Hillesden

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: Buckingham Hundred, Volume 7", Peter Quick.

War Memorials

War memorials in Hillesden have been transcribed by Peter Quick, and published in a booklet entitled "War Memorials and War Graves: Buckingham Hundred, Volume 7", available from the Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society.

In 1798 the Posse Comitatus listed 42 men between the ages of 16 and 60 in Hillesden.

In the earliest government census of 1801, there were 183 inhabitants in 34 families living in 26 houses recorded in Hillesden.

* = 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.

• Curates of the Parish Church of All Saints

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 original copies of the parish registers for All Saints, Hillesden 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 Hillesden 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 Hillesden to another place.

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

HILLESDON, in the hundred and deanery of Buckingham, lies nearly four miles south of the county town. the manor was anciently in the Giffards, Earls of Buckingham, afterwards in the Bolbecs, from whom it passed by marriage to the Veres and Courtneys. After the attainder of the Earl of Devon, in 1461, it was given to Sir Walter Devereux, who being slain at Bosworth-field, it was restored to the Courtneys, but was again forfeited by the attainder of the Marquis of Exeter, in 1539. King Edward VI. granted it to Thomas Denton esq. whose descendant, Edmund Denton, of Hillesdon, was created a baronet in 1699. The title became extinct at his death: the manor of Hillesdon, which continued in a collateral branch of the family, is now the property of Mrs. Coke, relict of the late Wenman Coke esq. and daughter of George Chamberlayne esq. whose father married Elizabeth, eldest daughter and co-heir of Alexander Denton esq.

The manor-house, the greater part of which was taken down a few years ago, was, during the civil war in the seventeenth century, made a garrison for the king, being then the seat of Sir Alexander Denton knt. who suffered great losses on account of his attachment to the royal cause. The garrison was surrendered in 1643, the house plundered, and Sir Alexander Denton committed to prison, where he died of a broken heart.

In the parish church are several monuments of the Dentons; that of Catherine, wife of Alexander Denton esq. one of the justices of the Common Pleas, is by Sir Henry Cheere, and is ornamented with busts in white marble, of the judge and his lady. There is also a monument for George Woodward esq. envoy to Poland, who died at Warsaw in 1735, and the tomb of Godfrey Boate, one of the justices of the king's bench, in Ireland, (the subject of Dean Swift's quibbling elegy,) who died in 1722. The church, which was rebuilt in 1493, is a very handsome Gothic structure: in the east window of the north aisle is some very rich stained glass, representing various scenes from the legend of St. Nicholas.

The great tithes, which were given by Walter Giffard, Earl of Buckingham, to Nutley abbey, are now vested in the dean and chapter of Christ Church, in Oxford, who are patrons of the donative.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SP686288 (Lat/Lon: 51.953468, -1.003197), Hillesden 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 Hillesden derives from the old english personal name Hild and the old english word dun meaning hill. Hence Hillesden means 'Hild's hill'.