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| Name | Downham |
| Alt names | Downham Market | source: should be in Norfolk | | Little Downham | source: village in parish | | Oxlode | source: village in parish | | Pymoor | source: village in parish |
| Type | Ancient parish, Civil parish |
| Coordinates | 52.433°N 0.233°E |
| Located in | Isle of Ely, England (1889 - 1965) |
| Also located in | Cambridgeshire, England ( - 1889) | | Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely, England (1965 - 1974) | | Cambridgeshire, England (1974 - ) |
| See also | Ely Hundred, Cambridgeshire, England | hundred in which it was located | | Ely Rural, Isle of Ely, England | rural district 1894-1974 | | East Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire, England | district municipality covering the area since 1974 |
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NOTE: The parish of Downham, now in Cambridgeshire, should not be confused with the larger town of Downham Market in the neighbouring county of Norfolk.
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NOTE: In 1889 Cambridgeshire was separated into two sections:
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The existence of two counties was to last until 1965 when they came back together as Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely. But in 1974 the area, under a new type of administration, reverted to the name Cambridgeshire. For more discussion of this situation, see Isle of Ely, England. In keeping with the policies of WeRelate, all the places within the Isle of Ely during its existence include "Isle of Ely" in their placenames instead of "Cambridgeshire".
A process is built in so that the places can be redirected to the Isle of Ely if they are originally referred to as Cambridgeshire.
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- the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia
The Parish of Downham comprises the villages of Little Downham and Pymoor and the hamlet of Oxlode. Situated in the east of Cambridgeshire, the village of Little Downham is located just 3 miles (5 km) north of the city of Ely. The parish has an approximate population of 2,660 with approximately 35 miles of footpaths around the parish.
It was one of only two sites in Cambridgeshire to be covered by the Survey of English Dialects.
In the Domesday Book of 1086 the village is called "Duneham". At the time the Fens were mostly flooded, and the village is on a small rise of solid ground (visible today), so there may have been 'dunes' there.
Since 1974 Downham has been located in the East Cambridgeshire District.
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
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