Bedford, St Paul's Church

St Paul's Church,
St Paul's Square,
Bedford,
Bedfordshire,
MK40 1SQ.

This is a special, unusual and historic dataset on Deceased Online. This fine old church, dating back to the 13th Century, stands at the very heart of the County Town of Bedford and still serves as both a parish church and Civic and Country Church of Bedfordshire.

The records available on Deceased Online include all digital scans of registers dating from 1567 to 1855 (with a few burials in the 20th Century) featuring nearly 14,500 burials. Unfortunately, we don't have grave details or cemetery maps but there is a full index.

Perhaps the most famous and celebrated burial is that of Sir William Harpur (aka 'Harper') and Dame Alice, his wife. Harpur was Lord Mayor of London in 1562. The Harpur Trust runs three secondary schools and a pre-preparatory school in the town. A number of stained glass windows have been given either by the trust or individual schools.

Preachers at this wonderful old church included John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim's Progress, on 23rd May 1656 and founder member of methodism, John Wesley, on 10th March 1758. You can read more about the history of St Paul's at: http://www.stpaulschurchbedford.org.uk/.