302 Collections for a History of West Dean. 



absence deprives us of our records of baptisms between 1599 and 

 1697, of marriages from the former date to 1701, of burials from 

 1599 to 1677, all inclusive; and there is a further deficiency of 

 burial entries between 1702 and 1778, both inclusive. No trace of 

 the missing book can be found. A vague tradition lingers in the 

 village that it was borrowed (?) by a former churchwarden, who 

 was also bailiff to the lord of the manor. It must have been here 

 in 1783, in which year a return was supplied of the numbers of 

 baptisms, marriages, and burials during three periods of twenty 

 years, i.e., from 1688 to 1707, from 1730 to 1749, and from 1760 

 to 17? 9, particulars of which are recorded in one of the later 

 registers. But it is mentioned as lost by Sir Richard Hoare in his 

 "History of Wilts" (Hundred of Alderbury, p. 30), published in 

 1837. 



There are copies of the entries of some of the deficient years in the 

 diocesan registry at Salisbury, but having been supplied with great 

 irregularity, they do not compensate for the loss of the originals. 

 The copies are written for the most part on strips of vellum tied 

 together at the corner, and are usually attested by ths signatures 

 of the rector, or his curate, and the churchwardens. They form 

 bundle No. 153 in the registry, the entries of baptisms, marriages, 

 and burials being sometimes separately, and sometimes indiscrimi- 

 nately recorded. 



The years for which there are copies are 1599, 1600, 1601 (then 

 there is a gap of twenty years), 1622, 1624, 1625, 1628, 1629, 

 1631, 1632, 1633, 1635, 1636 (a gap of twenty-four years), 1661, 

 1662, 1663, 1665, 1666, 1667, J668, 1671, 1673, 1674 (a gap of 

 thirty-six years), 1710, 1711, 1712, 1717, 1718, 1720, 1722, 17^3, 

 1724, 1725, 1726, 1727, 1728, 1729, 1730, 1731, 1732, 1733, 

 1735, 1736, 1738, 1740, 1741, 1745, 1746, 1749, 1750, 1753, 1755, 

 1758, 1762 (a gap of twenty years), 1783, 1784, 1785, 1786, 1787, 

 1788, 1789, 1790, 1795, 1796, 1797, 1798, 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802, 

 1803, 1804, 1805, 1806, 1807, 1808, 1809, 1810, 1811, 1812, 1813. 



I may notice here that the sheet or strip containing entries for 

 1730 has evidently been included in the bundle in error, and belongs 

 to some other parish. The great number of burials, dispersed pretty 



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