Library News
Recently published by two of our membership is The Parish Registers of Farnborough, Kent. 1538 - 1652, transcribed by Geoffrey and Matthew Copus, 1996. 46 + V pages. £6 post free from G. D. Copus, 17 Oakdale Road, Tunbridge Well TN4 8DS.
Farnborough was a chapelry of Chelsfield until 1876, but had its own parochial organization, with resident curate and registers. Most unusually, the original 'paper' register, with entries from 1538 onwards, has survived alongside the 'parchment' register into which entries from the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign (1558) were copied by law. Although entries in the parchment register break off in 1624, in the paper version they continue (albeit increasingly untidily and with gaps) until 1652.
Because the paper register has a note scribbled on it saying 'Chelsfield Register' it has remained in that parish, to be a source of much confusion. In 1903, Lt. Col. Henry Wilson published a transcript of Farnborough registers to 1812, but only learned of the paper register as he was about to go to press. He added a partial transcript as an appendix. In recent years, the situation has become more confused because the paper register was listed as belonging to Chelsfield when microfilmed and appears this way in catalogues. Still worse is the confusion in that much utilized source, the Mormon International Genealogical Index. In an early version, the baptisms and marriages had been extracted from Wilson's transcript, with the correct parish of origin. In the latest, these appear, plus the entries from the microfilm of the paper register, but attributed to Chelsfield!
This new transcript, whose thorough and scholarly composition has been done without cost to the reader, is an attempt to put matters right. It includes every scrap of information from both paper and parchment registers. Comparison has revealed detail not previously transcribed - e.g. names of some 260 Godparents in the period 1607 - 1624. There are separate indexes to baptisms, marriages, burials and names of Godparents (and interleaved entries, relating to the family of George Somerset, the curate, from Whippingham in the Isle of Wight). The front cover bears a reproduction of the attractive drawing of Farnborough Church by H. A. Petrie, FSA, circa 1800, from the Society's collections. An indispensable addition to the records of all interested in Kentish Family Histories.
A recent publication acquired for the Library is the volume in the Civil Engineering Heritage Series on Southern England.
In 1971, the Institution of Civil Engineers set up 'Panel for Historical Engineering Works' and after a very long period, this volume and three others on other areas of England are the result.
The section on Kent includes Medway Bridges from 960 to the M2 Medway Bridge completed in 1964 and Bow Bridge, Wateringbury, completed in 1915 and "a significant development in the use of reinforced concrete".
Better known is the Grade I listed building, the 'Sheerness Boat Store' completed in 1860, "extraordinarily advanced for its age" and "a very early example, if not the first, multistorey iron framed building". Smeaton's late 18th century Dry Dock at Ramsgate, the Dover Pharos (Third Century), Cranbrook Windmill (1814), Bewel Bridge Reservoir (1975) and Lullingstone Viaduct, designed by F. T. Turner (1862) are other examples discussed in detail from a learned yet for us, an unusual standpoint.
Civil Engineering Heritage Southern England by R. A. Otter, Thomas Telford Ltd. 1994. ISBN 07277, is obtainable from the publisher, 1 Heron Quay, London E14 4JD price £12.50 post free, or for personal callers, at the Institute, 1-7 Great George Street, Westminster. Peter Draper, Hon. Librarian, KAS.
Despite the generosity of several members, the Library set of the Kent Archaeological Review is still incomplete. The following issues are either missing or, in the case of some pre-1977 issues, water damaged.
The numbers are: 1, 2, 52-55 inclusive, 57-71 inclusive, 74, 75, 79, 80, 81, 85, 89, 91, 92, 94, 96, 97, 98, 101, 103, 104, 112, 115, 116, 120, 121, 122. We also hold a large number of duplicates hence could do an exchange in many instances. If you can help please send details to the Hon. Librarian, The Museum, St. Faith Street, Maidstone ME14. Thank you.