Frensham Parish Register – 1649 to 1810

Background to Parish Registers: In 1538, Thomas Cromwell, Vicar General, ordered every clergyman to ‘kepe one boke or register wherin ye shall write the day and yere of every weddyng, christenying, and buryng made within your parishe for yowr time’. Further, the clergyman was to ‘lay upp the boke in a sure coffer with two lockes and keys’. With this decree, the Parish Register of baptisms, marriages, and burials was born.

Frensham Parish Records, however, do not begin until 1649 and over a hundred years of records have been lost to history.

For comparison, here is a map showing the start date of church records in nearby parishes:

A record from 1584 concerning Farnham and its outlying chapels may shed some light on the situation. Note that Frensham Parish Church was originally a chapelry under the control of Farnham which explains why it had a Curate rather than a Vicar.

Additionally, the area around Farnham with its castle was very much involved in the civil wars and in 1644 Cromwell’s soldiers, lacking money, raided homes in Frensham and in 1645 were billetted in the village. If the parish church was considered not Puritan enough in terms of simplicity and plain decor, then it may have been “rehabilitated” and the parish chest with its records stolen or destroyed.

Fortunately, the records of Frensham baptisms, marriages, and burials from 1648 to 1710 have survived, although not the actual books. In 1710, a local member of the gentry, Mr. Henry Salmon, donated a purpose-printed parish register book. This is the story of that book and the Frensham history it contains.

Please excuse the quality of the images in this post ~ the book dates from 1710 ~ and the records were written on animal skin vellum using a quill pen. The image below is of the first recorded baptisms in the Frensham Register and that is how the images appear before I edit them!

The Purchase of the First Existing Frensham Parish Register

Reverend Joseph Munday ~ Frensham Curate for 46 Years

• Born in Salisbury, Wiltshire in 1667 to John Munday and Frances Collier
• Educated at Hart Hall, Oxford University, Joseph was admitted to Oxford University as a ‘pauper’ which was the official name for students from families who were not wealthy and “who often subsidized their time at university by performing menial tasks for the fellows and commoners; some were also awarded scholarships and exhibitions, or had a patron”. (The History of Oxford University in 17th Century)

• Ordained by the Bishop of Winchester in Farnham 15 June 1690
• Appointed first as Curate of East Clandon and then moved to Frensham Parish in December 1694
• Reverend Munday married Henrietta Woodgate, daughter of Henry Woodgate Esq of Wheatley, Binsted, Hampshire on 1 December 1691 in Binsted Church – no baptism records of children from this marriage have been found
• Reverend Munday’s burial was recorded in the Frensham Register on 31 July 1740 and his ‘relict’ Henrietta Munday remained in Frensham until her death and was buried 24 April 1743 

>> Evidence exists that Reverend Joseph Munday was poorly paid as the tithes collected in a small rural parish were always small, and then the Salmon and, later, the Bishop families took their cut first. Reverend Munday and Frensham were listed as part of a scheme called Queen Anne’s Bounty which was set up in 1704 to augment the incomes of the poorer clergy. Under this scheme, a small acreage was donated to the Parish and the income it generated was used to increase the salary of Frensham Curates. Information on Queen Anne’s Bounty is readily available on the internet.

Henrietta Munday‘s Will has survived and she left money to various Woodgate and Munday relatives, as well as Frensham and Farnham acquaintances. Her primary beneficiary was her friend, Anne Stillman, Widow of Frensham.

The Church Wardens in 1710

William Vanner

The Vanner family had been established in Frensham for many generations with records surviving such as the 1561 Will of Oliver Vanner, Tile Maker of Frensham. William Vanner, Church Warden in 1710, married Mary Barkle in 1691, and the couple had 4 children baptized in Frensham by Reverend Munday. William Vanner was buried in Frensham Churchyard in 1716, and Mary Vanner, widow, in 1718.

John Denyer

The Denyer Family were also long-standing Frensham residents with the 1539 Will of William Denyer of Frensham stating his request to be buried in Frensham Churchyard and leaving 8 pence towards the repair of Frensham Church. John Denyer, Church Warden in 1710, was perhaps the John Denyer, tailor of Frensham, who leased a property in Thursley in 1712.

Mr Henry Salmon ~ Purchaser of Register Book

The three Salmon brothers – William, John, and Henry – were wealthy Frensham residents although none of the three married and left children to carry on the Salmon name in Frensham! Henry’s sister, Elizabeth Salmon, however, married William Bishop and all the Salmon wealth and Frensham property passed to Bishop family who then became one of Frensham leading family. This included appointing the Curate and collecting the tithes (from which the curate was paid).

>> In 1717, Henry Stevens donated an inscribed solid silver platter and chalice for use in Frensham Church services and they are still treasured by the congregation today:

A Glimpse Inside Frensham Parish Register ~ 1649 to 1810

First Recorded Baptisms: 1650 ~ with my notes

First Recorded Marriages: 1649 ~ with my notes

Note that Frensham marriage records have survived from 1649 – a year earlier than baptisms!

Marriage Couple	Date in 1649	My Notes
Francis Boxall and Ann Denyer	6 June	Ann Boxall, wife of Francis died 1659 and Francis died in 1662
William Hodyer and Elizabeth Carson	25 July	No information found
Thomas Page and Joan Vickery	24 Sept	Thomas Page died 1681
Thomas Matthew and Elizabeth Heath	8 Oct	Heath family lived in Headley

First Recorded Burials: 1649/50 ~ with my notes and image below

Elizabeth Holney	6 Feb	Wife of Mr Thomas Holney
Mr Thomas Holney	29 May	Curate of Frensham ** Joseph’s Munday’s predecessor
Edward Morrice	18 Jul	No information found
Jone Heath	8 Oct	Wife of Richard Heath ~ Richard remarried in 1653

The first Frensham Parish Register then continued, passing through the hands of many Curates, until, in 1810, it was full and was retired to the parish chest.

Some Interesting Entries

Church Briefs

In order to obtain a brief, a parish or person in need had to apply to the Crown who could permit an appeal brief if it was felt to be warranted. Damage to parish churches almost always were granted a brief which would then be read out in churches, and a collection made after the service. Church Briefs were abolished in 1828 as the expense of raising money often exceeded the net amount received. The Frensham Parish Register kept records of all the briefs and the money collected; below is one example from 1742.

Appointment of Curates, Church Wardens, and Parish Clerks

• James Phipps admitted into the Curacy of Frensham at Michaelmas 1740
• Austin Crafter was admitted Clerk of the Parish August 25th 1745
• John Roe was nominated Clerk of the Parish March the 16th 1790
• Thomas Beagley Clerk February the 19 1810

1753 Lord Hardwick’s Marriage Act and New Marriage Registers

This Act required a formal ceremony of marriage and it introduced a specially printed paper register to record marriages. At Frensham, the Church recorded marriages in the required manner from 1754 in a book used only for marriages and here is the first such record:

It was not until 1797, however, that Frensham Church acquired a pre-printed Marriage Record book and here are the first two entries:

Lease of Beales Manor Pew in Frensham Church

• James Phipps was Curate of Frensham Church
• The Honourable John Mordaunt Esq, a former M.P. for Nottingham ~ see my post ‘The History of Pierrepont’.

Class Bias

Below are my transcripts of baptism records of three Frensham children – a child of an unwed mother, a child of the gentry, and a child of an ordinary resident – show different treatments. The record for baby Francis is the standard entry – baby’s name, no birth date or name of mother, just the father’s name and date of baptism.

Reverend Richard Bridger can be forgiven for a writing up a detailed baptism record for his son, Henry Claudius Bridger (who entered the church himself 20 years later). Reverend Richard Bridger was appointed Curate of Frensham in 1761:

Unusual Entries

• Charlotte Maria Senior daughter of Ascanius William Senior Esq and Charlotte his wife was baptized October 16 1773. The Senior Family lived at Pierrepont Lodge (see information above).

• Julia Elizabeth Storer was the daughter of Thomas James Storer Esq and the Honourable Elizabeth Storer, and was baptized 9 September 1777 in Frensham. (See my post ‘The History of Pierrepont).
• 1726: Ann Gardiner daughter of Hugo Gardiner, a parishioner of St Giles in the Fields, London was buried.
• 1732: William Lawrence, son of William Lawrence, a Parishioner of Taunton in Somerset, was baptized.
• 1781 burial of John Binion – a stranger:

• People from nearby Parishes were usually identified by their home parish such as Dockenfield and Bentley in this record:

• Low Survival Rate for Twins

When do Mothers get a Mention?

We have seen that the children of the gentry often have the names of their mothers included in the baptisms records, but this amounts to just a handful. It was not until 26 May 1792, that both parents are named; the image below shows the exact policy change, likely due to a change in Curate as the handwriting changes with the 26 May entry:

• Sarah daughter of John Keen – April 22
• Ann daughter of William Vanner – May 21
• >> Richard son of James & Mary Croucher – May 26
• John son of James and Jane West- May 29
• Mary daughter of William and Sarah Pullen – May 29
• Ann daughter of William & Elizabeth Bayley – June 3

From 26 May 1792, the Frensham Register records the name of a baby’s mother as well as the father.

Unwed Mothers – Another change took place around this time in the records of babies born to unwed mothers. Note that P.C. meant a private christening probably as baby Mary was not expected to live. The pejorative term ‘bastard’ has been dropped, and within a couple of years ‘of the body of’ has disappeared.

The Last Entries ~ Burials in 1810

Today, the Frensham Parish Register 1649 to 1710 resides in the archives of the Surrey History Centre at Woking.

Select Sources

• The Victoria History of the County of Surrey (1905) available on Google Books
• The Clergy Database of the Church of England
• Exploring Surrey’s Past
• Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey: Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Reference: FREN/1/1
• The National Archives
• Frensham Parish Church Minister – Reverend Jane Walker