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Horton

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"The parish of Horton (Hortune, xi cent.) contains an area of 1366 acres. There are 803 acres of arable land and 580 of permanent grass, but no woodland. The slope of the land is almost uniformly from 57 ft. to 67 ft. above the ordnance datum, and the maximum height attained is 80 ft. in the extreme north of the parish. The soil is loam, the subsoil gravel, and the chief crops are wheat, oats, barley and roots. Horton is well watered by various small feeders of the Rivers Thames and Colne. The Colne separates it on the east from the county of Middlesex. The village of Horton occupies a central position in the parish. A large elm tree stands on the village green at a point where the roads converge. There is a tradition that it was planted to commemorate the death of a child belonging to the Crown Inn opposite, who was accidently killed by the fall of the maypole on this spot." [© copyright of the editors of The Victoria Histories of the Counties of England]
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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.
"History of the Parish of Wraysbury, Ankerwycke Priory, and Magna Charta Island; with the History of Horton, and the town of Colnbrook, Bucks", Gyll G.W.J., 1862.
"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

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Census

In 1642 there were 35 people named in the tax returns for contributions for Ireland. Between them they were assessed at £10.16.7 1/2 of which sum Edw. Goodall contributed £1.10.0

In 1798 the Posse Comitatus listed 102 men between the ages of 16 and 60 in Horton.

In the earliest government census of 1801, there were 647 inhabitants in 185 families living in 125 houses recorded in Horton.

Census Year Population of Horton
1801* 647
1811* 723
1821* 796
1831* 804
1841 873
1851 842
1861 810
1871 835
1881 861
1891 824
1901 834

* = 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 Records

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

Event Dates covered
Christenings 1571 - 1874
Marriages 1571 - 1849
Burials 1571 - 1858

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

Event
Society Library*
Dates covered
Society
Marriages
1648 - 1758
1813 - 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 Horton showed the following numbers:

Church Attendance
Horton, St Michael 58 - Morning

30 - Afternoon

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Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Horton which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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History

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

HORTON, in the hundred of Stoke and deanery of Burnham, lies about a mile to the south of Colnbrook. The manor was anciently in the Windsor family, who continued to possess it several generations. In 1658, it became the property by purchase of Robert Scawen, whose great-grandson James Scawen esq. sold it in 1782. After two or three intermediate conveyances, it was purchased in 1794, by the late Thomas Williams esq. M.P. whose son, Owen Williams esq. M.P. is the present proprietor. The manor-house, a large mansion, which had been a seat of the Scawens, was pulled down a few years ago, excepting a small part, which is occupied by cottagers.

In the parish church is a heavy monument, without any inscription, intended for some of the Scawen family, and the tomb of Milton's mother, who died in 1637. That great poet passed much time in his younger years at Horton, where his parents then resided. Mr. Williams is patron of the rectory. The parish has been inclosed by an act of parliament, which passed in 1799, when an allotment of land was assigned to the rector in lieu of tithes.

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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference TQ013759 (Lat/Lon: 51.473005, -0.542874), Horton which are provided by:

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Names, Geographical

The name Horton derives from the old english words horh, tun, and means 'dirty farm'.