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Buckinghamshire
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"Buckinghamshire, or Bucks, an inland county of England, bounded on the North by Northamptonshire, East by Bedfordshire, Herts, and Middlesex, South by Surrey (for the distance of about 1 mile) and Berks, and West by Oxfordshire; greatest length, N. and S., 50 miles; greatest breadth, E. and W., 24 miles; average breadth, 17 miles; area 477,151 acres, population 176,323. It is intersected by the chalk range of the Chiltern Hills, which extend NE. from Oxfordshire to Bedfordshire, the highest point being Wendover Hill, 905 ft. The country here is beautifully wooded, chiefly with oak and beech. To the South there is much excellent grazing land. The fertile "Vale of Aylesbury" lies in the centre of the county, verdant with rich meadows and pasturage. Further North the heavy arable land is now being brought under steam cultivation, and excellent crops of wheat, beans, &c., are produced. Farms are generally of small size, and are leased on a yearly tenure. Pigs and calves are largely reared on the numerous dairy-farms, and great numbers of ducks are sent yearly to the metropolis from the neighbourhood of Aylesbury. The quantity of butter, besides cream cheese &c., send annually to market, averages between 4,000,000 and 5,000,000 lbs. The making of wooden spades, brush-handles, bowls, &c., from beech is a considerable industry. Numbers of the female population are employed in the manufacture of thread-lace and straw plaiting." [Bartholemew's Gazetteer of the British Isles, 1887]
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- Amersham Museum
- Bletchley Park Trust
- Buckinghamshire County Library Service
- Buckinghamshire County Museum
- Buckinghamshire Archives (ex Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies; ex Buckinghamshire Record Office and Local Studies service) are the major repositories for source material of interest to family historians in Buckinghamshire.
- Cowper & Newton Museum, Olney
- High Wycombe Study Centre and Local Studies - holds copies of the Parish Registers and census for the south of Buckinghamshire, IGI, as well as the GRO indexes etc. (see the web site for more details)
- Milton Keynes Local Studies and Family History Library - hold copies of the Parish Registers and census for Buckinghamshire on microfim as well as GRO indexes and books on Buckinghamshire local history etc.
- Milton Keynes Museum
- Newport Pagnell Police Museum
- The Living Archive, Wolverton
- Wycombe Museum
- Information about, and an online index to 'The Monumental Brasses of Buckinghamshire' is available on the web site of 'The Monumental Brass Society'.
In the earliest government census of 1801, there were 107,444 inhabitants recorded in Buckinghamshire of whom 52,094 were males and 55,350 females. Of this total 25,083 were employed in agriculture and 20,138 in trade, manufactures and handicrafts.
Census Year | Population of Buckinghamshire | males | females |
1801* | 107,444 | 52,094 | 55,350 |
1811* | 117,650 | 56,208 | 61,442 |
1821* | 134,068 | 64,867 | 69,201 |
1831* | 146,529 | 71,734 | 74,795 |
1841 | 155,983 | 76,482 | 79,501 |
1851 | 163,554 | 80,990 | 82,564 |
1861 | 167,993 | 83,023 | 84,970 |
1871 | 175,879 | 86,059 | 89,820 |
1881 | 176,323 | 86,840 | 89,483 |
1891 | 185,284 | 91,195 | 94,089 |
1901 | 197,046 | 96,486 | 100,560 |
1911** | 219,551 | 107,326 | 112,225 |
1921** | 236,171 | 113,979 | 122,192 |
1931** | 271,586 | 132,490 | 139,096 |
1951** | 386,291 | 188,457 | 197,834 |
1961** | 488,233 | 240,810 | 247,423 |
1971** | 587,559 | 291,132 | 296,427 |
1981** | 567,979 | 280,465 | 287,514 |
1991** | 632,487 | 311,662 | 320,825 |
* = 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 1901 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. See also on the Parish Pages below
Availability of census transcripts and indexes for the entire County.
- 1798 - Posse Comitatus (not strictly a census in the meaning of those listed below) it contains a list of men between the ages of 16 and 60 in Buckinghamshire, who would be available to take arms, and who were not already in the army. It also lists those who could provide horse and carts. The survey was conducted due to the fear that Napolean would iminently invade.
- Available on CD-ROM, fully searchable with mapping facility etc., from Drake Software and via the Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society.
- Available on microfiche (facsimile of the Buckinghamshire Record Society publication) from the Buckinghamshire Family History Society.
- 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.
See also, individual parish pages for further census details.
- Photographs of churches in Buckinghamshire.
- The Quaker FHS have a series of pages on locating Quaker Records in various parts of the UK. There are separate pages for most of the pre-1974 English counties, including Buckinghamshire.
Details regarding availability of Parish Registers for a given location can be found listed under the appropriate parish page. These pages include details of the registers either at the Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies, or available as a transcript for purchase, or available for loan as part of a society library (society membership is usually required for the latter).
Both the Buckinghamshire Family History Society and the Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society maintain various databases of Parish Register events - please see their web sites for details of look-up services offered.
- Ted Wildy's UK Marriage witness index entries for Buckinghamshire.
- Supplementary Index of Settlement Certificates etc have been published Buckinghamshire Family History Society
- Register Offices
Certificates of birth, death and marriage can be obtained from the Superintendent Registrars at the following District Register Offices:
- Milton Keynes
- Slough
Buckinghamshire Registration Service have the own web pages.
- Registration Districts
The composition of the Civil Registration Districts in Buckinghamshire between 1st July 1837 and 31st March 1930
- Index to Robson's 1839 Directory of Buckinghamshire by David Kolle, names A-F, names G-O, names P-Y.
- Sue O'Neill's - Index to Pigot's Trade Directory, 1830
- Details of mailing lists covering Buckinghamshire can be found here.
- The Buckinghamshire GenWeb site has some useful links
- The Buckinghamshire Hundreds. The Buckinghamshire Hundreds explained - including a number of old maps.
Land:
Abstracts of Buckinghamshire Feet of Fines (land conveyances) covering 1360-1509
Property:
There are a number of historic houses in Buckinghamshire which are open for the public to visit. The following web pages have details of the properties and their opening times etc.
- Ascott House, near Wing
- Bletchley Park
- National Trust - own a number of Buckinghamshire properties
- Stowe House
- Waddesdon House
- A Buckinghamshire Vocabulary - a list of local words
Publications:
- Metropolitan Poilcemen born in Buckinghamshire 1791 - 1868 have been published by the Buckinghamshire Family History Society
- Lists of Landholders who took the Oath of Allegiance and Quaker who affirmed 1723 - 1724, Registers of Estates of Roman Catholics 1717 - 1748 (Buckinghamshire Session Records Volume 1) have been published by the Buckinghamshire Family History Society
- County of Buckingham - Assize Records 1784 - 1855 have been published by the Buckinghamshire Family History Society
Websites:
- The Buckinghamshire County Council website has an online, serachable database giving details (including photographs in many instances) of prisoners entering the County Gaol in Aylesbury in the 1870s
- Newport Pagnell Police Museum
- A list of the Manors of Buckinghamshire mentioned in the Domesday Book can be found on the Buckinghamshire Hundreds page.
- 1806 Map of Buckinghamshire (716K image)
- 1858 Map of Buckinghamshire (430K image)
- A Parish map of Buckinghamshire (Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society Page)
- Maps of the Buckinghamshire Hundreds.
- Links to a selection of old maps of Buckinghamshire can be found on the Genmaps website
- Ordnance Survey maps of Buckinghamshire from between 1846 and 1899, at the scale of 1:10,560, can be viewed on the Landmark Information Group Free Historic Maps website
- Index of names taken from Buckinghamshire Parish Papers (Settlements, Removals etc) have been published by the Buckinghamshire Family History Society
- Local Newpapers for Buckinghamshire on the Buckinghamshire Record and Local Studies website, lists both alphabetically, and by area, local newspapers, with details of dates and of locations of holdings in Buckinghamshire and surrounding counties.
- Extracts from Windsor and Eton Express are available from Richard Heaton's web site.
- Index to the Leighton Buzzard Observer:- Barbara Quick is currently indexing the Leighton Buzzard Observer, starting with the first paper of 1861. The coverage of this paper includes quite a large area around Leighton Buzzard and therefore includes towns and villages in both Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire.
- Peter Higginbotham's "History of the Workhouse" website, contains a wealth of information on workhouses, including; Poor Law Unions, Union Maps, Timelines, Literature, Photos of workhouses and much more.
- Index of Buckinghamshire Wills and Administrations of the PCC 1700 - 1800 have been published by the Buckinghamshire Family History Society
- Abstracts of Registered Wills proved in the Archdeaconry Court of Buckingham 1686 - 1695 have been published by the Buckinghamshire Family History Society
The following is a list of societies relating to Buckinghamshire local or family history, and which have an interest in the entire county. Socieities and groups which are for a specific location can be found under the relevant parish web pages.
- Archaeological Societies
- Family History/Genealogical Societies
- Buckinghamshire FHS
- Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society - no longer exists
- Local History Societies
- Buckinghamshire Records Society - contact via the Bucks Record Office
- Miscellaneous (related to local and family history)
- Subsidy Roll for the County of Buckingham, 1524 (facsimile of the Buckinghamshire Record Society publication) has been published by the Buckinghamshire Family History Society.
- Sue O'Neill's - Index of the Poll for Knights of the Shire for the County of Bucks, 1784
- 1713 Buckinghamshire Poll Book (facsimile of the original) have been published by the Buckinghamshire Family History Society
- 1804 Poll Book for the Borough of Aylesbury and the Three Hundreds (facsimile of the original) have been published by the Buckinghamshire Family History Society