Dry Drayton History - Resources and Where We Need Help
• Free Resources available to you
The two major databases for family historians, Ancestry and Findmypast, are both available free at Cambridgeshire Libraries.
The Times and Guardian are also available there free. 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, which is now available free at Google Books: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=zicDxf8a2V8C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false (Thanks to Cinnamon Bair for the reference)
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.
- Jeevar's East Anglia - A Facebook site being built by Peter Jeevar's grand-daughter using Peter's photographs of East Anglia, including Dry Drayton.
• Where we need help
Many items in these pages indicate that the present state of our knowledge is incomplete. We would welcome any corrections and additions you may have and are prepared to share. We are also keen to add to the archive of old photographs of the village and village activities.