Place:Elsworth, Cambridgeshire, England

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Elsworth is a village and civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England, 9 miles northwest of Cambridge and 7 miles southeast of Huntingdon. At the 2011 UK census, the population was 726.

The parish of Elsworth covers an area of 1,554 hectares to the north of the Cambridge to St Neots road. Its northwest border formed the boundary between Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire from the start of the 11th century until the two were merged in 1974. Its eastern border joins to the parish of Knapwell, formerly a dependent vill.

Elsworth was, during medieval times, one of the most populous villages in the neighbourhood. In 1086 it reported 44 peasant households, and 209 were listed at the time of the poll tax in 1377. Numbers declined over the next two centuries, before rising to around 500 people in the 17th century. Numbers grew more rapidly from the 1760s and fluctuated in the 19th century, reaching an all-time peak of 878 in 1841. Around 50 people emigrated to Australia and the United States in the 1850s.

Elsworth has had a church under the patronage of Ramsey Abbey since at least the start of the 11th century. The present parish church of the Holy Trinity was built on the site of its predecessors in the 13th or 14th century, and the chancel and west tower date from this period.

The following description from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72 is provided by the website A Vision of Britain Through Time (University of Portsmouth Department of Geography).

"ELSWORTH, a parish in Caxton [registration] district, Cambridge[shire]; near the boundary with [Huntingdonshire], 3 miles NNE of Caxton, and 5½ WSW of Long Stanton [railway] station. It has a post office under St. Ives. Acres: 3,700. Real property: £4,062. Population: 787. Houses: 183. Part of the land is common. Elsworth House was the seat of the Pickwoods. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Ely. Value: £480. Patron: the Duke of Portland. The church is a fine edifice, with a pinnacled tower. There are a Baptist chapel, a national school, an alms-house with £52 a year, and other charities £7."

Research Tips

• Original historical documents relating to Cambridgeshire are now held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies at Shire Hall, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB7 4GS
• The Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire Family History Society has transcribed the parish registers for many if not all the ancient parishes of Cambridgeshire and these can be purchased from the Society as separate pdfs.
• A History of the County of Cambridge. Seven volumes from British History Online (Victoria County Histories). This is by far the most complete history of the parishes of the county to be found online. From the numbering it would appear that some parts of the county are yet to be published online, but the first two volumes for any county are of little interest to the genealogist. The chapters are ordered by the divisions of the county called hundreds, but each parish is listed in the volume's content page.

• A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 3, the City (Cambridge) and University of Cambridge (published 1959)
• A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 4, City of Ely; North Ely and South Ely, Witchford and Wisbech Hundreds (the cathedral city and liberty of Ely and the rural areas to the west and northwest, including the port of Wisbech) (published 2002)
• A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 5, the Hundreds of Longstowe and Wetherley, west of Cambridge (published 1973)
• A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 6, the three Hundreds of Chilford, Radfield and Whittlesford (in the south of the county, on the border with Essex) (published 1978)
• A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 8, Armingford and Thriplow Hundreds (south and west of Cambridge) (published 1982)
• A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 9, Chesterton, Northstowe, and Papworth Hundreds (the suburban and rural areas to the north and northwest of Cambridge) (published 1989)
• A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 10, Cheveley, Flendish, Staine and Staploe Hundreds (northeastern Cambridgeshire) (published 2002)

• GENUKI has a page on Cambridgeshire and pages for each of the ecclesiastical or ancient parishes in the county. These give references to other organizations who hold genealogical information for the local area. Each parish page includes a map of the parish provided by Open Street Maps.
• The FamilyTree Wiki has a series of pages similar to those provided by GENUKI which may have been prepared at a later date.
• A Vision of Britain through Time, section "Units and Statistics" for each parish and borough leads to analyses of population and organization of the county from about 1800 through 1974.
• Map of Cambridgeshire divisions in 1888 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time
• Map of Cambridge divisions in 1944 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time