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Haddenham

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"The parish of Haddenham lies in the Vale of Aylesbury towards its western limit. Its boundaries are formed on all sides, except the east, by the River Thame and its tributaries, the Dad Brook on the north, the Ford Brook on the south, and the Thame on the west. There are two mineral springs in the parish, one at Dadbrook and the other at Manor Farm. The parish is fairly level, lying at an altitude of between 250 ft. and 300 ft. above the Ordnance datum; there is little timber, and the land is in parts bleak and exposed. The subsoil is partly gault and partly Portland beds. There are 1596 1/4 acres of arable land and 1214 1/2 acres of permanent pasture." [© 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: Aylesbury Hundred part two - Town and Environs, Volume 8", 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 1798 the Posse Comitatus listed 225 men between the ages of 16 and 60 in Haddenham.

In the earliest government census of 1801, there were 964 inhabitants in 209 families living in 180 houses recorded in Haddenham.

Census Year Population of Haddenham
1801* 964
1811* 1038
1821* 1294
1831* 1484
1841 1545
1851 1703
1861 1623
1871 1514
1881 1443
1891 1282
1901 1223

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

Event Dates covered
Christenings 1653 - 1961
Marriages 1653 - 1973
Burials 1653 - 1979

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

Event
Society Library*
Dates covered
Society
Christenings
1575 - 1612
Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society
Marriages
1575 - 1612
1653 - 1726
1760 - 1770
Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society
Burials
1575 - 1612
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 Haddenham showed the following numbers:

Church Attendance
Haddenham,
St Mary the Virgin
No data for the 30th March 1851
Haddenham,
Particular Baptist Meeting House
280 - Morning General Congregation
220 - Morning Sunday Scholars
500 - Morning Total

380 - Afternoon General Congregation
220 - Afternoon Sunday Scholars
600 - Afternoon Total

270 - Evening General Congregation
130 - Evening Sunday Scholars
400 - Evening Total

Haddenham
Society of Friends Meeting Place
No data for the 30th March 1851

Average attendance 7

Haddenham,
Wesleyan Methodist Chapel
South End
24 - Morning General Congregation
66 - Morning Sunday Scholars
90 - Morning Total

150 - Afternoon General Congregation
50 - Afternoon Sunday Scholars
200 - Afternoon Total

137 - Evening General Congregation
15 - Evening Sunday Scholars
152 - Evening Total

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Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Haddenham which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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History

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

HADDENHAM, in the hundred of Aylesbury and deanery of Wendover, lies about seven miles south-west of Aylesbury, and three from Thame, in Oxfordshire. King William the Conqueror demised the manor of Haddenham during his life, to Archbishop Lanfranc, who gave it to Gundulph, bishop of Rochester. On the donor's death it reverted to the crown, and William Rufus, on his accession, demanded 100 l. for renewing it, a sum so exhorbitant, that the prelates were both astonished, and declared they were not possessed of so large a sum, nor knew how to procure it. Two courtiers, well inclined to all parties, suggested that the manor should be restored to the see, on condition that Gundulph, who was very intelligent and expert in masonry, should, at his own expence, build the castle of Rochester with stone; which proposal was at length accepted on the bishop's being exonerated from further repairs. Ernulph, Gundulph's successor, who is supposed to have been the author of the Textus Roffensis, where this is related, supposed that the cost amount to 60 l. After this transaction, it appears that the manor of Haddenham was granted by William Rufus, to the prior and convent of St. Andrew, at Rochester, to whom it was confirmed by King Henry I. with the manor of Cuddington, as an appendage. In 1294, the monks procured a charter for a market on Thursdays, at this place, but it was discontinued in 1301, in consequence of a law-suit with the bishop of Lincoln, who found that it injured his market at the neighbouring town of Thame: the same charter granted a fair for three days, at the festival of the assumption of the Virgin Mary. After the dissolution of monasteries, this manor continued for some time in the crown: it is now in moities, one of which belongs to Mrs. Anne Herbert, sister and co-heir of Philip Herbert esq. who died in 1749; the remaining moiety, which passed in marriage with the other co-heir to the late Lord Wenman's father, is now, by bequest, the property of Miss Bertie.

The Grenville family had for many generations an estate in this parish, which acquired the name of Grenville's Manor; it was alienated from the family in the early part of Queen Elizabeth's reign, and having within a few years passed through several hands, was purchased jointly in 1569, by Robert Rose, John Ross, and Robert Morse. Grenville-Manor-Place, with a third part of the estate, is still in the descendants of Robert Rose, and Ross's share, we have been informed, still remains in his family.

The parish church is a large Gothic structure, much out of repair, it contains no monuments of note; there are a few memorials for the family of Saunders. Near the church was a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary, of which there are no remains. The great tithes belong to the dean and chapter of Rochester, who are patrons of the vicarage.

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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SP740085 (Lat/Lon: 51.770294, -0.928976), Haddenham which are provided by:

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Names, Geographical

The name Haddenham derives from the old english Hædan-ham and means 'Hæda's homestead'.