Bedfordshire Archives Service Catalogue

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Reference
P85
Title
Luton St Mary's Parish Records
Date free text
1573-1994
Production date
From: 1573 To: 1994
Creator
St.Mary's Parish Church Luton
Admin/biog history
The Parish: The ancient parish of Luton, now subdivided both for civil and ecclesiastical purposes, covered a large area of some 15,434 acres. As a small market town with outlying hamlets, Luton was served by St.Mary's - the Parish Church - until the mid nineteenth century. The population of the parish grew steadily through the nineteenth century, and in the closing decades of the century the town expanded rapidly with new factories, housing, and associated developments. Luton became a municipal borough in 1876 and from 1964 to 1974 it was a County Borough. In 1997 Luton became a separate unitary authority. The present (1997) parish of St.Mary's serves a relatively small geographical area in consequence of daughter churches having been established in the former hamlets (East Hyde, Stopsley and Biscot) and in the suburban areas (e.g. Christ Church, St.Matthews High Town, St.Paul's New Town, St.Saviour, St.Peter). Several of the new parishes created in the nineteenth century have also been subdivided as new churches have been provided in the twentieth century suburbs. St.Mary's today, with its fine mediaeval church, nevertheless retains its position as a focus for the community and it draws its congregation from beyond the strict bounds of the parish. The archive The parish archives include registers of baptisms, marriages and burials from 1603 (ref: P 85/1/1-51) - an earlier register dating from the mid C16th having been lost. Various sources (terriers of 1707 and 1822 and the Parish Register Abstract of 1831) all give the date of the first register as 1603, but in 1884 F.A.Blaydes purchased a fragment purporting to be a page from the Luton register which gives a few entries for 1573-1582 and 1588-1593. This fragment is now preserved with the parish records (ref: P 85/1/100). The 1707 terrier mentions “a Book for the Church Wardens Accounts”, but this no longer exists - the earliest surviving accounts (ref: P 85/5/1) date from 1830 - and the archive is generally lacking in civil or ecclesiastical material for the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. There are three late volumes of Overseers' accounts for 1826-1835 (ref: P 85/12/1-3), and a few stray rate books for odd dates between 1757 and 1835 (listed under P 85/1 1, P 85/20, and P 85/23). The absence of Churchwardens' accounts recording expenditure on the church, and Overseers' accounts giving information on the treatment of the poor is particularly disappointing. No doubt these records were destroyed long ago. Similarly, it is unfortunate that no poor law papers (settlement certificates, removal orders, examinations, apprenticeship papers and bastardy orders) have survived. Here, though, some information is available from the records of other parishes which received paupers from Luton or sent them back to the town. A comprehensive name index of the surviving Parish Poor Law Papers 1622-1834 has been produced by the County Record Office in association with the Bedfordshire Family History Society. Although poor law apprenticeships are not documented, some placements are recorded in the charity accounts from 1805 (ref: P 85/25/1/1-2). One interesting survival is a contract of 1749 for the maintenance of the poor (ref: P 85/18/1). From the early nineteenth century, however, a great deal of important material survives. This includes the Vicar's accounts 1827-1850 (ref: P 85/3/2/1), Churchyard accounts 1835-1849 (ref: P 85/2/11/1), Churchwardens' accounts from 1830 (ref: P 85/5 etc), Vestry minutes from 1844 (ref: P 85/8/1-2), Charity accounts from 1805-1994 (ref: P 85/25/1/1-2, 11), and school accounts from 1855 (ref: P 85/29/1 etc.). As well as the tithe apportionment of 1842/44, there are also detailed records of tithe redemption and altered apportionments from 1844-1936 (ref: P 85/27 etc). Some of the tithe documents shed interesting light on the physical growth of Luton town. In addition to the formal accounts, there are rich accumulations of papers relating to a wide range of aspects of parish administration and affairs. These include papers concerning clergy and curates 1760-1962 (ref: P 85/0/2-3), papers concerning the restoration of the parish church between 1864 and 1914 (ref: P 85/2/4 etc), material on the churchyard 1835-1944 (ref: P 85/2/11), the creation of new parishes with their own churches (ref: P 85/2/13 etc), and the erection of the new Church Hall and vestry in 1960s (ref: P 85/2/4/41-45). The series of preachers’ books and registers of services (ref: P 85/0/1 etc) chart the religious life of the parish from 1867, while the set of Parish Magazines from 1886-1915, 1934-6 and 1962-1993 (ref: P 85/30) provide a less formal record of parish life. Twentieth century church life is also documented in the minutes of the Parochial Church Council (PCC) and Annual Parochial Church meeting (APCM) and in the PCC accounts and committee records (ref: P 85/32-36). The later civil parish material includes - in addition to the records of the vestry which gradually shed its responsibilities to other authorities as the nineteenth century progressed - documents concerning the inclosure of the Moors and Lammas Ground in 1809-10 (ref: P 85/26/1), and land exchanges enrolled with the inclosure in 1811 (ref: P 85/26/2-10). Education in Luton is well documented from 1834 (ref: P 85/29 etc.) until 1903 when most of the responsibility transferred to the civil authorities. A few stray items of interest are to be found among the miscellanea (ref: P 85/28). These include part of Henry Cobbe's manuscript for his monumental study of Luton Church: Historical and Descriptive which was published in 1899 (ref: P 85/28/1/3). There is a plan of the Luton Hoo estate of c.1844 (ref: P 85/28/1/2) and what appears to be a population census of 1901 for part of the Newtown area (ref: P 85/28/1/5). There are also numerous photographs of the church and parish events 1895-1972 (ref: P 85/28/4 etc) including a fine set of portrait photographs of the clergy (ref: P 85/28/2/25-31). Records of other organisations include the minutes of the Luton Ruri-decanal Sunday School Teachers' Association for 1926-7 (ref: P 85/28/2/20), the Luton Literary and Scientific Society 1925-6 (ref: P 85/28/3/1), and the Luton Church Missionary Association 1849-1896 (ref: P 85/2/16/1). Lastly, mention should be made of the manuscript maps and plans among the collection. These include the inclosure map for the Moors and Lammas grounds 1809 and a map of the lands exchanged by the commoners in 1831 (refs: P 85/26/1 and 11). There is an attractive map of the Vicarage and its grounds of 1845 (ref: P 85/2/12/3), churchyard plans of 1880 showing footpaths etc. (ref: P 85/2/1115-8), a plan of the church site at East Hyde 1842 (ref: P 85/2/13/3/1), and a plan showing the charity estates in 1858 (ref: P 85/25/1/4).
Level of description
fonds

Keywords
St. Mary Luton, parish