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HOUGHTON-CONQUEST, a parish in the hundred of REDBORNESTOKE, county of BEDFORD, 2¼ miles (N. by E.) from Ampthill, containing 651 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, with which that of Houghton-Gildable was united in 1637, in the archdeaconry of Bedford, and diocese of Lincoln, rated jointly in the king's books at £25.18.9., and in the patronage of the Master and Fellows of St. John's College, Cambridge. The church, dedicated to All Saints, contains several monuments to the Conquest family; besides one to the memory of Thomas Archer, rector of the parish, who made a curious entry in the register respecting his own coffin, dated in 1623, and another to that of Dr. Zachary Gray, editor of Hudftas, and a commentator on Shakspeare, also incumbent of this parish. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists. This place derives the adjunct to its name from the family of Conquest, lords of the manor prior to the thirteenth century, whose mansion, ornamented with grotesque carvings, is now a farm-house: here James I. sojourned two days, in 1605, on a visit to Sir Edmund Conquest. A free school and almshouses for six poor persons were, founded and endowed by Sir Francis Clerke, in 1632: the salary of the master is £16, and the almspeople receive £8 per annum, whihc is divided amongst them. In 1691, Edmund Wylde, Esq. bequeathed £140 to be expended in land, desiring the rental to be applied to the repair of these premises, and the surplus to be given to the poor people: there are twenty-two scholars. Houghton Park house, now destroyed, was a celebrated seat of the family of Bruce, Earls of Elgin and Aylesbury.
[A Topographical Dictionary of England - Samuel Lewis - 1831]
The 1851 Census Index for Houghton Conquest can be found in the 1851 Index to Census of Bedfordshire, Volume 4, Book 2 available from the Bedfordshire Family History Society.
Church of England
The church of All Saints is a spacious and elegant structure, chiefly in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch and an embattled tower of the Decorated period, containing 6 bells: it was restored in 1870 by the late Sir G. Gilbert Scott R.A. : the stained east window, erected in 1880 by the late Very Rev. John Burgon M.A. Dean of Chichester (d. 1888) is a memorial to three benefactors, Eliza Hargrave and Mary and Sarah Windle; the walls of the aisles bear traces of frescoes, the designs of which are in some parts sufficiently distinct to be distinguished: over the north doorway is a huge painting of St. Christopher, of the 15th century : on the north wall of the chancel is a monument of carved alabaster consisting of a species of framework in which is set the figure of Dr. Archer, rector, 1579-1620, in the act of exhortation, with book in hand, and partially resting upon a cushion; attached is a partially effaced inscription in Latin; he died in 1620: there is also an altar slab to Dame Ann Clearke, 1644; and two brasses to members of the Conquest family. The register dates from the year 1595. The parish registers of Houghton Conquest, 1539-188, are in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, having been purchased in 1884.
[Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]
Non-conformist
There is a Wesleyan chapel, erected in 1878 ; the old chapel, built in 1833, is now used as a schoolroom.
[Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898
Church of England
The parish record transcripts for All Saints are available on microfiche for the period 1595-1812 from the Bedfordshire Family History Society.
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[Last updated 20 June 2003 Martin Edwards]