Hanslope

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.
"Magna Britannia: Buckinghamshire", Lysons S. and Lysons D., 1806.
"The History and Antiquities of the County of Buckingham", Lipscomb G., 1847
"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: Newport Hundred, Volume 1", Peter Quick.

The following Monumental Inscriptions are available as publications or as part of a Society library:

• Monumental Inscriptions for St James the Great church are in the library* of the Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society.
• War memorials in Hanslope have been transcribed by Peter Quick and published by the Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society.
• War memorial details are also available online on the Roll of Honour web site.

* = material held in a Society library is generally available for loan to all members either via post, or by collection at a meeting

In 1642 there were 318 people named in the tax returns for contributions for Ireland. Between them they were assessed at £36.16.3 of which sum Thos. Tyrill esq commissioner contributed £10.0.0

In 1798 the Posse Comitatus listed 266 men between the ages of 16 and 60 in Hanslope.

In the earliest government census of 1801, there were 1289 inhabitants in 291 families living in 243 houses recorded in Hanslope.

* = 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.

• A searchable database to the census for Hanslope can be found on the Hanslope and District Historical Society web site
• 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.

• Priests of Thurstan Keswick's Chantry
• Rectors & Vicars of the Parish Church of St James the Great

Details of the stained glass in the church can be found on the following web sites (the site includes many photos):

• Buckinghamshire Stained Glass

The parish registers for St James the Great, Hanslope are still held by the parish.

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 Hanslope 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 Hanslope to another place.

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

HANSLAPE, in the hundred and deanery of Newport, lies about five miles north of Stony-Stratford, on the borders of Northamptonshire: it was formerly a market-town. The market, which was on Thursdays, has been long discontinued: it was granted in 1293 to William Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, who at the same time had a grant of a fair at this place, at the festival of St. James, to continue for fifteen days. This fair also has been disused, but there is one on Holy Thursday. The Hanslapes and their representatives the Mauduits, who inherited this manor by a female heir, were of baronial rank, and had the seat of their barony at Castlethorp, formerly a hamlet of this parish. Robert Lord Mauduit being in rebellion against King John, garrisoned this castle, which was taken and demolished by Foulkes de Brent, on the 18th of December 1215. Lord Mauduit returning to his allegiance in the suceeding reign, repossessed this manor, which he had forfeited, and in 1222 made a park at Hanslape, and had a grant of does to stock it out of the king's forest of Salcey. On the death of William Mauduit, Earl of Warwick, his title and estates devolved to William Beauchamp, who had married his sister and heir: in 1291, he had the king's licence to embattle his manor-house at Hanslape. On the attainder of Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, the manor of Hanslape was granted, in 1397, to Thomas Mowbray, who about that time was created Duke of Norfolk, but being himself attained within a few months afterwards, it was granted in tail-male to Edward Duke of York, who lost his life at the battle of Agincourt; dying without issue, this manor reverted to the crown. It was occassionally granted to branches of the royal family, and formed part of Queen Elizabeth's revenue before her accession to the throne. In 1663, it was granted in fee to Sir Thomas Tyrell, one of the justices of the Common Pleas: his son having obtained an act of parliament to vest this manor in trustees for the payment of debts, it was sold about the year 1707 to George Pierrepont, who was created Lord Pierrepont of Hanslape in 1714. Dying without issue, this estate devolved to the Duke of Kingston, and was purchased of the late duke's heirs, by the guardians of the present proprietor, Edward Watts esq. who resides at Hanslape-park.

The manor of Tothall-end, in this parish, belonged anciently to the family of Tothall, and afterwards to the Lanes: it has lately been sold by Sir William Wake bart. who inherited it by female descent from the Lanes, to Mr. Watts, who possesses also by purchase from the Howes, the manors of Stoke and Singleton, which formerly belonged to the Pigot family.

A considerable estate in this parish belonged for several generations to the family of Forster, who had a seat here, which was sold in 1663, by Sir Grey Forster, to Dr. Turner, dean of Canterbury, and afterwards became the residence of William Thursby, the celebrated lawyer, who purchased it of Dr. Francis Turner, bishop of Ely: it is now a farm-house, the property of Mrs. Lowndes of Abingdon-street, Westminster.

The parish church was remarkable for its taper spire, which, together with the lofty tower on which it stood, was above 200 feet from the ground, and afforded a very conspicuous object to a large tract of country, in which spires rarely occur. Hanslape spire, which was destroyed by lightning in the month of June 1804, was built in 1409, by Thomas Knight, the rector; the stone was brought from Ketton, in Rutlandshire: it was octagonal and fluted. The chancel has some remains of Saxon architecture: in Troughton's chapel are some memorials of a family of that name. The rectory, which had been appropriated to Newark college, in Leicester, was given by King Henry VIII. in 1538, together with advowson of the vicarage, to the Corporation of the city of Lincoln. In 1803, an act of parliament passed for inclosing Salcey-Green and Stocking-Green, in this parish, when an allotment of each was given to the impropriators in lieu of tithes. The parish was inclosed by an act of parliament, passed in1778, when an allotment of land was given to the impropriator in lieu of tithes. Hanslape-park and Bosenham-field were not exonerated from tithes by this act.

Lucy Lady Pierrepont founded a school at Hanslape for four children. The benefactions given to this parish by Isabella Barnwell, William Fox, and a person now unknown, consisting of houses and lands, producing a rent of 60 l. per annum, are vested in feoffees, who distribute the amount among the poor on St. Thomas's-day.

Most of the persons in this parish are employed in the manufacture of lace, which is made here of a very fine quality.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SP803469 (Lat/Lon: 52.114601, -0.82874), Hanslope 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 name Hanslope consists of two parts. The first is a persons name, Hama, and the second, the old english word slæpe. Hanslope therefore means 'muddy place or slope of a man called Hama'.

The following is a list of societies and groups specifically for this parish or village and which relate to either local, or family history.

• Hanslope and District Historical Society