Luton Bedfordshire Family History Guide

Luton is an Ancient Parish and a market town in the county of Bedfordshire.

Alternative names: Lutton, Lygetune (viii cent.); Lygeanburh (x cent.); Loitone (xi cent.); Lectuna, Lutune (xii–xiii cents.); Leweton (xvi cent.), Bissopescote (xi cent.); Byscote (xiv cent.), Lightgrave, Litgrave (xv–xvii cents.).

Other places in the parish include: Lightgrave, Biscot, Biscott, Christchurch, East Hyde, Leagrave, Leegrave, Limbury and Biscot, Limbury cum Biscot, St Mary, Stopsley, and West Hyde.

Status: Ancient Parish

Parish church:

Parish registers begin:

Parish registers: 1603
Bishop’s Transcripts: 1602

The registers date from 1603, the first book containing baptisms from that date to 1726, marriages to 1715, and burials to 1708. The second book contains baptisms and burials from 1731 to 1733, and marriages 1731 to 1756. The third book has burials 1772–79, and baptisms 1778–86, and the fourth burials 1787–98, and baptisms to 1797.

Separate registers exist for East Hyde: parish registers begin: 1842

Nonconformists include: Baptist, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Independent/Congregational, Particular Baptist, Primitive Methodist, Society of Friends/Quaker, and Wesleyan Methodist.

Table of Contents

Adjacent Parishes

Parish History

Luton is a large parish comprising, with its hamlets, 15,434 acres, of which 9,897 acres are arable, 3,427 permanent grass, and 692 woods and plantations. The position of the present centre of the town and of the parish church of St. Mary suggests that the original settlement at Luton occupied a piece of low ground close to the River Lea, perhaps at some important ford.

Starting from this nucleus the town spread, at first south, up the slopes on that side of the river, later in a north-westerly direction, when the present factories were built, and is now beginning to occupy the northern slopes of the valley and the steep wooded rise known as St. Anne’s Hill, which overlooks the town from that direction.

The main streets appear to have preserved to some extent their original plan, and until recently contained numerous old houses and inns, now rebuilt or entirely removed. The Cross Keys Inn was pulled down in 1905, and the present George Inn retains parts of an older house, much concealed by modern reconstruction.

George Street, with the Corn Exchange at the south end and the Town Hall at the north, forms a short main street upon which numerous others converge. The majority of these streets are narrow and in some cases steep, so that the traffic which enters the town by wide and open roads in the outskirts often becomes somewhat crowded in the main streets, particularly on market days, when a portion of George Street is used for the purpose of a marketplace. The church of St. Mary, surrounded by a large graveyard, is half-way between George Street and the river. The original vicarage was probably close to the church, but the present house is modern and lies on the north side of the river.

To the north of the town are the parishes of Leagrave and Stopsley, formed respectively in 1866 and 1861 out of Luton. To the south is Hyde parish, formed in 1843. The neighbouring country is mostly higher than the town, and is often well wooded, particularly in Stockwood and Luton Hoo parks to the south and on the slopes of St. Anne’s Hill to the east.

To the north and north-east the chalk downs run in long sweeping undulations towards Hitchin. The town is provided with water from deep borings in the chalk, the supply being stored in reservoirs on high ground to the north and south of the town. The Hatfield road enters the town from the south by Park Road and Manchester Street; and to the north the main roads run north-west to Dunstable, and north to Bedford.

The Midland Railway Company has a station at Luton on their main line from St. Pancras, and a branch of the Great Northern Railway from Hatfield to Dunstable also has a station here; whilst the London and North-Western have running powers over the Great Northern Company’s line from Leighton Buzzard. The Great Northern Railway has a station, Luton Hoo, in the parish of Hyde, facing which is Chiltern Green Station on the Midland Railway.

Luton is a town which has developed during the nineteenth century. This may be well exemplified by an examination of its population at various times. Thus, in 1546 the population included 1,500 ‘houselyng people’; in 1801 the official returns give 3,095; in 1831, 5,693; in 1851, 12,787; in 1871, 20,733; and in 1891, 32,401. Previous to this extraordinary nineteenth-century expansion Luton appears to have been a quiet market town with a comparatively uneventful history. No mention of it has been found before the Survey, when it already possessed a market whose tolls were valued at 100s.

The introduction of the straw-plait industry into Bedfordshire in the seventeenth century largely increased the importance of Luton market, which at the present day does a large trade in cattle, corn, and straw plait. At the present day, besides the straw plait manufacture (for which material is now imported from China, Italy, and Japan), there are in Luton iron and brass foundries, boiler works, and a brewery.

In 1896 the following hamlets were detached from Luton and became separate civil parishes:—East and West Hyde (now known as the parish of Hyde), Limbury-cum-Biscott, Leagrave, and Stopsley.

In 1876 Luton obtained a charter of incorporation by name of the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses of Luton, with the right to use armorial bearings and devices, and the town is now governed by a mayor, six aldermen, and eighteen councillors. Luton is divided into three wards, north, east, and west.

Source: Extracted from Victoria County History of Bedford: Volume 2 1908.

Luton

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

LUTON, a town, a township, a parish, a sub-district, and a district, in Beds. The town stands on the river Lea, and on the Hatfield and Leighton-Buzzard branch of the Great Northern railway, 2¼ miles SE of Icknield street, and 19 S by E of Bedford.

Its site is a valley, surrounded by hills. Its name is a corruption either of Leatown or of Lowtown. The ground on which it stands was given by Offa, king of Mercia, in the 8th century, to the abbey of St. Albans; belonged, at Domesday, to the Crown; went, in 1216, to Fulke de Brent, who built a castle on it; and passed to the Wenlocks.

The town acquired importance in the time of James I., by being made the seat of a straw-hat manufacture, which Mary, Queen of Scots, had introduced from France; it suffered a check to its prosperity, by the transference of that manufacture, in a considerable degree and for some time, to Dunstable; it eventually recovered its status as the largest seat of that manufacture in Great Britain; and it so throve upon it in the decade from 1851 till 1861 as then to increase its population, on account of it, nearly 50 per cent.

It consists chiefly of streets diverging from a central market-place; but has, of late years, been greatly extended. The plait-hall stands in Cheapside and Waller-street; and was built in 1869, at a cost of about £8,000. The corn-exchange is on the site of the old hall-hall; was built in 1869, at a cost of about £8,000; and is in the Venetian-Gothic style. The town hall stands at the junction of the Bedford and the Dunstable roads; and is a handsome edifice. The courthouse was built by the county; stands in Stuart-street; and includes some prison cells.

St. Mary’s church is partly decorated English, partly later English; comprises nave, aisles, transepts, and choir; has an embattled tower in chequer-work 90 feet high, surmounted at the corners by hexagonal turrets; includes, in the S transept, a lofty stone baptistry, with groined roof and pinnacles, standing over a famous baptismal font supported by five pillars, and said to have been presented by Queen Anne Boleyn; includes also, on the N side of the chancel, an elegant chapel, built prior to 1461 by Sir John Wenlock; and contains four richly ornamented sedilia, several royal armorial bearings, several arched altar-tombs, some very ancient brasses, and a number of handsome modern monuments and cenotaphs.

Christ Church was built in 1856; and was improved at a cost of £3,500 in 1865. The Independent chapel in King-street was built in 1866, at a cost of about £6,000; is in the pointed style, with a spire; contains about 1,200 sittings; and includes a basement-school, capable of accommodating 1,200 children. The Union Congregational chapel is in London-road. The Baptist chapel in Park-street was rebuilt in 1867; and that in Wellington-street is recent. The Ebenezer Baptist chapel is in Dumfries-street; the Ebenezer Calvinist chapel is in Hastings-street; and the Quakers’ chapel is in Castle-street. Two Wesleyan chapels are in Waller-street and Chapel-street; the one built in 1863, the other also recent; and one of them is a handsome edifice, cost upwards of £3,000, and contains about 1,700 sittings. A Primitive Methodist chapel is in Hightown.

There are a literary institution and news-rooms, a young women’s literary institute, a national school, a British school, a school endowment of £30 a year, almshouses with £43, other charities £74, and a workhouse. The town has a head post office, a railway station with telegraph, two banking offices, a county police station, a fire-brigade establishment, and four chief inns; is a seat of petty-sessions and county courts, and a polling-place; and publishes two weekly newspapers.

A weekly market for corn and straw-plait is held on Monday; a weekly market for provisions, on Saturday; fairs for cattle, on the third Monday of April and the third Monday of October; and a hiring-fair, on the Friday after the third Monday of September. The straw-hat and bonnet manufacture is carried on in large and handsome buildings, and exports its produce to all parts of the world. There is an iron-foundry. Pomfret, the poet, was a native. Real property, of the town, in 1860, £44,433; of which £554 were in the railway, and £526 in gas-works. Pop. in 1851,10,648; in 1861,15,329. Houses, 2,724.

The township is conterminate with the town. The parish contains also the hamlets of East Hyde, West Hyde, Stopsley, Leegrave, and Limbury-cum-Biscott. Acres, 15,750. Real property, £62,350. Pop. in 1851, 12,787; in 1861,17,821. Houses, 3,196. Summeries Tower, 1¾ mile ESE of the town, formed part of an ancient mansion of the Wenlocks, now all destroyed except the portico.

Luton Hoo, 1¾ mile SSE of the town, was built by the Earl of Bute, prime minister of George III.; was the seat of the late Marquis of Bute; had a splendid chapel of richly carved wood; suffered vast damage by fire, with total destruction of the chapel, in 1843; passed to John Shaw Leigh, Esq.; has been completely restored; and stands in a very fine park of 1,670 acres. Stockwood, 1 mile SSW of the town, is the seat of J. S. Crawley, Esq.

The parish is ecclesiastically cut into the sections of St. Mary, Christchurch, East Hyde, Stopsley, and Biscott. East Hyde was made a separate charge in 1859; Christchurch and Stopsley, in 1861; and Biscott, in 1866. Pop. of the Christchurch section, in 1861, 6,658. Houses, 1,150. The livings of St. Mary and Christchurch are vicarages in the diocese of Ely. Value of St. Mary, £1,350. Patron, the Rev. A. King. Value and patron of Christchurch, not reported. East Hyde and Stopsley are separately noticed.

The sub-district contains also the parishes of Sundon, Streatley, Barton-in-the-Clay, and Caddington, part of the last electorally in Herts. Acres, 26,967. Pop., 21,419. Houses, 3,967.

The district comprehends also the sub-district of Dunstable, containing the parishes of Dunstable, Honghton-Regis, Totternhoe, Whipsnade, Studham, and Kensworth, all the last and part of the preceding electorally in Herts. Acres of the district, 40,836. Poor rates in 1863, £13,206. Pop. in 1851, 25,087; in 1861, 30,712. Houses, 5,865. Marriages in 1863, 297; births, 1,144, of which 92 were illegitimate; deaths, 631, of which 282 were at ages under 5 years, and 6 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 2,213; births, 9,876; deaths, 5,662.

The places of worship, in 1851, were 12 of the Church of England, with 4,841 sittings; 13 of Baptists, with 3,956 s.; 1 of Quakers, with 220 s.; 18 of Wesleyan Methodists, with 4,705 s.; 2 of Primitive Methodists, with 530 s.; 3 undefined, with 1,142 s.; and 2 of Latter Day Saints, with 130 s. The schools were 13 public day schools, with 1,386 scholars; 50 private day schools, with 1,018 s.; 41 Sunday schools, with 5,688 s.; and 1 evening school for adults, with 31 s. The workhouse, at the census of 1861, had 150 inmates.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales 1850

Luton, 31 m. N.W. London, on the river Lea. P. 7748. Mrkt. Mon.

Source: Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales; Second Edition; C. W. Leonard, London; 1850

Hyde (East and West)

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

HYDE (EAST), a village, a hamlet, and a chapelry in Luton parish, Beds. The village stands on the verge of the county, near New Millend r. station, 3 ½ miles SE of Luton The hamlet includes the Village, and is conjoint with West Hyde. Real property of East H. alone, £2, 819; of East H. and West H., £6, 651. Post town, Luton. Pop. of both, 869. Houses, 148.

The chapelry comprises portions of East H. and West H., with Chiltern-Green and Kinsman-Green; and was constituted in 1859. Pop., 419. Houses, 77. Lionel Ames, Esq. of Hyde, and John S. Leigh, Esq. of Luton-Hoo, are the chief landowners. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely. Value, £180. Patron, L. Ames, Esq. The church was built in 1840; and is a square edifice, with portico and two small towers.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales 1850

Hyde (East and West), in Luton parish. P. 631.

Source: Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales; Second Edition; C. W. Leonard, London; 1850

Leagrave

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

LEE-GRAVE, or LIGHTGRAVE, a hamlet in Luton parish, Beds; 2½ miles NW of Luton. Acres, 1, 200. Real property, £1,600. Pop., 426. Houses, 87. The manor belongs to John S. Leigh, Esq.; but most of the property, to Sir John Filmer, Bart. Leegrave marsh here is the source of the river Lea. There is a Methodist chapel.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales 1850

Leegrave, or Lightgrave, in Luton parish. P. 411

Source: Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales; Second Edition; C. W. Leonard, London; 1850

Limbury-cum-Biscott

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

LIMBURY-CUM-BISCOTT, a hamlet in Luton parish, Beds; 3 miles NW of Luton. Real property, £3,479. Pop., 355. Houses, 72. There is a Wesleyan chapel.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales 1850

Limbury-cum-Biscott, in Luton par. P. 316.

Source: Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales; Second Edition; C. W. Leonard, London; 1850.

Stopsley

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

STOPSLEY, a chapelry in Luton parish, Beds; 1¾ mile NNE of Luton r. station. It was constituted in 1861; and it has a post-office under Luton. Real property, £6,287. Pop., 842. Houses, 165. The manor belongs to J. S. Leigh, Esq. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Ely. Value, £203. Patron, Col. Sowerby. The church was built in 1861, and is in the early English style. There are a Methodist chapel and national schools.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales 1850

Stopsley, in Luton parish. P. 563.

Source: Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales; Second Edition; C. W. Leonard, London; 1850

Bankrupts

Below is a list of people from Luton that were declared bankrupt between 1820 and 1843.

Austin Charles, Luton, Bedfordshire, banker, June 19, 1824.

Banner Francis, Luton, Bedfordshire, straw hat manufacturer, July 17, 1840.

Birley John Реart, Luton, Bedfordshire, painter and glazier, May 17, 1836.

Brett John, sen., Luton, Bedfordshire, dealer and chapman, Jan. 22, 1830.

Brett John, jun., Luton, Bedfordshire, dealer and Chapman, Jan. 22, 1830.

Ellerd William, Luton, Bedfordshire, painter and glazier, Feb. 29, 1828.

Gregory Charles, Luton, Bedfordshire, maltster, Oct. 18, 1833.

Newman William, Luton, Bedfordshire, straw hat manufacturer, Oct. 3, 1828.

Pain Joseph, Luton, Bedfordshire, straw hat manufacturer, Oct. 3, 1828.

Tomalin Thomas, Luton, Bedfordshire. baker. July 24, 1835.

Waring Richard, Luton, Bedfordshire, grocer and ironmonger, May 24. 1839.

Waters William, Luton, Bedfordshire, baker, May 29, 1827.

Parish Registers

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.

Austen, John (Awsten), of St. Botolph, Aldgate, London, butcher, and Damazine Hill, spinster, daughter of Thomas Hill, of Lewton, co. Beds, cordwainer — at St. Mary, Whitechapel, Middlesex. About 13 Dec. 1623. B.

Blacoe, Henry, of Lewton Hoe, co. Beds, bachelor, and Elizabeth Chappell, of same, spinster— at South Mims, or Hadley, co. Middlesex. 13 Nov. 1661. B.

Browne, Reuben, gent., of Luton, Beds, 33, and Anne Scott, now of St. Dnnstan-in-the-West, spinster, 26— at St. Faith. 28 Jan. 1633/4. B. [In margin “both of these parties are servants to Judge Crawley.”]

Cheyne, Thomas, of Luton, Beds, gent., bachelor, about 25, and Mary Duncomb, spinster, about 18, daughter of William Duncomb, of Ivingo Aston, Bucks, gent., who consents — at St. Andrew, Holborn, London. 17 July, 1673. F.

Crawley, Thomas, of Luton, co. Beds, widower, 31, and Sarah Cooper, of same, spinster, 22, her parents dead — at St. Michael-le-Queme, London. 2 March, 1663/4. F.

Darrell, B. John [in margin, Dorrell], yeoman, and Anne Hill, spinster, daughter of Thomas Hill, of Lewton, co. Beds, cordwainer — at Stepney, co. Middlesex. 19 Aug. 1622. B.

Fulwood, Peter, of Barnett, co. Herts, barber- surgeon, and Alice Hawarde, of same, spinster, daughter of John Hawarde, of Luton, co. Beds, yeoman, gen. lic, 12 July, 1591. B.

Hale, Thomas, of Hexton, Herts, gent., and Elizabeth Simonds, of London, spinster, daughter of Robert Simonds, of Luton, co. Beds, yeoman, gen. lic, 25 May, 1596. B.

Hill, Theophilus, of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Middlesex, girdler, bachelor, 30, and Dorothy Cheyney, spinster, 25, daughter of Thomas Cheyney, esq., of Bramingham, Beds, who consents — at Ealing, Middlesex, or St. Andrew, Holborn, London. 15 April, 1671. F.

Howe, John, silkweaver, of St. Sepulchre, and Johanna Clerke, of same, spinster, daughter of Edmund Clerke, of Lewton, co. Beds, maltman, gen. lic, 15 Sept. 1587. B.

Joslinge, John, of Wormley, Herts, yeoman, and Joanna Humfrye, of the City of London, widow of John Humfrye, of Luton, co. Beds, yeoman, gen. lic, 18 March, 1590/1.

Mayne, Thomas, of St. James, Clerkenwell, Middlesex, labourer, and Anne Keyne, of same, spinster, daughter of Anthony Keyne, of Lewton, co. Beds, laborer, deceased — at St. James, Clerkenwell. 22 Feb. 1611/2. B.

Napier, Sir John, bart., of Luton Hoo, co, Beds, and Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Theophilus Biddulph, knight and bart., spinster — at any church in the diocese of Rochester (on a leaf at the beginning of the volume). 25 Aug. 1666. F.

Oldisworth, Michael, gent., of St. Martin-in-the- Fields, bachelor, 25, and Susan Poyntz, of same, spinster, 18, daughter of Thomas Poyntz, esq., deceased, consent of her mother, Jane Dickerie, alias Poyntz, wife of Mr. — Dickerie (i.e., Docwra), of Luton, Beds, gent, — at St. Gregory, London. 26 April, 1617. B.

Parish, George, D.D., Rector of Weldrake, co. York, bachelor, 45, and Anne Crawley, spinster, 35, daughter of Sir Francis Crawley, late of Someris, co. Beds, knight, deceased — at Someris, or Barton-in-le-Clare, co. Beds. 29 July, 1663. F.

Pemberton, John, of St. Paul, Covent Garden, gent., bachelor, 40, and Anne Rotheram, spinster, 28, daughter of George Rotheram, of Luton, co. Beds, gent., and Olive, his wife (she alleges), who consents— at St. Peter, Paul’s Wharf, or Lambeth, co. Surrey. 6 Sept. 1662. F.

Pilgram, John, of Luton, co. Beds, yeoman, and Ellen Oliver, of Enfield, co. Middlesex, widow of Giles Oliver, late of same, yeoman — at St. Sepulchre, London. 5 May, 1617. B.

Pomfrett, Thomas, of Luton, co. Beds, clerk, bachelor, and Catherine Dobson, spinster, daughter of William Dobson, late of St. Andrew, Holborn, London, deceased — at St. Mary, Savoy, Middlesex. 27 Nov. 1661. V.

Rayner, Timothy (Reyner),gent., of St. Sepulchre, bachelor, 28, and Anne Weekely, of Luton, Beds, 27 — at St. Mary Magdalen, Old Fish Street. 16 Oct. 1647. B.

Scott, Geo., of Lincoln’s Inn, gent., bachelor, 24, and Elizabeth Cheyne, of Lewton, Beds, spinster, 22, her father dead, with consent of her mother, Lettice Norton, alias Cheyne — at Lewton aforesaid. 25 Sept. 1647. F.

Wilkinson, Christopher, of Lincoln’s Inn, gent, widower, about 28, and Ellen Cheyne, of St. Michael, Cornhill, spinster, about 18, consent of father, Thomas Cheyne, of Luton, Beds — at St. Benet Fink, St. Michael, Cornhill, or St. Martin Orgar, London. 10 Dec. 1663. V

Source: London Marriage Licences 1521 to 1869; Edited by Joseph Foster; London 1887

Quarter Sessions Rolls

The following have been extracted from the Notes & Extracts from the Bedfordshire County Records comprised in the Quarter Sessions Rolls from 1714 to 1832 compiled by Messrs. Hardy & Page, Record Agents

1714 74 Indictment of John Trustram of Luton, for assaulting John Sherlock and imprisoning him for the space of one hour.

Parish Records

FamilySearch

Bedfordshire Historical Directories

Directory Transcriptions

Kelly’s Directory of the Wine and Spirit Trades, with which are included Brewers and Maltsters 1884

Marked thus * are Small Brewers who brew the beer they sell.

LUTON
Market day Monday

Brewers
Green John William Phoenix brewery Park st west
Sworder Thomas & Co Bedford Road brewery

Cooper
Foster Thomas Stuart st

Hotels
George, Frederick Jn Coleman
Midland, Mrs LM Holland
Queen’s, William Robt Baxter
Royal, C Swain

Soda Water Makers
Allen Walter Foundry lane
Hawkes Frederick 3 Oxford rd
Sworder Thomas & Co Bedford Road brewery

Wine & Spirit Merchants
Pearman & Son Castle st
Sworder Thomas & Co Bedford Road brewery

Source: The Post office directory of the brewers and maltsters [afterw.] Kelly’s directory of the wine and spirit trades, with which are included brewers and maltsters By Kelly’s directories, ltd. 1884