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Wingrave

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(including the hamlet of Rowsham)

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"Wingrave is a parish of 2884 acres, including 507 acres of arable land and 2255 acres of permanent grass, but no woodlands. The slope of the land above the ordnance datum varies from 256 ft. in the south of the parish to 428 ft. in the village. The soil is clay and gravel. The village is situated on a hill in the centre of the parish overlooking the town of Aylesbury. The church stands in the middle of the village. The ancient custom of strewing it with grass on the first Sunday after St. Peter's Day (29 June) is still observed. To the north-east of the church is the vicarage, and to the south-east are the school and Wingrave Old Manor House, the residence of Mrs. Stewart-Freeman, a 17th-century brick house with tiled roof, which has been modernized in recent years. Slight remains of a moat can be seen. There are a few other 17th-century buildings, but all have been much altered. In this part of the village there are also a recreation ground, an infants' school, and Independent and Primitive Methodist chapels." [© 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.
"Dictionary of English Place-Names", A.D. Mills, Oxford University Press, 1997, ISBN 0 19 28131 3
"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 56 people named in the tax returns for contributions for Ireland. Between them they were assessed at £10.0.0 of which sum Jane Abram contributed £4.9.0

In 1798 the Posse Comitatus listed 137 men between the ages of 16 and 60 in Wingrave.

In the earliest government census of 1801, there were 602 inhabitants in 228 families living in 119 houses recorded in Wingrave.

Census YearPopulation of Wingrave
1801*602
1811*588
1821*675
1831*783
1841814
1851813
1861863
1871908
1881903
1891926
1901827

* = 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, Wingrave have been deposited in the Buckinghamshire Record Office in Aylesbury, and they hold the following years:

EventDates covered
Christenings1550 - 1938
Marriages1551 - 1960
Banns1855 - 1979
Burials1558 - 1965

St Peter & St Paul

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

Event
Society Library*
Dates covered
Society Publications
Dates covered
Society
Christenings
1773 - 1938
 
Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society
Marriages
1550 - 1837
 
Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society
Marriages
 
1550 - 1837
Buckinghamshire Family History Society
Burials
1813 - 1965
 
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

Congregationalist Chapel

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

Event
Society Library*
Dates covered
Society
Marriages
1839 - 1926
Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society
Burials
1826 - 1920
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 Wingrave showed the following numbers:

ChurchAttendance
Wingrave,
St Peter & St Paul
58 - Morning General Congregation
43 - Morning Sunday Scholars
101 - Morning Total
Wingrave,
Independent and Baptist
Chapel
35 - Morning General Congregation
82 - Morning Sunday Scholars
117 - Morning Total

175 - Afternoon General Congregation
82 - Afternoon Sunday Scholars
257 - Afternoon Total

171 - General Congregation
171 - Total

Wingrave,
Primitive Methodist
Chapel
30 - Morning General Congregation
30 - Morning Total

120 - Evening General Congregation
120 - Evening Total

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Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Wingrave which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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History

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

WINGRAVE, in the hundred of Cotslow and deanery of Muresley, lies nearly six miles north-east of Aylesbury. When this parish was inclosed by act of parliament in 1797, separate and distinct manors were claimed by the Prince of Wales, as Duke of Cornwall; the Mercers' Company, the Rev. John Deacle as impropriator, the Earl of Chesterfield, and John Tirel-Morin esq. Lord Chesterfield's manor was anciently the property and seat of the Pipards, from whom it passed by a female heir to the Lisles: the marriage between Thomas Lord Berkeley, and Margaret the heiress of that noble family, was celebrated in their manor-house at Wingrave: by subsequent alliances this manor passed to the Beauchamps and Nevilles; in 1531 it was purchased by the Hampdens, and in 1607 by the Dormers, from whom it passed by a female heir to the Stanhopes.

The great tithes of this parish were appropriated to the abbey of St. Albans. A dispute between John de Wedon and the abbot of St. Albans, about the patronage of this church, was determined in favor of the abbot in 1250. The impropriate rectory having since the reformation been successively in the families of Duncombe, Wilford, Abraham, Deane, and Balinger, has now been for a considerable time in the family of Deacle. The Earl of Bridgwater is patron of the vicarage.

Rowsham, a large hamlet in this parish, had formerly a chapel of ease. Sir John Cobham gave the manor to the crown in the reign of Edward III: it has long been annexed to Wingrave.

The parish of Wingrave, including the hamlet of Rowsham, has been inclosed as above-mentioned; allotments of land were made to the impropriator and vicar in lieu of tithes.

[Correction/Addition at the end of Magna Britannia states "Mr. Tirel-Morin's manor has lately been sold to Mr. Lucas of Northampton, Gray?s Inn-lane."]

During the Second World War The Old Manor House, home of the Countess of Essex,  was used as a residence for the chief officials of the President of Czechoslovakia  Edvard Benes, who lived at Aston Abbotts.

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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SP870190 (Lat/Lon: 51.86281, -0.737989), Wingrave which are provided by:

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Names, Geographical

The name of Wingrave probably derives from old english, being a persons name + inga + grav and means 'grove of the family or followers of a man called Wiwa'.