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Ellesborough

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"Ellesborough is situated on the north side, and at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, about four miles S.S.E. of Aylesbury, and two miles W. of Wendover. This parish, with its hamlets, is bounded, on the north by Stoke-Mandeville; on the east by Wendover; on the south by the Hampdens; and on the west by the Kimbles: its southern part rises into irregularly-shaped hills, the northern portion is nearly level, and the soil accordingly various. In the inferior grounds chiefly an argillacious loam, interspersed with limestone; and in the higher lands, consisting of chalk, gravel, and flints of various thickness." [The History and Antiquities of the County of Buckingham, by George Lipscomb, 1847]
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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 Contributions for Ireland 1642", Wilson J., 1983.
"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 one, Volume 3", Peter Quick.

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Cemeteries

War Memorials

War memorials in Ellesborough have been transcribed by Peter Quick, and published in a booklet entitled "War Memorials and War Graves: Aylesbury Hundred - part one, Volume 3", available from the Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society.

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Census

In 1642 there were 48 people named in the tax returns for contributions for Ireland. Between them they were assessed at £8.4.4 of which sum Chris. Egleton and Wm. Egerton minister contributed £1.0.0 each.

In 1798 the Posse Comitatus listed 123 men between the ages of 16 and 60 in Ellesborough.

In the earliest government census of 1801, there were 480 inhabitants in 91 families living in 90 houses recorded in Ellesborough.

Census Year Population of Ellesborough
1801* 480
1811* 469
1821* 581
1831* 665
1841 708
1851 782
1861 724
1871 703
1881 608
1891 641
1901 577

* = 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.

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Church History

Details of the stained glass in the church can be found on the following web sites (the site includes many photos):

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Church Records

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

Event Dates covered
Christenings 1603 - 1860
Marriages 1603 - 1837
Burials 1603 - 1886

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

Event
Society Library*
Dates covered
Society
Marriages
1603 - 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 Ellesborough showed the following numbers:

Church Attendance
Ellesborough, St Peter & St Paul 67 - Morning General Congregation
55 - Morning Sunday Scholars
122 - Morning Total

54 - Afternoon General Congregation
32 - Afternoon Sunday Scholars
86 - Afternoon Total

Ellesborough, Chalkshire Chapel
Independent
28 - Morning General Congregation

25 - Afternoon General Congregation

121 - Evening General Congregation

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Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Ellesborough which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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History

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

ELLESBOROUGH, in the hundred of Aylesbury and the deanery of Wendover, lies under the Chiltern hills, about two miles and a half south-west of Wendover.

The Pakington family claimed the paramount lordship of this parish, as having belonged to their ancestor, Lord Chief Justice Baldwin, and before him, to the families of Cantilupe, Zouche, and De la Pole: this claim was given up when a farm in the parish was purchased of the Parkingtons in 1770, by the Russel family, in the description of whose property in this parish the manors of Zouches and Poles are enumerated.

The manor of Checkers, in Ellesborough, took its name from one of its ancient lords, John de Scaccariis, (or of the Exchequer,) from whose family it passed to the Hawtreys, and from the Hawtreys to a younger branch of the Crokes. John Thurbane, serjeant at law, became possessed of it in consequence of his marriage with a co-heiress of Sir Robert Croke. Joanna, the sole heiress of Serjeant Thurbane, married the gallant Col. Rivett, who received his death's wound at the battle of Malplaquet, after returning to the field from which he had before been carried off as dead. His widow married John Russel esq. third son of Sir William Russel bart. great grandfather of Sir George Russel the late proprietor of Checkers, whose grandfather, Mr. Charles Russel, married Mary Joanna Cutts Rivett, the only child of his mother-in-law by her first husband. The old mansion, called Checkers, situated in a very romantic spot, amidst hills covered with beech and other trees, was built by the Hawtreys, whose arms are in the hall windows. In this house are some good family portraits, among which are Oliver Cromwell, from whom the Russels were lineally descended, Lady Claypoole, and other persons connected with the family. Sir George Russel, the last heir male of the Russels of Chippenham, in Cambridgeshire, died on 25th April 1804; his estates devolved to his aunt, Mrs. Mary Russel, with remainder to her cousin-german, the Rev. John Russel Greenhill D.D. Checkers is now the property and seat of Robert Greenhill esq. to whom it has been given up by his father and cousin. The manor of Grove or Seyton was successively in the families of Egleton, Horton and Bristow. It was the property of the late Sir George Russel, whose brother purchased it of the Bristows. The manor of Mordaunts at Bockmer-end in this parish, belonged also to the late Sir George Russel. The reputed manor of Apsley in this parish, belonged to the Sheppards of Rolrich, in Oxfordshire; it was afterwards in the Ledwells; John Mackaness esq. barrister at law, having purchased it of that family, has lately sold it to James Humphreys esq. of Lincoln's Inn.

In the parish church, which, like that of Edlesborough, stands on a small insulated eminence, resembling an ancient fortress, are some monuments of the Crokes. In 1803 an act of parliament passed for the inclosure of this parish, when allotments of land were assigned to the rector, who was only entitled to a moeity of a considerable portion of the great tithes, and to Joseph Wells gent. who had the impropriation of the other moeity: the remainder of the tithes belonged for the most part to the proprietors of the lands from which they issued; an allotment was made to trustees for the poor; the Woodlands still continue titheable. The Rev. Mr. Wells, brother of the impropriator, is patron and incumbent.

Many Roman coins have been found in this parish; the castle-hill has been spoken of elsewhere.

[Correction/Addition at the end of Magna Britannia states "By the death of the Rev. Richard Wells and his brother Joseph Wells, gent. joint impropriators, the Rev. Dr. Joseph Wells, son of the former, is become impropriator, patron, and vicar, of the parish of Ellesborough."]

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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SP836067 (Lat/Lon: 51.752764, -0.790315), Ellesborough which are provided by:

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Names, Geographical

The name Ellesborough derives from the old english esol-beorg and menas 'ass-hill,' i.e. where it grazes.