Parish History

This page of the website is devoted to the history of Lidlington. For now, there are 3 sections covering – the village graveyard, historical photographs and  details of the censuses of Lidlington from 1841 onwards.

GRAVEYARD PROJECT: In 1916 a survey of all monumental inscriptions in Lidlington Parish churchyard was completed by L.H.Chambers. The information was transcribed by Bedfordshire Family History Society in 2005 and is held in The Bedfordshire & Luton Archives Service County Record Office County Hall Cauldwell Street Bedford MK42 9AP.

In 2016 a project was commenced to update the 1916 record. Initially this consisted of photographing all graves and was followed by on the ground research to record all visible gravestones and monuments. This exercise was completed in 2021. The 1916 record includes Bible verse etc., while the current record only contains names and dates. Inevitably some of the 1916 information is no longer visible, including everything that was in the old church, demolished c1960. To supplement the ‘on the ground’ record, parish registers were consulted. This led to an expansion of the project to capture in one file all data from the burials register from 1561 to 2020.

In the Graveyard folder below are 3 large spreadsheets containing the full record of all burials in the churchyard from 1561 to 2020. This record has also been cross-referenced with the 1916 survey number, and the relevant grave plot number. There is also a smaller spreadsheet containing just the results from the 2021 survey (but including cremation records, where known). A plan of the graveyard showing the different marked areas is also in the folder. And there is a photo of the oldest legible grave in the graveyard. This is the grave of Henry Abbott (or Abbett) who died in 1719. According to the  burials register he was a yeoman weaver; his wife was Alice who was buried on 24.02.1713, but there is no trace of her grave. The inscription for Henry reads “Here lieth ye body of/HENERY ABBETT he/dep’t this life August/ye 21st 1719 in the/86 year of his age”.

PHOTOS: In the Photos folder is a selection of old photos and scanned images, including street scenes, now demolished buildings, and even aerial shots ranging between 1810 and the 1950s. Over time we plan to add more images. If you have any that you think would be of interest please email the image to clerk@lidlingtonparishcouncil.gov.uk

CENSUSES: In the Census folder below you will find full spreadsheet records of every census of Lidlington from 1841 to 1921, as well as the 1939 register. The 1939 record was not a full census, so contains limited information. Any records in respect of people still living have been redacted on the official file, so their details are not in the spreadsheet for 1939.

The older the census, the less detail was collected at the time. Also, during the 1800s the forms were filled in by enumerators (official census recorders), who didn’t necessarily record everything accurately. All the original manual records have been digitalised and transcribed online. This process also inevitably creates errors, so the accuracy of the files cannot be guaranteed.

The population of the village shows a steady decline between 1841 (926 names) and 1921 (499), reflecting the reduction in agricultural jobs.

Also in the Census folder are 3 articles, previously published in the Lidlington Advertiser (now Bulletin), which delve in to some of the census data in more detail.

38b1268079