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Westbury

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"This parish, too, lies on the borders of Oxfordshire, from which county it is separated by the river Ouse. Area, 2547 acres; population, 397 souls. The soil is various, clay, loam, and gravel, and there are about 800 acres of woodland. A good durable stone for building purposes is found here, and there are two excellent springs in the parish. The Village is compact, and contains several genteel houses. It is seated on the brow of a hill about 5 miles W.N.W. from Buckingham. On the village green is a remarkably fine elm." [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 Returns of the Census of Religious Worship 1851", Legg E. ed., 1991, ISBN 0 901198 27 7.
"History and Topography of Buckinghamshire", Sheahan, James Joseph, 1862
"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: Buckingham Hundred, Volume 7", Peter Quick.

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Cemeteries

War Memorials

War memorials in Westbury have been transcribed by Peter Quick, and published in a booklet entitled "War Memorials and War Graves: Buckingham Hundred, Volume 7", available from the Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society.

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Census

In 1798 the Posse Comitatus listed 72 men between the ages of 16 and 60 in Westbury.

In the earliest government census of 1801, there were 308 inhabitants in 54 families living in 55 houses recorded in Westbury.

Census YearPopulation of Westbury
1801*308
1811*320
1821*345
1831*391
1841471
1851458
1861379
1871419
1881417
1891357
1901302

* = 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 Augustine of Canterbury, Westbury have been deposited in the Buckinghamshire Record Office in Aylesbury, and they hold the following years:

EventDates covered
Christenings1558 - 1995
Marriages1558 - 1990
Burials1558 - 1995

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

Event
Society Library*
Dates covered
Society
Marriages
1558 - 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 Westbury showed the following numbers:

ChurchAttendance
Westbury,
St Augustine of Canterbury
No data is given for 30 March 1851.

Average attendance:

100 - Morning General Congregation

120 - Evening General Congregation

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Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Westbury which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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History

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

WESTBURY, in the hundred and deanery of Buckingham, lies about five miles north-west of the county town, near the road to Brackley. The manor was successively in the families of Iveri, St. Walery, Hareng, and L'Estrange. From the latter, who possessed it as early as the year 1310, it passed about two hundred years afterwards by a female heir to the Mordaunts. Sir L'Estrange Mordaunt bart. sold it in 1613 to the Washingtons, from whom it passed in 1639 to the Lytteltons. It is now the property of J.P. Withers, a minor, descended in the female line from the Prices, whose ancestor, Roger Price esq. purchased it of the Lytteltons in 1650.

The Marquis of Buckingham claims a paramount manor over this parish, as having been anciently part of the honor of Wallingford, and afterwards of that of Ewelme. This right is inherited from the Temples, and is supposed by Browne Willis to have been derived from royal grant, in the reign of James I. The rectory, to which a manor was annexed, belonged formerly to the abbey of Elstow, near Bedford. After the reformation it was granted to the Wellesbourns, and from them passed by a female heir to the family of Sill. The Lytteltons having purchased it in 1642, it has ever since been annexed to the lay manor. The rectorial house, (now pulled down,) was the seat of the Lytteltons for a short time, and afterwards of the Prices. In 1643, being then the seat of Sir Thomas Lyttelton, it was plundered by some of the parliamentary army. The advowson of the vicarage [Footnote: Browne Willis says, that Roger Price, who purchased the estate of the Lytteltons, rebuilt the vicarage house, and endowed the vicarage with the great tithes; but there must be some mistake in this account; the rectorial estate being now the property of the lord of the manor, to whom an allotment of land in lieu of the great tithes was made under the inclosure act.] is annexed to the rectorial manor. This parish has been inclosed by an act of parliament, passsed in 1763, when allotments of land were assigned in lieu of the great and small tithes.

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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SP622358 (Lat/Lon: 52.017147, -1.095044), Westbury which are provided by:

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Names, Geographical

The name of Westbury derives from the old english west + burh and means 'westerly stronghold or fortified place'.