Cardington Bedfordshire Family History Guide
CARDINGTON is an extensive parish, large and handsome village, and station on the Bedford and Hitchin branch of the Midland Railway, distant 45 miles from London, 2½ south east from Bedford, 8½ west by north from Biggleswade, and 9 north by east from Ampthill, in the hundred of Wixamtree, union and county court district of Bedford, rural and archdeaconry of Bedford, and diocese of Ely. The parish is bounded on the north by the river Ouse. Here is an extensive flour mill. Pillow lace is made here, and there is a brewery. 1.
Other places in the parish include: Fenlake, Harrowden, Cotton End, Eastcotts, East Cotts, Eastcots, and East Cotts with Cotton End.
- Parish church: St Mary
- Parish registers begin: 1572
Nonconformists include: Baptist, Independent/Congregational, and Wesleyan Methodist.
Table of Contents
Adjacent Parishes
Cardington Parish Registers
Search online registers of baptisms, marriages, banns and burials including digitised images of original records and registers and indexed transcriptions.
Baptism Records
These records include indexed transcriptions of parish register baptisms.
Cardington, Bedfordshire Baptisms, 1572-1876
Marriage and Banns Records
These records include indexed transcriptions of parish register marriages and banns.
Cardington, Bedfordshire Marriages, 1573-1964
Death and Burial Records
These records include indexed transcriptions of parish register deaths and burials.
Cardington, Bedfordshire Burials, 1724-1789
Cardington Parish Registers 1572-1812
The Cardington Parish Registers 1572-1812 are available free to read online, with options to download the pdf for personal research
Cardington Parish Registers 1572-1812 Bedfordshire Parish Registers Edited by F. G. Emmison, Clerk of Records, Bedfordshire. Published under the auspices of the County Records Committee of the Bedfordshire County Council, and of the Ven. the Archdeacon of Bedford. Volume VIII. Bedford: County Record Office, Shire Hall. 1934. Contents: Cardington 1572 to 1812 Publisher: Date of publication: 1934.
Cardington Parish Registers 1572-1812 Bedfordshire Parish Registers Edited by F. G. Emmison, Clerk of Records, Bedfordshire.
Marriage Licences and Allegations
London Marriage Licences and Allegations 1521 to 1869
The following have been extracted from London Marriage Licences 1521 to 1869.
Abbreviations. — B. Bishop of London’s Office; D. Dean and Chapter of Westminster; F. Faculty Office of Archbishop of Canterbury; V. Registry of the Vicar-General of Canterbury.
Blundell, Sir George, knight, of Cardington, Beds, widower, 38, and Elizabeth Yardley, spinster, 18, daughter of Christopher Yardley, of East Greenwich, Kent, merchant, who consents — at St. Gabriel, Fenchurch, or St. Dionis Backchurch. 16 May, 1661. F
Sandys, Edwin, of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Middlesex, esq., bachelor, 34, and Elizabeth Blundell, of St. Paul, Covent Garden, Middlesex, spinster, 28, daughter of Sir George Blundell, of Cardington, Beds, who consents — at St. Olave, Hart Street, St. Dionis Backchurch, or Christchurch, London. 26 Aug. 1676. F.
Wace, John, of St. Edmund, Lombard Street, London, bachelor, 32, and Lettice Whitebread, of Cardington, co. Beds, spinster, about 22, daughter of William Whitebread, gent., who consents — at Cardington or Copell, Beds. 19 May, 1675. F.
Widdowes, Edmund, of Castleton, co. Oxon, gent,, bachelor, 25, and Margaret Cocking, of Carrington, Cotton End, co. Beds, spinster, 20, daughter of John Cocking, of same, gent., whose consent is attested by Thomas Kinge, of St. Lawrence, Old Jewry, London — at St. Mary Magdalen, Old Fish Street, or St. Mary Woolnoth, London. 25 Nov. 1647. F.
Source: London Marriage Licences 1521 to 1869; Edited by Joseph Foster; London 1887
Bankrupts
Below is a list of people that were declared bankrupt between 1820 and 1843 extracted from The Bankrupt Directory; George Elwick; London; Simpkin, Marshall and Co.; 1843.
Bedford the Hon. Barbara, Barnes, Bedfordshire; and John Lord, Birmingham; merchants, Jun. 19, 1836.
Historical Directory Transcriptions
Cardington The Post Office Directory of Bedfordshire 1869
East Cotts The Post Office Directory of Bedfordshire 1869
Parish History
Cardington
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
CARDINGTON, a village and a parish in the district and county of Bedford. The village stands on an affluent of the river Ouse, adjacent to the Midland railway, 2½ miles SE of Bedford; and has a station on the railway.
The parish includes also the township of East Cotts. Post Town, Bedford. Acres, 5,170. Real property, £9,079. Pop., 1,419. Houses, 275. Cardington House is the seat of the Whitbreads; and was, for some years, the residence of the philanthropist Howard. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely. Value, £245. Patron, Trinity College, Cambridge. The church is later English. There are an Independent chapel, a handsome industrial school, a British school, alms-houses with £50 a year, and other charities £28.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales 1851
Cardington, a parish in the hund. of Wixamtree, union and county of Bedford; 2 miles south-south-west of Willington, on the river Ouse. It includes the chapelry of East-Cotts.
Living, a discharged vicarage, formerly in the archd. of Bedford and dio. of Lincoln, now in the dio. of Ely; rated at £7 17s. 0d. ; gross income £256. The patrons are the master and fellows of Trinity college, Cambridge. A tablet to the memory of Howard the philanthropist, who lived some time here, has been put up in the church; and a monument, by Bacon — the last of his works — was erected in 1799 to the memory of Samuel Whitbread, Esq., whose family first Settled here in 1650.
There is an Independent and Baptist chapel here; the church was formed in 1777. There are also two daily schools. Pop., in 1801, 509; in 1831, 594. Houses 258. Acres 5,050. A. P. £7,753. Poor rates, in 1837, £336.
Source: The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales; A Fullarton & Co. Glasgow; 1851.
Eastcotts
The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales 1851
Eastcotts, a chapelry in Cardington parish, County of Bedford; 3½ miles south-east of Bedford. Houses 145. Pop., in 1801, 504; in 1831, 710. Poor rates, in 1838, £388 6s.
Source: The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales; A Fullarton & Co. Glasgow; 1851.
Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales 1850
East-Cotts, in Cardington Parish.
Source: Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales; Second Edition; C. W. Leonard, London; 1850
Elstow
Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales 1850
Elstow, 2 m. S.W. Bedford. P. 562.
Source: Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales; Second Edition; C. W. Leonard, London; 1850
Fenlake
Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales 1850
Fenlake, in Cardington Parish.
Source: Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales; Second Edition; C. W. Leonard, London; 1850
Harrowden
Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales 1850
Harrowden, 2 m. Bedford. Pop. in Cardington
Source: Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales; Second Edition; C. W. Leonard, London; 1850.
Administration
- County: Bedfordshire
- Civil Registration District: Bedford
- Probate Court: Court of the Archdeaconry of Bedford
- Diocese: Pre-1837 – Lincoln, Post-1836 – Ely
- Rural Deanery: Bedford
- Poor Law Union: Bedford
- Hundred: Wixamtree
- Province: Canterbury