• Parish registers began to be kept in the 16th century by command of Henry VIII and many survived kept in a chest in the church which commonly kept receipts, Church wardens records. etc. The information in these registers is often very limited, especially those pre-1800, when there was no officially defined format. Marriages tend to have the most detail, funerals the least. [Contributed by John Swansbury]\

• All Saint's Church in All Cannings in Wiltshire, England was the site of numerous Swanborough baptisms, marriages and burials.
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• A special church service will be held at the 2005 reunion to commemorate the 2nd Swanborough Family Reunion, the return of the families who were scattered around the world years ago.

• Information found in the Domesday Book about All Cannings:

  "The church holds (All) Cannings itself. Before 1066 it paid tax for 18 hides and l-l/2 virgates of land. Land for 15 ploughs. Of this land 4 hides in Lordship; 5 ploughs there; 8 slaves. 27 Villagers. 17 Smallholdings and 6 cottagers with 10 ploughs. A mill which pays 13s; meadow, 108 acres; pasture 1 league long and 4 furlongs wide; woodland 4 furlongs long and 2 furlongs wide. The value was 20 pounds; now 30 pounds."

• 1841 Tithe Map of All Cannings. Contributed by Margaret Swansborough. Photos courtesy of John Swansbury. <>Inside of the church Outside the church
   

• A plaque inside the church tells the tale of hardship in the area: Benefaction to the Parish of All-Cannings in the County of Wilts. By the Will of Ann Lavington dated the 28th of Feby 1818 I give and bequeath unto the Rector and Churchwardens, of the Parish and Parish Church, of All-Cannings aforesaid the sum of Five Hundred Pounds upon Trust, to lay out and invest the same in Government Stocks or Funds or upon proper and sufficient freehold security, at Interest, and shall yearly, and every year for ever about Ten days before Christmas, in each year apply the Interest, Dividends and annual proceeds of the said sum of Five Hundred Pounds, of the stocks, Funds or Securities, to be purchased therewith among such of the necessitous and deserving Poor of the said Parish of All-Cannings, as they the said Rector and Churchwardens, for the time being and their successors, shall consider most deserving of the same and that whether such Poor receive Parochial aid or not. Fifty pounds of the said sum paid for Legal duty etc.

• A Role of Honor appears in the church with the listings of those who fought and died in World War I.

 

• Additional photos of All Saint's Church and local store taken by John Ayling

• The church in Pewsey in Wiltshire was also the place of many baptisms, marriages and burials of Swanborough family members. Photos courtesy of Andrea Roberts from Melbourne, Australia, a member of the Moonrakers Listserve. [Thank you, Andrea!]

• The photo of St. James Church in Southbroom, also site of several Swanborough baptisms, was provided to us courtesy of a Moonraker, David Hatch - Thanks David!!

Southbroom is a suburb of Devizes, 2.2 miles away and .6 miles from the Parish of Bishops Cannings.

• Occasionally, however, there are extra entries which are of interest, e.g., "Nicholas, s. of Marie Swanborowe, begotten upon her, as she herself doth confess, by one Nicholas Lyne, in the absence of her husband, baptised 17 Mar 1614."

  Sometimes one finds much more than expected when doing geneaology. This entry above was put in for a point of curiosity when this page was started in May 1998. To date, we have discovered that so far three of the family lines researched are all derived from this child's marriage and subsequent parenthood. The thought that came to mind as we unrolled a family tree covering 30 feet of paper from this liaison was "one little mistake..." 

My claim of copyright extends to the original contributions that I have made to this site and to the site as a compilation of existing works.Some contributions to this site have been made by others, and they are given credit where appropriate, and they retain the copyrights to their works.