Buckinghamshire
A summary of Tim Silver's links with Buckinghamshire
Many extended family names that feature in my genealogy hail from Buckinghamshire. The most significant being Andrews, Baldwin, Knight and especially Meads. In particular, three consecutive generations of Meads (George [1813], his son, William [1842] and his son Walter [1873] - my gt. grandfather) being born and living in, Medmenham. However, I'm going to nominate my 2x gt. grandfather, Richard Stannett Andrews, who was born in Wooburn Green on 24 October 1839 to represent my connection to Buckinghamshire - the 1st (known) bastard in my direct lineage. Through researching him, I discovered the 'gem of all gems' - but more of that later.
Main areas of interest -
Beaconsfield: Medmenham: Wooburn Green: Wraysbury
Extended family locations -
Amersham; Aylesbury; Beamond End; Berkhampstead; Bovingdon Green; Burnham; Chalfont St. Giles; Chipping Wycombe; Colnbrook; Danesfield; Dinton; Dorney; Eton; Farnham Royal; Great Kingshill; Great Marlow; Great Missenden; Haddenham; Hambleden; High Wycombe; Marlow; Milton Keynes; Prestwood; Wooburn Common; Wycombe
Beaconsfield, 51.610362N 0.645186W, is a market town and civil parish operating as a town council within the South Bucks district in Buckinghamshire, England. It lies 23.6 miles (38 km) northwest of Charing Cross in Central London, and 17 miles (27 km) south-east of the county town of Aylesbury. Other nearby towns include Amersham to the north northeast and High Wycombe to the west.
My link with Beaconsfield is very tenous - Richard Andrews (my 2x gt. grandfather) lived with his mother in Beaconsfield in 1851. However, just a few miles to the north west is Forty Green. There can be found the 'gem of all gems'. The oldest free-house in the land - 900years old! The Royal Standard of England. I just can't believe he never went there. Go yourself and soak up the atmosphere!
Medmenham, 51.552918N 0.839919W, is a village and civil parish in the Wycombe district of Buckinghamshire, England. Located on the River Thames about three and a half miles southwest of Marlow and three miles east of Henley-on-Thames.
The village includes some old timber framed brick and flint cottages and some estate workers cottages built at the beginning of the 20th century from local chalk rock. The Church of England parish church of Saint Peter was heavily restored in 1839. The Dog and Badger Inn (a pub worth visiting) on the A4155 road dates from late in the 16th century, the name having been transferred from the inn at Hambleden which was renamed the Stag and Huntsman.
The village lane ends at the Old Ferry crossing which ceased to be used after the Second World War. It was where the Thames towpath crossed from the Buckinghamshire to Berkshire bank of the river. On the towpath beside the former ferry crossing stands the large Medmenham Ferry Memorial that commemorates Lord Devonport's successful 1899 defence of the public right-of-way over the ferry.
Next to the village, but separated from it by the A4155, is the first of two Iron Age hill forts, Medmenham Camp. Danesfield Camp also known as Danes Ditches is located slightly further along the road to the east near to the village of Hurley. Also attached to the village are the hamlets of Lower Woodend and Rockwell End.
Three consecutive generations of Meads were born in Medmenham - George [1813], his son, William [1842] and his son Walter [1873] - my gt. grandfather.
Wooburn Green, 51.588047N 0.683161W, is a village in the parish of Wooburn and Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, England. Situated four miles south east of the town of High Wycombe. It neighbours Beaconsfield, Loudwater, Flackwell Heath, and Bourne End. The village was once served by the High Wycombe to Bourne End railway line, however the line and station closed in 1970.
The large village green (a conservation area) is fringed with Lime trees and is surrounded by older cottages, small Victorian and Edwardian houses, modern shops and local businesses. A Village Fête and funfairs are held there regularly throughout the year.
So, this is where Richard Stannett Andrews was born; illegitimate son of Rebecca Andrews and Richard Stannett.
Wraysbury, 51.456158N 0.555557W, traditionally spelt Wyrardisbury, is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It is located in the very east of the county, in the part that was in Buckinghamshire until 1974. It sits on the northern bank of the River Thames in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and is situated 22 miles (35 km) west of London.
Investigation by Windsor and Wraysbury Archaeological Society of a field in the centre of Wraysbury to the east of St Andrew's church revealed evidence of human activity in Neolithic times. Many hundreds of flint artefacts were found and are now in the care of the Windsor Museum collection.
The village name is Anglo Saxon in origin and means 'Wïgr?d's fort'. Its name is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Wirecesberie and Wiredesbur in 1195. There is a pub across the river in Old Windsor, called the Bells of Ouseley and it has been suggested that this is another archaic spelling of Wraysbury. However a more likely explanation is that it is named after the bells of Osney Abbey which were brought downstream at the dissolution and disappeared into the mud at this point.
The village was a portion of hunting grounds when the Saxons resided at Old Windsor. New Windsor was built in 1110 by King Henry I and he moved in, in 1163. The lands around Wraysbury were held by a number of noblemen.
My interest in Wraybury comes via my 2x gt. grandfather, John Knight.