Farnborough Kent Baptismal Register and Bromley Poor Law Union Births

Bromley Historic Collections hold a series of birth registers reference  1541/1 for Farnborough Hospital, the first volume relates to baptisms 1884-1896 in the Bromley Union Workhouse Chapel.
In theory baptisms at the workhouse were incorporated in the Farnborough Register of Baptisms 1848-1893 an ink blotted volume with space for 1600 baptisms. In transcribing this volume the lack of communication between the Workhouse Chaplain and clergy in Farnborough Parish are evident in frustrated marginal entries. The Chaplain asks the Curate or from 1876 Vicar to reserve space in the register for baptisms which result in blank entries and recorded failure to notify the parish of any baptism. There are also comments about late reporting of baptisms.
Farnborough was required to report entries to the Diocese of Canterbury and this volume includes a series of entries for one year which are loose in the front of the volume and are copies of the register for the year in question. I feel sure that the parish impressed on the Workhouse Chaplain the urgent need to return information before the December return was required by the Diocese but the problem persists throughout the years 1848-1893! Within the Workhouse the Chaplain clearly experiences problems with women who indicate they wish to have a child baptised but then leave before the Chapain can perform the baptism as some enties indicate withdrawal of the need to the parish.
This register is both a record of growth of settlement in the parish with the expansion of building new roads and also a vital record of birth of illegitimate children in the Workhouse Infirmary. Searches of the Census enable searchers to locate both child and mother and such comparison shows that many single women were in domestic service and returned to domestic service after the birth whilst the child is cared for by relatives.
The image of the front cover with heavy ink blots reflects the ink blotting and smudging in the register ( the rear exterior cover is also blotted) and entires in the register are made in black mauve blue and red ink. Some entries also contain marginal queries about the accuracy of parental names recorded.
The Parish register has two entries with Christian names for children with no surname or knowledge of the parents; presumably these children were found abandoned. It is unusual for no surname to given to abandoned infants and since the Bromley Union Creed register is indexed by surname  it is not possible to locate the Union surname record. It was usual practice to give a surname reflecting either the place or person of discovery.
The transcript of this register will be published by Kent Online Parish Clerks in due course.

© Henry Mantell Farnborough Online Parish Clerk 2018-2019

Saint James School Chapel Farnborough Kent

Within the Farnborough Parish Register of Baptisms from1876 onwards there are references to baptisms at Saint James School Chapel in Farnborough parish.Reverend George William Daroch Hingston had been appointed Vicar of Farnborough in 1876 and moved to a home on the High Road. In the 1881 census this house is entered near Alma and Westbrook Villa on the High Road.
Shortly after taking up residence he had sought Diocesan permission to erect a temporary structure as a chapel of ease and this is the chapel described as Saint James School Chapel. The 1878 Post Office Directory includes an entry "There is a temporary chapel of ease erected on the Vicar's premises for the north western portion of the parish".
Reverend Hingston is taken seriously ill in 1884 and dies on 30 July 1884. It appears that he had attempted to offer some form of education at his home and one entry for baptism in the Parish register describes "Saint James Home". It is possible that he was caring for some children who had reached school leaving age at the Farnborough Board School which had enlarged to accommodate pupils from the Union Workhouse nearby.
The Chapel does not appear to continue after 1884 although Commercial Directories show services are held there on some Sundays at "2-30 Wednesdays Advent,lent and Holy Days 7-30 p.m."
I have written about Reverend Hingston here.

© Henry Mantell Farnborough Online Parish Clerk 2018-2019

Reverend George William Darock Hingston M.A.

Reverend Hingston received his M.A. at Trinity College Dublin and was appointed curate to the Parish of Farnborough Kent. he was born 14 February 1842 and married 14 July 1864 Anne Wright.
For centuries the small church of Saint Giles the Abbot had served as a chapel within the Ancient Parish of Chelsfield. Chelsfield had a resident Vicar;Farnborough's spiritual needs were met by a curate or in entries in the parish registers an Officiating Minister. It is not unusual to encounter parish register entries for many surrounding clergymen conducting baptisms marriages or burials.
Some Farnborough Parish registers from 1866 onwards identify Hingston as the Officiating Minister or Curate. Whilst a Curate Hingston  resided at Bromley Common at Rhodes Villa;another clergyman who was curate at Holy Trinity Bromley Common resided there too. The Hingston family appear there in in the 1871 census; their first child is listed as being born in Cudham and the Cudham parish register reflects Hingston's ministry there.
The Farnborough Baptismal Register reflects a tension between the Workhouse Chaplain responsible for baptisms of paupers and whichever clergy were responsible for the parish entries;Hingston appears to cope better than his predecessor although there are an unusually large number of blank entries relating to the Chaplain's intention to baptise not coming to fruition. Most workhouse entries relate to illegitimate children and single mothers.
The tradition of the smaller church (and parish revenue) of Farnborough within Chelsfield ended in 1876 when Reverend Hingston became the first Vicar of Farnborough. It is likely at this point he moved to reside in a house on the High Road near to Alma Villa and Wellbrook Villa in the northwest of the parish as he and his family appear there in the 1881 census. In Commercial directories for this period his residence is entered as Waldo Bank. In the Farnborough Baptismal register there is a marginal entry to explain some disorder in entries for the year 1883 which explains that he conducted a baptism on Easter Day which was not entered  until December when a return for Bishop's Transcripts was required by Canterbury Diocese. A long and severe illness is recorded as the reason for this entry appearing late in entries for that year.
Reverend Hingston  died on 30 July 1884 after leaving Farnborough and his ministry and the parish register reflects that Reverend C H Wilson provides relief until the Reverend Frederick Kelly is appointed Vicar in succession in 1885.
Reverend Hingston recognised the need to provide a chapel of ease within the North West of the parish to the growing community at Locksbottom. I have written about this temporary chapel here.

There is an online study of the Hingston family history see William Edward Hingston's Study,

© Henry Mantell Farnborough Online Parish Clerk 2018-2019

Bromley Kent Poor Law Union Creed Registers

Some years ago transcribers undertook work for Bromley Archives on the Workhouse Creed registers for the period 1884 to 1894. These were then published online on the former Bromley Archives pages.
For over two years following Bromley Council's reorganisation of its webpages the index was no longer available although visitors to the archive could access the data as well as the archive material for searches.
Bromley Councillors decided to close their museum service to the public and to reorganise access to museum artefacts as well as archive material. Bromley Historic Collections was brought into being. Shortly following this the Councillors considered Library closures but finally decided to transfer libraries and Bromley Historic Collections to a not for profit organisation GLL. This resulted in the change of Bromley Historic Collections telephone and email and in time the reorganisation of the London Borough of Bromley web links to Bromley Historic Collections. Bromley Archivist Lucy Bonner was in time able to reorganise the data and to bring it online once again.
I have received many queries via email through this saga so clearly the interest in the content for this period of Bromley's Poor Law Union history is strong. The series of PDF files can be found on the Bromley website although navigation to the index of PDF files is not simple. The page containing the PDF files can be found Index to Creed registers and each of the PDF files can be downloaded.
The original registers are available in several volumes and volunteers only compiled data for part of the volume under Bromley Historic Collections reference 846GBy/W/I/c/1 which is available on microfilm at Bromley and covers the period March 1870-4 January 1894. Subsequent volumes continue until the formal closure of the Workhouse in 1930.
This series of Creed registers can establish dates of admission and discharge to the Workhouse and of course children born in the Union Workhouse Infirmary. In my experience it is rare to find such children's births registered within Bromley Registration District. The best plan for searchers is to examine the both the Creed Register for an entry and in the case of Church of England as mother's stated religion to examine the baptismal register for Farnborough. Children born in the Infirmary would be referred to the Workhouse chaplain who might conduct a private baptism or do so in the Chapel at the Workhouse or at Saint Giles the Abbot Farnborough. The chaplain would provide details of the baptism to the curate or from Vicar for inclusion in the Farnborough Parish Baptismal Register. Communication between these members of the clergy is often less than efficient resulting in many gaps in the Parish Register reserved for Workhouse baptisms which were reserved but did not take place.
I am currently concluding transcription of the Farnborough Parish  Baptism Register which covers the period to 1894 which will be published by Kent Online Parish Clerks in due course.

 © Henry Mantell Farnborough Online Parish Clerk 2018-2019