GenUKI Contents

Cambridgeshire

CONINGTON

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"CONINGTON, a parish in the hundred of Papworth, in the county of Cambridge, 3½ miles south of St. Ives, and 9 north west of Cambridge. The population is small and entirely engaged in agriculture. The-living is a rect* in the diocese of Ely, value £238,in the patronage of the bishop. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is an old structure in several styles. The charities amount to £19 a year, the rent of the town lands. Here is a National school for both sexes."

[The above was transcribed (and edited) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868]
by Colin Hinson ©2023

Cemeteries

• The Monumental Inscriptions for St Mary's churchyard, 1715-1976, are recorded in the Cambridge Records Office. These inscriptions are also available on microfiche from the Cambridgeshire Family History Society Publications list (search)

Census

• The Census Records from 1841-1891 can be found in the Cambridgeshire Archives. In addition the 1851 Census for Conington is available in full transcript form, on microfiche, from the Cambridgeshire Family History Society Publications list (search)

Churches

• The following Churches have their own websites:
  • St. Mary's Church, Conington

Church History

• "The church of St. Mary is an edifice of brick and stone in mixed styles, consisting of chancel, nave and a tower of stone with a spire and containing 4 bells, with the following inscriptions:- tenor, Virgo coronata duc nos ad regna beata; 2 (early 14th cen-tury), Asumpta est Maria in celis gaudent angeli lau-dantes benedicunt (sic) dominum; 3, Milo Grey me fecit 1635; 4th, Sancta Maria, era pro nob's (nobis): the tower and spire were restored and the bells rehung in 1911: there is a monumental vault, breast high, running nearly the entire length of the nave on the south side, and several monuments to members of the Cotton, Askham, Hatton and Gardner families: the nave was rebuilt in red brick in 1737 by Dingley Askham esq. and the chancel in stone in 1871: there are 118 sittings. The register dates from the year 1538."
  [Kellys Directory of Cambridgeshire 1929]

Church Records

• Church of England
  • Conington, St. Marys: Records of baptisms 1538-1975, marriages 1583-1975, burials 1583-1992 and banns 1756-1975 reside in the Cambridgeshire Archives. The Bishop's Transcripts for the years 1599-1695, 1711-1841 can be found in the Cambridge University Library. Indexed transcripts exist in the Cambridgeshire Archives for baptisms 1538-1900, marriages 1538-1900 and burials 1538-1900.

Description and Travel

• "The manor of Conington (Contone or Cunitone. in the Domesday Survey, A.D. 1086) was successively in the families of Connington, Dansie, Hutton, Baker and Watson, and in 1644 was purchased by Sir Thomas Cotton bart. M.P. of Connington, Hunts, the son of Sir Robert Cotton bart. the founder of the famous Cottonian library; and afterwards, by the marriage of Frances, heiress of the Cotton family, to Dingley Askham esq.; it thence successively descended by female heirs to the families of Hatton, of Long Stanton, and Gardner, the last named family acquiring it by the marriage of the Rev. Philip Gardner D.D. of Brynadda, Merionethshire, with Harriet, daughter of Sir Thomas Hatton 8th bart. of Long Stanton. Conington Hall, the seat of Philip Thomas Gardner esq. D.L., J.P. is an ancient mansion of brick, restored at different periods. P. T. Gardner esq. D.L., J.P. and Messrs. Arthur Lilley and John Scambler are the principal landowners. The land is all freehold."
  [Kellys Directory of Cambridgeshire 1929]

Gazetteers

• A transcript of the Conington parish entries from Samuel Lewis's 1835 Topographical Dictionary of England,
• A transcript of the Conington parish entries from 1929 Kellys Directory of Cambridgeshire

Military History

• The Conington War Memorial has been transcribed and researched.

Taxation

• 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 Cambridgeshire Archives for the years 1798 (on microfilm), 1829-32 and 1880-1948.