Carlton Parish Records, Bedfordshire

The benefices of Carlton and Chellington were united under an Act of the Bishop of Lincoln dated 30 May 1769 which provided for the union to take effect when a vacancy arose in either living. Benjamin Rogers, the incumbent of Carlton, died in September 1771 leaving the Rev.William Hooper as the first incumbent of the united benefice. In contemporary terms, this amounted to a union of the parishes, but subsequent legislation (particularly that by which the Ecclesiastical and Civil functions of the parish were separated) has made further measures necessary.

For Civil purposes, the parishes remained separate until 1934, and although the two churches have been jointly administered for many years it was not until 1972 that the situation was finally resolved. Under an Order in Council dated 14th August 1972, published in the London Gazette on 17th August, the new parish of Carlton with Chellington was established with the church at Carlton as the parish church, and Chellington church was formally declared redundant. Chellington churchyard remains in use.

In practice, however, the two churches were combined for administrative purposes from the late Eighteenth century, and although both Carlton and Chellington continued to keep separate registers, many other records such as service registers, minutes of Vestry and Parochial Church Council etc., were kept jointly. Records relating specifically to Chellington are listed separately (under the reference P 145), and this list describes both the Carlton registers and records and those of the combined parishes of Carlton and Chellington. For this reason, full parish descriptions are given where appropriate.