Dry Drayton Local History and Family History
We remember wartime aircraft crashes in and near Dry Drayton
We have received a request from a local historian who is trying to find out about a fatal wartime aircraft crash near the village. As a result we circulated an appeal from which we have assembled information on a number of crashes - we have published the list here as an act of remembrance.
Village History Quiz
How well do you know your village?
Village Memories - a new publication
We are most grateful to Chris and Gill Turner for putting together a series of Memories of Dry Drayton from some past residents. These are primarily the memories of Sid Martin, with additional contributions from Joy Dunn, Folly Rook, John Hacker and Dryton. Most of Sid’s memories were typed for him by his niece, Gillian Turner, nee Bilton. Gill’s husband Chris has complied these memories from her files and from copies of Dry Drayton Village Newsletters held in the Cambridgeshire Collection at the Central Library, Cambridge. Use this link to download Memories of Dry Drayton (40 page 1Mb pdf).
Dry Drayton Methodist Church, Centenary
A booklet on the history of Dry Drayton Methodist Church 1866-1966, kindly loaned by Robert and Linda Hacker (Download 10 page .pdf)
Dry Drayton Chronicle, 150 years of local news
The Dry Drayton Chronicle, is a listing of over 700 items about the village, which appeared in local newspapers, mainly the Cambridge Chronicle, from 1774 to 1920. We are extremely grateful to the following for their help and support in completing this project: Jo Hobbs, Marie Whittick, Mike Petty, Chris Jakes and the staff of the Cambridgeshire Collection. This link will take you to the Dry Drayton Chronicle and the Index to the Dry Drayton Chronicle
Who lived in Dry Drayton in 1881, 1891 , 1901, 1911 and 1939 ?
Download a spreadsheet with the 1871 census return for Dry Drayton - 477 individuals in 116 households 
Download a spreadsheet with the 1881 census return for Dry Drayton - 374 individuals in 90 households
Download a spreadsheet with the 1891 census return for Dry Drayton - 345 individuals in 89 households.
Download a spreadsheet with the 1901 census return for Dry Drayton - 323 individuals in 82 households
Download a spreadsheet with the 1911 census return for Dry Drayton - 440 individuals in 104 households.
Download a
spreadsheet with the 1939 Register returns for Dry Drayton - 417 individuals in 126 households.
These will give you a taste of the type of material available to family historians online.
Dry Drayton Photographs
Use this link if you wish to see images relating to Dry Drayton History from Flickr.com
Use this link to see images relating to Dry Drayton in general from Flickr.com
Old photos of Dry Drayton folks from a Cambridge Studio
History of Dry Drayton Village Hall and the village Reading Rooms
A history of the Village Hall by John Hacker and Cinnamon Bair
A history of Dry Drayton's Village Reading Rooms
Alec Hawkes has introduced an annual walk around the Parish Boundary, continuing a longstanding tradition to pass on, by word of mouth, important historical information about our place. You can read about it here.
This link will take you to information about the 2021 Boundary Walk. Short videos on the 2021 walk can be found on Youtube. The first is a standard video featuring footage from Adrian Bennetton and slides from Cinnamon and Alec and entitled Dry Drayton Boundary Walk 2021 full version: https://youtu.be/PXwJhs6ahFs. The second is a 3D version (viewable in 360 degrees) with footage just from Adrian and entitled Beating The Bounds in 3D: https://youtu.be/y-PRcPs-BE8.
We need your help
Have you got any old photos of Dry Drayton you are willing to share ? Here is how you can help
Do you recognise any locations mentioned in the newspaper reports ? Here is how you can help
Local Families looking for information and contacts
This link will take you to a page relating to the history of families with local Dry Drayton connections.
Resources available to you from home
During the current pandemic, Cambridgeshire Libraries have made Ancestry.com, the huge genealogical database, available to readers free of charge to use from home. The normal annual subscription is over £100. Archives from The Times and Guardian are also available free. So now might be a good time to start to research your family tree or other local history project. This link will help you find your way into the system - you will need your Cambridgeshire library card and PIN.
If you want to find out more
If you are interested in an overall history of Dry Drayton, there are two publications you need to find. These are: Gallows Piece to Bee Garden, a Millennium History of Dry Drayton, Dry Drayton 2000, published 2000, and the much rarer History and Natural History of the Parish of Dry Drayton by Rev F.A.Walker, 1876.
If you are interested in tracing your family history you will find membership of the Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire Family History Society very useful They have extensive online resources and can offer free help and advice from fellow enthusiasts www.cfhs.org.uk.
The Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire Family History Society have transcribed the Dry Drayton parish registers: all the Baptisms, Banns, Marriages and Burials 1564-1959 - you can get these for just £9.60 as a download or on a CD (also included are transcripts from Knapwell 1598-1959).
The Victoria County History is now available online. This link takes you to Vol 9 for Cambridgeshire and this link will take you to the introductory material on the history of Dry Drayton, from which you can access the other articles on the village.
Those interested in researching the history of our place will want to use the following collections and organisations:
- The Cambridgeshire Collection, Lion Yard Cambridge, Tel 0845 045 5225. The Cambridgeshire collection houses local newspapers, directories, books, maps, photos, illustrations and ephemera.
- Cambridgeshire County Archives, The Dock, Ely, CB7 4GS, Tel: 01223 699399, Email: cambs.archives@cambridgeshire.gov.uk The record office houses all local manuscript records, copies of the census returns, maps, books, directories, photographs and much more.
- Mike Petty has an amazing range of free local history material on his site.
- Cambridgeshire Family History Society www.cfhs.org.uk and the UK family history gateway The Genealogist's Internet,
- Dry Drayton on British History online
- Roll of honour - Dry Drayton casualties from World War I and World War II
- Dry Drayton on the Cambridgeshire History site
- Old Cambridgeshire photographers and their studios
- Aerial photos of the village - will help you to understand the road through the village before Park Street was re-aligned.