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Hungerford

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"HUNGERFORD, a parish and market town, partly in the hundred of Kintbury Eagle, county Berks, and partly in the hundred of Kinwardstone, county Wilts, 24 miles W.S.W. of Reading, and 64 from London by road, or 61½ by the Hungerford, Newbury, and Reading branch of the Great Western railway. In ancient times it was called Ingleford-Charnham Street, from British way from Silchester to Bath, which passes through the parish. It is situated on the river Kennet and the Kennet and Avon canal, and contains besides the town of Hungerford the tythings of Charnham Street, Sanden Fee, and Edington, the last identified by Prof. Beke as the Saxon Ethandune, where Alfred, disguised as a harper, spied the Danish forces, and defeated them in 878. Hungerford was visited by Charles I. in 1644, and by William III. in December, 1688, who met the agents of James II. at the old inn."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]

Note:
Prior to 1895 Hungerford was a town partly in Berkshire and partly in Wiltshire. Since 1895 the parish of Hungerford has been part of Berkshire. Some records are now in Berkshire Record Office, others in Wiltshire and Swindon Archives. Please see Hungerford in Berkshire for further information.

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Archives & Libraries

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Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Hungerford which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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Historical Geography

  • Hungerford was in the hundreds of Kinwardstone, Wiltshire and Kintbury Eagle, Berkshire.
  • Leverton is a hamlet in the parish of Chilton Foliatt, transferred to Hungerford in 1895?
  • Hungerford Apprenticeship Indenture List 1651-1831 see Berkshire Family Historian Vols 4 (page 109) & 5 (pages 22, 50)
  • Hungerford National School admissions register 1816-1857 are held by the BRO (D/P 71/25/14/1) 
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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SU321672 (Lat/Lon: 51.402734, -1.540403), Hungerford which are provided by:

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Poor Houses, Poor Law

  • Hungerford was in the Hungerford Union.  For more information, see Poorhouses.
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Population

  • Population was 2,715 in 1831, 3,020 in 1951.

You can also see Family History Societies covering the nearby area, plotted on a map. This facility is being developed, and is awaiting societies to enter information about the places they cover.