Wolverton

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: Milton Keynes & Wolverton area, Volume 6", Peter Quick.

• War memorials in Wolverton have been transcribed by Peter Quick, and published in a booklet entitled "War Memorials and War Graves: Milton Keynes & Wolverton area, Volume 6", available from the Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society.
• War memorial details are also available online on the Roll of Honour web site.

In 1642 there were 73 people named in the tax returns for contributions for Ireland. Between them they were assessed at £8.10.5 1/2 of which sum Sir Edward Longvile contributed £3.0.0

In 1798 the Posse Comitatus listed 54 men between the ages of 16 and 60 in Wolverton.

In the earliest government census of 1801, there were 238 inhabitants in 67 families living in 46 houses recorded in Wolverton.

* = 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.

• Vicars of Wolverton

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

Old Wolverton, Holy Trinity

New Wolverton (or, just Wolverton), St George the Martyr

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

Old Wolverton, Holy Trinity

* = 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 Wolverton showed the following numbers:

• Buckinghamshire Church Photos by Kevin Quick.
• Buckinghamshire Village Photos by Kevin Quick.

• Geograph
• Flickr

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

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

WOLVERTON, in the hundred and deanery of Newport, lies about a mile north-east of Stony-Stratford: it was the seat of the barony of Maigno Brito, a powerful Norman, whose descendants took the name of Wolverton: the family became extinct in the male line, in the reign of Edward III. John Longueville, who died in 1439, was possessed of this manor by marriage with Joan, daughter and heir of John Hunt, by his wife Margaret, daughter and sole heir of Sir John de Wolverton. The manor of Wolverton continued in the family of Longueville nearly 300 years. Sir John Longueville, who was the owner of Wolverton in Leland's time, lived to the age of 103: his descendant Sir Edward Longueville, was created a baronet of Nova Scotia in 1638, being described of this place: the title is now extinct. Sir Edward Longueville, the last baronet but one, broke his neck by a fall from his horse at Bicester races in 1718, and it is remarkable, that his father Sir Thomas, met with his death by a similar accident in 1685. About six years before his death, Sir Edward Longueville abovementioned, sold Wolverton to the celebrated physician, Dr. Radcliffe, who bequeathed it with other large estates in trust for the university of Oxford.

The keep of Maigno Brito's castle remains near the vicarage. The seat of the Longuevilles, which was re-built in 1586, has been pulled down: Browne Willis describes it as a magnificent mansion.

In the parish church is the monument of Sir Thomas Longueville above mentioned, who died in 1685: numerous entries of births and burials of this family occur in the parish register.

The great tithes which were appropriated to the Priory of Bradwell, were granted by Queen Elizabeth to Sir John Spencer, whose grandson, Spencer Compton, Earl of Northampton, sold them about the year 1650 to the Longuevilles: having been included in Dr. Radcliffe's purchase, and in his bequest to the university, they are now vested in the trustees under his will, who are patrons of the vicarage.

The priory of Bradwell adjoining to this parish, the site of which is now deemed extraparochial, was founded in the reign of King Stephen, for black monks, by Manfelin, Baron of Wolverton: it was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and was originally a cell to Luffield. In 1526 it was given with other small monasteries to Cardinal Wolsey; after his attainder, the king granted it with the manor, in the year 1531, to the prior and convent of Sheen: the site was granted after the reformation, to Arthur Longueville esq. From the Longuevilles it passed by purchase to the Lawrences, in 1647; and from them, in 1664, to Sir Joseph Alston bart. then of Chelsea, who made Bradwell Abbey his residence: after his death it was successively in the families of Fuller and Owen. About the year 1730 the Bradwell Abbey estate was purchased by Sir Charles Gunter Nicholl, K.B. whose only daughter and heir married the late Earl of Dartmouth: it is now vested in their son, the present earl. The site of the abbey, of which there are no remains, is occupied as a farm-house.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SP818410 (Lat/Lon: 52.061349, -0.808253), Wolverton 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 of Wolverton derives from old english, being a persons name + ing + tun, and means 'farm of a man called Wulfhere'.

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

• Wolverton & District Archaeological and Historical Society