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Marsh Gibbon

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"This parish, on the Oxfordshire border, covers 2817 acres, nearly the whole of which is permanent grass. The soil and subsoil are clay; the principal crops produced are wheat, beans and oats. The parish, which is watered by the River Ray, lies low, varying from 255 ft. above the ordnance datum in the north to 204 ft. in the south. Marsh Gibbon village is large, its main street extending nearly a mile in length. Many of the cottages date from the middle of the 19th century, when Sir Henry Acland, bart., master of Ewelme, together with the Ewelme trustees, greatly improved the condition of the village. It had suffered from a long suit in Chancery, from the Inclosure Act and non-resident landlords, but under his care the houses were re-built, modern sanitation introduced, and a dispensary and reading room started." [© 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 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 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: Ashendon Hundred, Volume 5", Peter Quick and Bertrand Shrimpton.

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Cemeteries

War Memorials

War memorials in Marsh Gibbon have been transcribed by Peter Quick and Bertrand Shrimpton, and published in a booklet entitled "War Memorials and War Graves: Ashendon Hundred, Volume 5", available from the Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society.

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Census

In 1798 the Posse Comitatus listed 139 men between the ages of 16 and 60 in Marsh Gibbon.

In the earliest government census of 1801, there were 534 inhabitants in 123 families living in 105 houses recorded in Marsh Gibbon.

Census YearPopulation of Marsh Gibbon
1801*534
1811*626
1821*738
1831*812
1841863
1851944
1861858
1871876
1881743
1891696
1901598

* = 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 Mary the Virgin, Marsh Gibbon have been deposited in the Buckinghamshire Record Office in Aylesbury, and they hold the following years:

EventDates covered
Christenings1576 - 1843
Marriages1577 - 1945
Burials1577 - 1923

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 Marsh Gibbon showed the following numbers:

ChurchAttendance
Marsh Gibbon,
St Mary the Virgin
150 - Morning General Congregation
102 - Morning Sunday Scholars
252 - Morning Total

270 - Afternoon General Congregation
99 - Afternoon Sunday Scholars
369 - Afternoon Total

Marsh Gibbon,
Independent or Congregational
Dissenters
180 - Morning General Congregation

200 - Evening General Congregation

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Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Marsh Gibbon which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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History

Marsh Gibbon was described in 1806 in "Magna Britannia" as follows:

MARSH-GIBWEN, in the hundred and deanery of Buckingham, lies on the borders of Oxfordshire, about four miles and a half to the east of Bicester. It received its additional name from the ancient family of Gibwen, who were of considerable consequence in the county, in the thirteenth century, and had estates in this parish. The principal manor was given by Robert, Earl of Cornwall, to the abbey of Grestein, in Normandy. About the year 1365, having been seized by the crown as the property of an alien monastery, it was granted to the De la Poles. William De la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, and Alice, his wife, gave it to the hospital of Ewelm, in Oxfordshire, the mastership of which was annexed in 1603 to the Regius professsorship of physic, in the university of Oxford, in whom, jointly with the grammar-master and thirteen poor men, the manor is now vested, but all the business relating to it, is transacted in the name of the two chaplains and thirteen poor men. Near the manor-house are some slight traces of entrenchments, supposed to have been thrown up by the parliamentary army, when they marched to Marsh-Gibwen, in the month of June 1645.

The Bury-manor, or manor of Westbury, in this parish, belonged also to the abbey of Grestein, (by grant from the Montacutes.) Having escheated to the crown, as the property of an alien house, it was given by King Edward IV. to the Company of Cooks, in London, who sold it, in 1530 to Robert Dormer: it has since passed through several hands, and is now the property of Mr. Dixon. The advowson of the rectory belonged formerly to the Abbey of Grestein, it is now in the crown.

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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SP647231 (Lat/Lon: 51.902694, -1.061008), Marsh Gibbon which are provided by:

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Names, Geographical

The name "Marsh" originates from the old english mersc and means '(place at) the marsh'. The Manorial affix of "Gibbon" derives from the Gibwen family who had a connection with the parish back to the 12th century.