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Slapton

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"The area of Slapton, according to the Parliamentary Return, is 840 acres; its population is 325; and the rateable value is £2436. The parish includes part of the hamlet of Horton, and is intersected by the Grand Junction Canal. The London and North-Western Railway passes within a mile of the church, occupying a small portion of the parish. The soil is a deep stiff clay. The Village is small and rather scattered, and lies 3 1/2 miles S. of Leighton Buzzard, Co. Beds." [History and Topography of Buckinghamshire, by James Joseph Sheahan, 1862]
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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.
"Dictionary of English Place-Names", A.D. Mills, Oxford University Press, 1997, ISBN 0 19 28131 3
"History and Topography of Buckinghamshire", Sheahan, James Joseph, 1862
"Magna Britannia: Buckinghamshire", Lysons S. and Lysons D., 1806.
"The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Buckinghamshire", Page W. ed., 1905-1928
"War Memorials and War Graves: Cottesloe Hundred, Bucks, Volume 2", Peter Quick.

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Cemeteries

The following Monumental Inscriptions are available as publications or as part of a Society library:

* = material held in a Society library is generally available for loan to all members either via post, or by collection at a meeting

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Census

In 1642 there were 44 people named in the tax returns for contributions for Ireland. Between them they were assessed at £7.11.2 of which sum Emor Firth parson contributed £1.10.0

In 1798 the Posse Comitatus listed 49 men between the ages of 16 and 60 in Slapton.

In the earliest government census of 1801, there were 228 inhabitants in 47 families living in 40 houses recorded in Slapton.

Census Year Population of Slapton
1801* 228
1811* 202
1821* 312
1831* 360
1841 336
1851 298
1861 325
1871 325
1881 265
1891 214
1901 161

* = 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 The Church of the Holy Cross, Slapton have been deposited in the Buckinghamshire Record Office in Aylesbury, and they hold the following years:

Event Dates covered
Christenings 1653 - 1994
Marriages 1653 - 1992
Burials 1654 - 1990

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

Event
Society Library*
Dates covered
Society
Marriages
1575 - 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 Slapton showed the following numbers:

Church Attendance
Slapton, St Botolph 45 - Morning General Congregation
40 - Morning Sunday Scholars
85 - Morning Total

41 - Afternoon General Congregation
38 - Afternoon Sunday Scholars
79 - Afternoon Total

Slapton,
Wesleyan Methodist Chapel
90 - Afternoon General Congregation
56 - Afternoon Sunday Scholars
146 - Afternoon Total

100 - Evening Total

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Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Slapton which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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History

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

SLAPTON, in the hundred of Cotslow and deanery of Muresley, lies on the borders of Bedfordshire, about four miles from Leighton-Busard, and about eleven miles from Aylesbury.

The manor, which had belonged to the abbess and convent of Barking in Essex, was granted, in 1560, to Thomas Rowe esq. whose descendants sold it before the year 1762 to the Theeds. It is now the property of the Earl of Bridgwater, whose ancestor purchased it of the Theeds about the commencement of the last century.

The manor of Horton-hall, In Edlesborough, now the property of Christopher Johnson esq. extends into this parish.

The rectory is in the patronage of Christ Church college in Oxford. The Theeds sold the advowson, in 1720, to the Duke of Chandos: of whom, in 1729, it was purchased by the dean and chapter.

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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SP935207 (Lat/Lon: 51.87704, -0.643164), Slapton which are provided by:

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Names, Geographical

The name of Slapton derives from the old english slæp + tun, and means 'farm by a slippery place' or 'muddy farm'