Datchet

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", E.S. Roscoe, London Methuen & Co Ltd, 1935.
"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

In 1798 the Posse Comitatus listed 146 men between the ages of 16 and 60 in Datchet.

In the earliest government census of 1801, there were 357 inhabitants in 120 families living in 102 houses recorded in Datchet.

* = 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.

• Rectors & Vicars of the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin

The original copies of the parish registers for St Mary the Virgin, Datchet have been deposited in the Buckinghamshire Record Office in Aylesbury, and they hold the following years:

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

* = 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 Datchet showed the following numbers:

• Buckinghamshire Church Photos by Kevin Quick.
• Buckinghamshire Village Photos by Kevin Quick.
• Buckinghamshire Records and Local Studies Service - large collection of old photos of Buckinghamshire

• Geograph
• Flickr

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from Datchet to another place.

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

DATCHET, in the hundred and deanery of Burnham, lies on the banks of the Thames, two miles from Eton. The manor of Datchet was granted by King Edward III. in 1335 to William de Montacute, who the same year conveyed it to Sir John Molins. In 1558, the manor Datchet was leased by the crown to Sir Maurice Berkeley, who made it his residence. In 1631, the manor of Datchet, described as having formerly been parcel of the possessions of the castle and honour of Windsor; and the manor of Datchet-St. Helens, which had belonged to the priory of St. Helens, and had been afterwards annexed to the honour of Windsor, were granted by King Charles I. to Charles Harbord and others, by whom they were conveyed to Sir William Wheeler. In 1681, Andrew Pitcairne, alias Wheeler, conveyed this estate to Budd Wase, whose daughter and heir married John Whitfield esq. of Canterbury. It is now the property of the Duchess of Buccleugh, by inheritance from John Duke of Montagu, who in 1742 purchased it of two gentlemen, to whom it had been conveyed in 1730, by Mr. and Mrs. Whitfield.

In the parish church is the monument of Catharine, wife of Sir Maurice Berkeley, daughter of Lord Montjoy; that of Christopher Barker, printer to Queen Elizabeth, who died in 1607, and several of the family of Wheeler.

The rectory and advowson of the vicarage belonged anciently to the see of Lincoln: they were given by King Edward III. to the dean and chapter of Windsor. The bridge over the Thames at Datchet, originally built by Queen Anne, fell down in the year 1795, and has not since been rebuilt.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SU987770 (Lat/Lon: 51.483352, -0.579989), Datchet which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

The derivation of the name Datchet is uncertain, it has been speculated that the final part of the word maybe the British word cet for 'wood'.