Philip Porter File

The Philip Porter Files of Past Residents of Kibworth Harcourt, Kibworth Beauchamp and Smeeton Westerby.

Philip J. Porter wrote many articles for the Kibworth History Society, and several of his books can be viewed at Kibworth Community Library. He spent almost a decade bringing together information from parish records, censuses and electoral registers to create a valuable resource for the villages and for family-history researchers. Before his death, he bequeathed the file to Kibworth Community Library and its Family History Workshop.

Mr Porter gathered information on more than 37,000 former Kibworth residents. However, technology has changed greatly over the past 20 years, and the system he used is complex to navigate. Considerable work is needed to make the information more accessible and fulfil his wish that it should benefit the community and researchers.

Two members of the Kibworth Community Library Family History Workshop, John Freeland and Janet Davis, began evaluating the data and considering how best to make it accessible. Because the file is protected by copyright, they divided the task: one concentrated on the censuses while the other began with the parish records. Both returned to the original sources to review and check the information. Mr Porter’s file has been preserved in its original format on CD.

By agreement, the early parish records [1574-1725] have been independently transcribed as separate searchable PDF documents, broken down alphabetically, without infringing copyright. The census records from 1841 to 1911 are being checked and extended to include the 1921 census. The records are near completion and we hope to make them available online in 2027.

We remember Philip Porter with gratitude. Our search for the best way to fulfil his wishes helped bring the Kibworth & District Heritage Society into being, and his work continues to inspire our commitment to preserving and sharing the history of our villages.

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