Place:Newton on the Isle, Isle of Ely, England

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

Newton on the Isle is a village and civil parish in the Fenland District of the Isle of Ely, England, The village is 4 miles (6 km) to the north of Wisbech. It has also been known as Newton (near Wisbech) to differentiate it from the other parish named Newton in southern Cambridgeshire.

Newton on the Isle was first mentioned in 1210. According to Frederic John Gardiner, FRHS, in his History of Wisbech and Neighbourhood during the last fifty years, 1848-1898 (published in 1898), "[i]n 1286 Sir Roger de Colvil[l]e married Desiderata, grand-daughter of Sir Stephen de Maresco, lord of Newton, Walsoken, and Tidd St Giles, and through her acquired Newton which became the chief residence of the (Colville) family for over 500 hundred years", until it was sold in 1792.

The College of St Mary by the Sea was founded here during the reign of Henry IV by Sir John Colville. Its endowments were specifically exempted from dissolution in the 1547 legislation of Edward VI, the lands instead being transferred to support the rectory of Newton [on the Isle].

The parish church of St James is a medieval structure with a tower. Formerly dedicated to St Katherine, it was built in the 12th century and widened in the 14th.

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).

"NEWTON, a village and a parish in Wisbeach [or Wisbech] [registration] district, Cambridge. The village stands in the fens, near the boundaries with Norfolk and Lincoln[shire], 1½ mile W of the river Nen[e], and 3¾ N by W of Wisbeach [railway] station; is a picturesque place; and has a post-office under Wisbeach. The parish contains also the hamlet of Fitton-End, and comprises 3,056 acres. Real property: £6,363. Population: 431. Houses: 84. The property is divided among a few. The manor belongs to E. Jackson, Esq.

"The living is a rectory in the diocese of Ely. Value: £1,400. Patron: the Bishop of Ely. The church is partly decorated English, partly perpendicular; consists of nave, aisles, and chancel, with porch and tower; and contains an old font, two piscinæ, and several ancient monumental slabs. There is a free school; and the parish shares in the charities of Leverington."

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• Original historical documents relating to Cambridgeshire are now held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies at Shire Hall, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB7 4GS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