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Chilton

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(including Easington)

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"Sloping, stone-built place of pictorial charm - a water-colourist's delight. The views in several directions are magnificent. The fine, square, brick, stone-dressed house dominates the village, without being over-prominent. The church is architecturally interesting, and well proportioned though not large. It is in various medieval styles, but lost caste since the plaster was removed inside." [Murray's Buckinghamshire Architectural Guide]

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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.
"Murray's Buckinghamshire Architectural Guide." editors John Betjeman & John Piper, London, 1948
"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 Betrand Shrimpton.

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Cemeteries

War Memorials

War memorials in Chilton have been transcribed by Peter Quick and Betrand 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 1642 there were 30 people named in the tax returns for contributions for Ireland. Between them they were assessed at £8.1.9 of which sum Mr Jn. Crooke esq contributed £2.0.0

In 1798 the Posse Comitatus listed 57 men between the ages of 16 and 60 in Chilton.

In the earliest government census of 1801, there were 316 inhabitants in 63 families living in 63 houses recorded in Chilton.

Census YearPopulation of Chilton
1801*316
1811*338
1821*379
1831*314
1841364
1851398
1861364
1871336
1881301
1891287
1901285

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

EventDates covered
Christenings1690 - 1864
Marriages1690 - 1837
Banns1823 - 1885
Burials1690 - 1930

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 Chilton showed the following numbers:

ChurchAttendance
Chilton, St Mary150 - Morning General Congregation
90 - Morning Sunday Scholars
240 - Morning Total

100 - Afternoon General Congregation
80 - Afternoon Sunday Scholars
180 - Afternoon Total

Chilton, Congregational or
Independent Meeting House
25 - Evening General Congregation
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Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Chilton which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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History

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

CHILTON, in the hundred of Ashendon and deanery of Waddesdon, lies nine miles west of Aylesbury, and about four miles north of Thame, in Oxfordshire. Paulinus Peyvre, the opulent steward of King Henry III's. household, had a seat at Chilton, and was possessed of the manor which continued some time in his family. Before 1550 it passed to the Crokes by purchase, from the family of Zouche: it was again alienated in or about 1682, and having been successively in the families of Limbrey and Hervey, passed to the Carters, and is now, by marriage with the heiress of that family, the property of Sir John Aubrey bart. whose seat is in the neighbouring parish of Dourton. Chilton-house, the seat of the late Mr. Carter is unoccupied.

In the parish church are some monuments of the Crokes; that of Sir John Croke, who died in 1608, is much ornamented in the style which then prevailed, and has his effigies in armour. Sir John was father of Sir George Croke, the celebrated lawyer, famous for his zealous opposition to the tax of ship-money, in the reign of Charles I.: he was a native of Chilton, and lies buried in the church there, without any memorial. At the west end of the church is a large marble monument for the family of Carter: on the south side of the entrance into the chancel was a stone desk and pulpit; the desk remains, with the steps which led to the pulpit.

The rectory, to which manerial rights were annexed, was given to Nutley abbey by its founder Walter Giffard: the impropriation is now vested in Sir John Aubrey, who is patron of the donative.

At Easington, a considerable hamlet of this parish, was formerly a chapel of ease. The manor of Easington, which was for many generations in the noble family of Stafford, has of late years been annexed to Chilton.

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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SP687115 (Lat/Lon: 51.797937, -1.005179), Chilton which are provided by:

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Names, Geographical

The name Chilton probably derives from the old english cilda-tun meaning 'farm of the young (noble)men'.

The name Easington derives from the old english Esingtun, meaning 'farm of Esa or Ese'.