1850-1900 Prestwood
The following item has been provided by Anne Holmes who developed a dissertation in support of a Postgraduate Certificate in Genealogical Studies at the University of Strathclyde.
THE COMMUNITY OF PRESTWOOD, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE:
A NEW PARISH AND ITS PEOPLE 1850-1900
Abstract: Prestwood, a new parish
….The District is about to be formed in to a separate Incumbency, and will embrace portions of the parishes of Hughenden, Missenden and Stoke Mandeville. Here the people have been hitherto almost wholly deprived of the means of grace, in consequence of the distance from their respective churches, as well as the badness of the roads…” 27th Oct 1849, Bucks Herald
The new parish church of Holy Trinity, Prestwood had been consecrated in 1849. The Ecclesiastical Parish of Prestwood was formed in 1852 out of portions of the three parishes mentioned. Map 1 (Appendix 1) shows a simplified version of the area of the new parish based on the original 1850 map. Map 2 shows a photograph of the original 1850 parish map. Map 3 shows the nucleus of the village in 1850, the boundaries of the old parishes and some of the plot numbers related to the census information.
The aim of this study is to discover how the identity of the parish of Prestwood evolved in the second half of the nineteenth century and how the nature of the parish, it’s people, their origins and the occupations they pursued changed during this period. Both qualitative and quantitative techniques were used in this process.
Aims and strategy
An independent census of Prestwood had been commissioned by the Anglican church in February 1850 in light of the birth of this new parish. This census plus the associated map has been chosen as the starting point for this study; firstly because it gives the most accurate figure for the population of Prestwood as a collective community at that time and secondly for the additional genealogical information the 1850 census provides that cannot be found in the government census of 1851. The data from this independent census was transcribed as originally recorded (Appendix 2), however place of origin of individuals was not part of the census. Using the government census of the following year place of origin, where it could be found, was added to the 1850 census transcription in order to extract information about the percentage of people who were born locally. As a comparison at the end of the nineteenth century data from the 1891 census was also used to compare the origin and other pertinent data of Prestwood people. The 1901 census could also have been chosen but as the 1891 census was more accessible, it has been transcribed by the Bucks Genealogical Society, and the difference in population between 1891 and 1901 was only 10 persons, the use of the 1891 census was considered acceptable. The genealogical information for the family case study and associated pedigree chart (Appendix 3a/b) has been extracted from original parish registers where possible. The General Record Office Indexes of Births, Marriages and Deaths and the general census returns 1851 to 1901 via Ancestry.com online were also used. Where the genealogical information is not certain it has been omitted.
The full dissertation is available by clicking on the button below. This will open a PDF file. Close the window to return to here.
Copyright statement
The copyright of this project belongs to the author under the terms of the United Kingdom Copyright Acts as qualified by University of Strathclyde Regulation 3.50. Due acknowledgement must always be made of the use of any material contained in, or derived from, this written work.