Earliest Farnborough Kent parish registers

The earliest entries for the parish of Farnborough are in fact found in the mother Church of Saint Martin of Tours at Chelsfield. This church which was separated from the village in the twentieth century served a very large area and Farnborough was originally a chapel of ease with a rector of both places.
It is wonderful to reflect on over 900 years of Christian Worship at Saint Martin's and although unusual for such old records to remain in the parish rather than be deposited at the designated Diocesan Archve I was able to visit the vestry to examine the record. I will return to comment on the record and transcript shortly but wanted to comment on Chelsfield parish church which is an open church such a rarity in these days. It is a place of peace quiet and spirituality which also serves many age groups in the village.

There is an unusual survival in the north wall of the church a squint window which was probably a Hagioscope or leper squint to enable a seated view of the elevation of the host at eucharist.  The parish register for Chelsfield and neighbouring parishes (including Farnborough) record various diseases as fatal to groups of residents from the early years of the 16th century onwards and since the church was mentioned in the Textus Roffensis in 1122 A.D. it does seem that the squint window was built into the north wall from an early age.
Chelsfield also contains and celebrates Brass Crosby who in 1771 as Chief magistrate released a prisoner who dared to publish parliamentary proceedings and was subsequently imprisioned in the Tower of London himself. He was released and subsequently Hansard was published as a daily record of Parliamentary proceedings. Brass married the Church and a memorial to him is on the north wall of the Church.
To return to the record for Farnborough bound in the volume of Chelsfield, let me first say that the record has used a vellum deed as an external cover and been bound to the deed. I did not attempt to read the deed as it is awkward to do so but the last Farnborough entries are on a fold of the deed inside what is the rear cover of the bound pages. Since the early Downe parish register was also bound in similar fashion it is an interesting coincidence particularly as in Downe we have an entry which records roughly the month and year of this treatment.
There are signs of pages affected by dampness and with water stains and handling of some page edges has resulted in their loss but in most surviving years it is possible to offer a transcript. Some names and dates have been lost. For those searching for Farnborough records prior to 1558 the earliest entry in the Farnborough Composite Register deposited at Bromley Historic Collections reference P/144/1/1 and searching for the missing years in that register this transcript will provide some answers.
1538 saw the introduction of the parish register and at first King Henry VIII's measure was feared as a means of taxation. The retention of the register at Chelsfield reflects the old parish church and Rector and status of Farnborough as a chapel of ease. The creation of a Farnborough register in 1558 which remained in that church reflecting "the parishe Churche of Farnborowe". In 1552 The Kings inspectors visited Farnborough and declared it to be free of "Popish" items and had not disposed illegally of any items effectively giving the parish and Churchwardens John Lambe and George Marshall a clean bill of health. The required three yearly inspection has been carried out to the present day although it is the duty of the local Rural Dean to inspect these days.
Farnborough was a combined benefice with Chelsfield and the Rector usually resided in Chelsfield. A curate was responsible for Farnborough. On the death of the third rector from the family of George Smiths to serve as rector during the Commonwealth period (1640-1660) Parliament installed John Montague as rector of Farnborough and Robert Miller at Chelsfield. In 1660 Robert Miller became Rector of the Joint Benefice resuming it's relation with its patron. In 1751  All Souls College Oxford became patron of the joint benefice The retention of a record at Chelsfield enables many years of usual gap in parish records to be covered although to what extent this constitues a complete record we will never know.
My transcript is now online at the Kent Online Parish Clerks Farnborough Parish page.
© Henry Mantell Downe Online Parish Clerk 2013-2018