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MELCHBOURN, a parish in the hundred of STODDEN, county of BEDFORD, 5¼ miles (E. S. E.) from Higham-Ferrers, containing 244 inhabitants. The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Bedford, and diocese of Lincoln, rated in the king's books at £5, and in the patronage of Lord St. John. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, contains several ancient monuments and brasses. Here was a preceptor of Knights Hospitallers, the revenue of which was valued at £241.9.10.; after the dissolution it was granted by Queen Elizabeth to the first Earl of Bedford : to this preceptory a market and a fair were granted, in 1264. Leland, the historian and antiquary, was a native of this place.
[A Topographical Dictionary of England - Samuel Lewis - 1831]
The 1851 Census Index for Melchbourne can be found in the 1851 Index to Census of Bedfordshire, Volume 1, Book 1 available from the Bedfordshire Family History Society.
Church of England
The church of St. Mary Magdalene, re-erected (with the exception of part of the tower) in 1779, on the site of an earlier Gothic church, is an edifice in the Classic style, consisting of chancel, nave, north porch and an embattled western tower containing 4 bells, rehung in 1891: the organ was presented by the late Dowager Lady St. John : there are two monuments to Col. the Hon. George St. John, Lavinia (Wolstenholme), his wife and four children, who were all drowned on their passage from Bombay, in 1802; and to Henry Beauchamp, baron St. John of Bletsoe, 1805; and a brass to Robert Paveley, dated 1377, also a brass to the late Lord St. John d. 2 Nov. 1887, and to Ellen Georgiana (Senior), his wife, d. 1890. The pulpit is of fine polished mahogany : there are sittings, for 400 persons., The register dates from the year 1706.
[Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]
Church of England
The parish record transcripts for St Mary Magdalene are available on microfiche for the period 1706-1812 from the Bedfordshire Family History Society.
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[Last updated 8 January 2005 Martin Edwards]