Place:Soham, Cambridgeshire, England

Watchers
NameSoham
Alt namesSahamsource: Domesday Book (1985) p 48
TypeAncient parish, Civil parish
Coordinates52.333°N 0.333°E
Located inCambridgeshire, England
See alsoStaploe Hundred, Cambridgeshire, Englandhundred in which it was located
Newmarket Rural, Cambridgeshire, Englandrural district 1894-1974
East Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire, Englanddistrict municipality covering the area since 1974


NOTE: The town of Soham is in Cambridgeshire. The parishes of Earl Soham and Monk Soham are in the county of Suffolk.


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

Soham is a small town and civil parish in east Cambridgeshire, England, just off the A142 road between Ely and Newmarket. Its population was 10,860 at the 2011 UK census.

History

Felix of Burgundy 'Apostle of the East Angles'

St. Felix of Burgundy founded an abbey near Soham around 630 AD but it was destroyed by the Danes in 870 AD. Luttingus, an Anglo-Saxon nobleman, built a cathedral and palace at Soham around 900 AD, on the site of the present day Church of St Andrew's and adjacent land.

St Andrew's Church dates from the 12th century. Traces of the Saxon cathedral still exist within the church. In 1102 Hubert de Burgh, Chief Justice of England, granted 'Ranulph' certain lands in trust for the Church of St Andrew's. Ranulph is recorded as the first Vicar of Soham and had a hand in designing the 'new' Norman church. The current church is mainly later, the tower being the latest addition in the 15th century. This tower was built to replace a fallen crossing tower and now contains ten bells.

Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa 'The African'

The first black British author and anti-slave activist, Olaudah Equiano, also known as Gustavus Vassa, married a local girl, Susannah Cullen, at St Andrew's Church, on 7 April 1792 and the couple lived in the town for a while. They had two daughters. Anna Maria was born on 16 October 1793, and was baptised in St Andrew's Church on 30 January 1794. Their second child, Joanna Vassa, was born on 11 April 1795, and was baptised in St Andrew's Church on 29 April 1795.

William Case Morris

The most famous son of Soham was William Case Morris, the "Dr Barnardo of Argentina", who made his mark on the other side of the world in South America. Born in Soham on 16 February 1864, he and his father left Soham in search of a new life in 1872 after the death of his mother in 1868, finally settling in Argentina in 1874. William was horrified by the terrible poverty of the street children, which led him to found several children's homes in Buenos Aires. They are credited with saving thousands of youngsters from abject poverty and a life on the streets. Morris returned to Soham shortly before his death on 15 September 1932, and was buried in the Fordham Road cemetery. He is still one of Argentina's best-loved social reformers and is highly regarded, with a statue standing in Buenos Aires as well as railway stations, football stadia and a town, William C. Morris, Buenos Aires named after him. His legacy lives on with the Biblioteca Popular William C. Morris and 'Hogar el Alba' children's homes located in Buenos Aires which still help impoverished children.

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Soham.

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.
  • 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
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Soham. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.