The Church of St. Mary at Yapton
Yapton, England

Daniell Winston's Baptism in 1647
in Chichester, England

Daniell Winston was born in England and baptized in Chichester, England, on June 6, 1647. Chichester is ten miles west of Yapton. (Daniell Winston was the father of Samuel Winston Winstead, the first Winstead, who was born in British Colonial Virginia in 1671. Daniell was a tailor in Virginia and his wife was Elizabeth. Daniell, Elizabeth, and Samuel lived on Morratico Creek in Lancaster County, Virginia.) (p. iii, Source)

Daniell Winston was baptized in Chichester, England, on June 6, 1647 in St. Peter-the-Great Parish. (His father, also named Daniell Winston, was born in 1622.) (p. ii-iii, Source)

On December 12, 2024, Elaine Cordingley of Yapton, England,

sent the following information to me about the location of the baptism, as well as the following photos:

Hi Ray

Wishing you and the family a very Happy Christmas and New Year.

We had a visit to Chichester Cathedral a few weeks ago as I was curious about the church St Peter the Great.

I believe that Daniel Winston 1647-1672 was baptised at a church of that name.

The church has a curious history which is extracted below.

"Previously, the parish worshipped in the cathedral and the vicar was sub-dean, hence its alternative name of Subdeanery parish.  Initially it used the nave and then, probably from the late C15, the north transept.  This was partitioned off and later fitted with galleries and the east chapel of the transept served as the chancel (Leeney (SAC 86) p163).   The most likely reason for this arrangement is that when the cathedral was moved from Selsey after 1075, it was built on the site of the existing main church in the city and the parishioners were permitted to go on worshipping on part of the site.  The drawbacks were obvious in terms of noise and access.  In 1841 the partition was removed and plans for a separate parish church were supported by George Chandler, the dean (Foster (ed) (Otter Memorial Paper 13) p17), who was an enthusiastic member of the Ecclesiological Society.  After an appeal, a handsome design by R C Carpenter (Eccl 12 (Feb 1851) p68) was built in 1848-52."

It is obvious that at the date of 1647 the baptism would have taken place in what is now the cathedral.  So we went to take a look at the north transept and found on the floor a marker where the original font would have stood,

I took a couple of photos of the north transept and the marker on the floor. The marker is just in front of the bench.

So if you get back to Chichester and the cathedral you will be able to witness the baptismal place!

Have a very happy season. We are going away on Queen Mary 2 cruise so no cooking for us!

Best wishes

Elaine & David Cordingley 

ClickTap image or here for larger image.

ClickTap image or here for larger image.

ClickTap image or here for larger image.