Kingston, Dorset

Location: Kingston, Dorset, England
Surnames/tags: Kingston Dorset

Category: Kingston, Dorset

Kingston is a parish on the South Coast of Dorset. Until 1877, it was a chapelry of Corfe Castle,

See the Kingston One-Place Study [1] for parish register transcriptions (baptisms, marriages, burials) and census transcriptions (1790, 1841-1911) and other information.

Kelly's Directory (1889) contained the following description:

KINGSTON is an ecclesiastical parish, formerly a chapelry, separated in 1877 from the mother parish of Corfe Castle, in the Eastern division of the county, Wareham petty sessional division and county court district, Wareham & Purbeck union, hundred of Rowbarrow, rural deanery of Dorchester third portion, archdeaconry of Dorset and diocese of Salisbury, 6½ miles south-south-east from Wareham, 1½ miles south from Corfe Castle, 5 south-west from Swanage, and 131½ from London. The village, which has been almost entirely rebuilt during the last few years, is pleasantly situated on an eminence, commanding a fine view of the old village and ruins of Corfe Castle.

The church of St. James was erected during the years 1874 to 1880, at the sole cost of the Earl of Eldon, under the direction and designs of G. E. Street esq. R.A. of London: it is a handsome cruciform stone structure, in the Early English style, symmetrical in design, with a lofty tower ... The register dates from the year 1877. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value from Ecclesiastical Commissioners £350, with residence, in the gift of the Earl of Eldon, and held since 1877 by the Rev. Spencer Compton Spencer-Smith M.A. of Balliol College, Oxford. There has also been a vicarage erected near the church. The old or parish church of St. James’ is still standing and in good preservation: it is a cruciform structure in the Perpendicular style, built of stone with square embattled tower with pinnacles, 1 bell, and two stained windows: it is used for weddings and burials: the new church is not consecrated, and is the property of Lord Eldon. There is a handsome school house with residence for the master, erected in 1856, in memory of the late Earl and Countess of Eldon, by their children. (See full directory entry at [2])

Resources

• Corfe Castle Parish Council
• Kingston, Purbeck on Wikipedia
• Kingston Online Parish Clerk/One Place Study
• Vision of Britain
• Dorset Churches: Kingston, (St. James)
• Add any additional genealogical resources here