Hide

Saunderton

hide
Hide

"This parish, anciently called Santesdone, Sauntresdene, and Sawterdon, is bounded, on the North, by Horsenden and Princes' Risborough; on the East, by Great and Little Hampden; on the South, by Bradenham; and on the West, by Bledlow and part of Oxfordshire; being comprised in a long narrow slip of land, on the verge of the Hundred and County, more than six miles in length, but not more than two furlongs in breadth; and computed to contain about two thousand acres, of which two hundred are woodland, and about one hundred common. A small stream, rising near the Church, on the south, runs with so much rapidity, that it turns a paper-mill, and discharges itself into the Thames." [The History and Antiquities of the County of Buckingham, by George Lipscomb, 1847]

Hide
topup

Bibliography

The following reference sources have been used in the construction of this page, and may be referred to for further detail. Most if not all of these volumes are available in the Reference section of the County Library in Aylesbury.

"Buckinghamshire Returns of the Census of Religious Worship 1851", Legg E. ed., 1991, ISBN 0 901198 27 7.
"Magna Britannia: Buckinghamshire", Lysons S. and Lysons D., 1806.
"The History and Antiquities of the County of Buckingham", Lipscomb G., 1847
"The Place-Names of Buckinghamshire", Mawer A. and Stenton F.M., 1925.
"The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Buckinghamshire", Page W. ed., 1905-1928
"War Memorials and War Graves: Aylesbury Hundred part three - Risboroughs, Missendens and their environs, Volume 9", Peter Quick.

topup

Cemeteries

War Memorials

War memorials in Saunderton have been transcribed by Peter Quick, and published in a booklet entitled "War Memorials and War Graves: Aylesbury Hundred part three - Risboroughs, Missendens and their environs, Volume 9", available from the Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society.

topup

Census

In 1798 the Posse Comitatus listed 51 men between the ages of 16 and 60 in Saunderton.

In the earliest government census of 1801, there were 193 inhabitants in 25 families living in 25 houses recorded in Saunderton.

Census YearPopulation of Saunderton
1801*193
1811*192
1821*210
1831*231
1841232
1851380
1861428
1871411
1881424
1891373
1901370

* = No names were recorded in census documents from 1801 to 1831.
** = Census documents from 1911 to 2001 are only available in summary form. Names are witheld under the 100 year rule.

Microfilm copies of all census enumerators' notebooks for 1841 to 1891 are held at the Local Studies Libraries at Aylesbury and Milton Keynes, as well as centrally at the PRO. A table of 19th century census headcount by parish is printed in the VCH of Bucks, Vol.2, pp 96-101.

Availability of census transcripts and indexes.

  • 1851 - Full transcripts and indexes for Buckinghamshire are available on CD-ROM, hard copy and microfiche from the Buckinghamshire Family History Society.
  • 1861 - Available on CD-ROM with advanced search and mapping capabilities etc. from the Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society.
  • 1881
    • Available on CD-ROM from the Church of the Latter Day Saints, as part of the National 1881 Census Index.
    • Available on CD-ROM for Buckinghamshire, with advanced search and mapping capabilities etc. from Drake Software.
  • 1891 - Available on CD-ROM with advanced search and mapping capabilities etc. from the Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society.
topup

Church History

topup

Church Records

The original copies of the parish registers for St Nicholas & St Mary, Saunderton have been deposited in the Buckinghamshire Record Office in Aylesbury, and they hold the following years:

EventDates covered
Christenings1662 - 1812
Marriages1662 - 1812
Banns1754 - 1819
Burials1683 - 1812

Copies or indexes to the parish registers are available from societies as follows:

Event
Society Library*
Dates covered
Society
Christenings
1662 - 1850
Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society
Marriages
1656 - 1837
Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society
Burials
1662 - 1837
Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society

* = material held in a Society library is generally available for loan to all members either via post, or by collection at a meeting

An ecclesiastical census was carried out throughout England on 30 March 1851 to record the attendance at all places of worship. These returns are in the Buckinghamshire Record Office and have been published by the Buckinghamshire Record Society (vol 27). The returns for Saunderton showed the following numbers:

ChurchAttendance
Saunderton,
St Nicholas & St Mary
34 - Morning General Congregation
16 - Morning Sunday Scholars
50 - Morning Total
Saunderton,
Wesleyan Lower Saunderton Mill
25 - Morning Sunday Scholars

40 - Afternoon General Congregation

topup

Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Saunderton which are provided by:

topup

Gazetteers

topup

History

Saunderton was described in 1806 in "Magna Britannia" as follows:

SANDERTON, in the hundred of Desborough and deanery of Wycombe, lies on the borders of Oxfordshire, about eight miles south-east of Thame, about the same distance north-west of High-Wycombe, and about seven miles from Wendover. In this parish were formerly two manors, two churches and two distinct benefices which were consolidated about the year 1450, when the two manors and advowsons became united also under one proprietor. The manor and advowson of Sanderton St. Nicholas had been before that time successively in the families of Dayrell, Foxley, Brun and Braybroke. That of Sanderton St. Mary in the Sandertons, one of which family was knight of the shire in the reign of Edward III. John Brecknock being possessed of both manors, sold them, in the year 1474, to Sir John Leynham, of whose widow they were purchased in 1481 by bishop Moreton, afterwards archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Chancellor and Cardinal. His heir, Thomas Moreton, sold them, in 1508, to Edward Donne esq. of whose family they were puchased in 1592, by an ancestor of the present proprietor, Lord Dormer. The rectory is in the patronage of Magdalen College, in Oxford.

topup

Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SP795019 (Lat/Lon: 51.710212, -0.850792), Saunderton which are provided by:

topup

Names, Geographical

The name of Saunderton is thought to possibly derive from the old english words Sandhere + dun, and would thus mean 'Sandhere's hill'.