORFOOT donated a yearly rent charge in 1727.
  
  
• See our Schools page for more information on researching school records.
  
  

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