The Pirton Local History Group began working on a village database in July 2002.
Aim of the database
The aim of the database is to store information extracted from a variety of sources of archive material relating to the village of Pirton and to provide an easy to use search facility. The website enables users to search for the names of individual people across the entire collection of documents stored in the database which will enable any researcher to build up a historical picture.
In future it is planned to enable users to search by property. Then it will be possible to view all people that have lived at a particular location and identify what land they owned or leased. It will also be possible to search for all properties by street name.
It is up to users to make the links between people to deduce whether individuals with the same name in two different records (i.e. a marriage record and a baptism record) are in fact the same person — not just two people with the same name.
Using the search function
The minimum requirement for a search is either a surname or a first name.
In order to look for a particular person, enter the first name and the surname. To narrow your search you may also enter a date range that surrounds the period during which that person was alive. (Bear in mind that probate documents may be dated some years after a person’s death.)
Searching first names: when, for example, searching for the first name ‘Anne’ it should be remembered that some records may have different variations of the name e.g. Ann, Anne and Anna. To find all records of the longer form Anne, it is best to search for Ann as this will find all records with first names starting with ‘Ann,’ including ‘Anne’ and ‘Anna.’
Searching surnames: the search function finds records for names which have common variations in spelling, or which may have been spelled incorrectly in some records. For example, the name Handscombe has the following different spelling variations within documents:
Anscomb, Hancombe, Hancsomb, Handscomb, Handscombe, Handscome, Handsomb, Hanscom, Hanscomb, Hanscombe, Hanscome.
The search will return all documents that contain the name and close variations.
Searching occupations: you may filter your search by occupation. This will narrow your results to include records where the occupation matches the occupation chosen in the drop down list. Occupations are grouped into similar variations; e.g. Farmer, Farm labourer, Agricultural labourer are all grouped together.
Records where the occupation is unknown are not included in the search results.
Searching record types: you may filter your search by record type. If you want to see only records that contain a certain name of a certain type e.g. census then you can choose a record type from the drop down list.
Search results: The search function returns all documents where the name searched for appears in that document.
In the results table click on a name link to view the document in which that name appears.
When viewing a record that contains other names, it is possible to perform a new search on that name by clicking on the name link.
Historical sources
Table of Sources currently in the database: see below for record office contact details.
| Name of source | Prefix code | Source Description | Year From | Year To | Number Of Records | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Board school admission registers | ADM | These admission lists are from Pirton Board School which opened in 1877. | 1886 | 1898 | 513 | Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies |
| Apprenticeships | APR | A list of boys whose apprenticeships were financed by Hammonds Charity. | 1823 | 1906 | 72 | Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies |
| St Mary’s Parish register baptisms | BAP | These are baptism records from St Mary’s Parish Registers. | 1562 | 1901 | 5450 | Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies |
| Pirton methodist register | BAPM | These are baptism records of children who were baptised at Pirton Methodist Church. | 1907 | 1925 | 65 | Pirton Methodist Church |
| Wesleyan methodist register Brand Street Hitchin | BAPMH | These are baptism records of children from Pirton who were bapised at Brand St Methodist Church Hitchin. | 1839 | 1853 | 11 | Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies |
| St Mary’s parish register burials | BUR | These are burial records records from St Mary’s Parish Registers. | 1558 | 1914 | 3077 | Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies |
| Pirton census 1841 | C1841 | All persons in the same household as listed in the census. | 1841 | 1841 | 761 | Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies |
| Pirton census 1851 | C1851 | All persons in the same household as listed in the census. | 1851 | 1851 | 894 | Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies |
| Pirton census 1861 | C1861 | All persons in the same household as listed in the census. | 1861 | 1861 | 1024 | Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies |
| Pirton census 1871 | C1871 | All persons in the same household as listed in the census. | 1871 | 1871 | 1083 | Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies |
| Pirton census 1881 | C1881 | All persons in the same household as listed in the census. | 1881 | 1881 | 1130 | Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies |
| Pirton census 1891 | C1891 | All persons in the same household as listed in the census. | 1891 | 1891 | 1071 | Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies |
| Pirton census 1901 | C1901 | All persons in the same household as listed in the census. | 1901 | 1901 | 921 | Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies |
| Pirton census 1911 | C1911 | All persons in the same household as listed in the census. | 1911 | 1911 | 814 | Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies |
| Directories of Hertfordshire, Kellys,Pigots | DIR | All persons listed in the directory with their status, trade and location if given. | 1832 | 1937 | 595 | Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies |
| Hearth Tax returns | HTX | In the 1660s an annual tax of one shilling per hearth was made on all houses in the land, the records for Pirton for 1663 and 1666 have survived. | 1663 | 1666 | 54 | The National Archives, Kew |
| Land Tax Assesment | LTX | This is a tax based on land listing owners and sometimes tenants. | 1745 | 1832 | 2239 | Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies |
| St Mary’s parish register marriages | MAR | These are marriage records from St Mary’s Parish Registers. | 1560 | 1909 | 1178 | Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies |
| Militia list | MBL | A list of all males between the ages of 18 and 45 with a comment as to whether drawn in ballot or reasons for exemption. | 1758 | 1789 | 1146 | Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies |
| Monuments at St Mary’s church | MON | List of names of all the individual persons named on the monument and their dates | 1645 | 1990 | 831 | St Mary’s Parish Church in Pirton |
| Memorials in Pirton Methodist Church | MONM | A list of names of all the individual persons named on memorial objects and their dates | 1906 | 1991 | 23 | Pirton Methodist Church |
| Probate documents at Bedford Record Office | PROBB | Probate documents which are held in Bedford. | 1641 | 1641 | 1 | Bedford Record Office |
| Probate documents at HALS | PROBH | Probate documents, wills and inventories are held in Hertford on microfilm. | 1600 | 1853 | 300 | Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies |
| Probate documents at Huntingdon | PROBHu | Probate documents held in Huntingdon.These engrossed copies are held in numbered volumes called the Archdeaconary of Huntingdon Wills Registers. | 1488 | 1609 | 30 | Huntingdon Record Office |
| Probate documents at National Archives | PROBK | The Prerogative Court of Canterbury was the highest probate court in the land, probate would be taken there if the deceased had land in more than one jurisdiction. | 1565 | 1853 | 28 | The National Archives, Kew |
| Probate documents at Lincoln | PROBL | Probate documents held in Lincoln. | 1577 | 1625 | 3 | Lincoln Record Office |
| Settlement certificates | SETL | A list of people who who held settlement certificates | 1700 | 1781 | 22 | Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies |
| Transportation records | TRAN | A list of persons who were transported to Australia in 19th century. | 1800 | 1849 | 14 | Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies |
Future historical sources
The following sources have been transferred to electronic format and it is planned to include them in the database:
- deeds pre 1290
- lay subsidy 1307
- ownership of all the commonfield strips pre 1800
- enclosure land holding 1800 and 1818
- rates 1910 and 1935
- listed buildings
- catalogues of Pirton records held at Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies
Record offices contact details
Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies (HALS)
Contact Details:
County Hall
Hertford
SG13 8EJ
England
Tel: 01438 737333
Fax: 01992 555113
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.hertsdirect.org/heritage
Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service
Contact Details:
County Hall
Cauldwell Street
Bedford
MK42 9AP
England
Tel: 01234 228833/22
Fax: 01234 228854
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.bedfordshire.gov.uk/archive
Huntingdon Library and Archives
Contact Details:
Princes Street
Huntingdon
PE29 3PA
Tel: 01480 372738
Website: http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/leisure/archives/visiting/
Lincoln Record Office
Contact Details:
St Rumbold Street
LINCOLN
LN2 5AB
ENGLAND
Tel: 01522 526204
Fax: 01522 530047
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/archives/
The National Archives
Contact Details:
Kew
Richmond
Surrey
TW9 4DU
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8876 3444.
Website: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
