Contents Buckinghamshire  Nearby Places Great Woolstone "Great Woolston, or Wolston, is bounded, on the North, by Little Woolston; on the East, by Middleton Keynes; on the South, by Woughton; and on the West, by Loughton and Bradwell. The two villages of Great and Little Woolston sre situated very near each other, on the road from Fenny-Stratford, through Simpson and Woughton, to Newport Pagnell, on the south side of the Ouse, which, in this part of its course, is extremely irregular. The population of this village, which is situated in a purely agricultural district, amounts, according to the Census of 1841, only to ninety-four individuals; being one of the smallest villages in the County." [The History and Antiquities of the County of Buckingham, by George Lipscomb, 1847]

Bibliography

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.

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Cemeteries

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

• Monumental Inscriptions for Holy Trinity church are in the library* of the Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society.
• War memorials in Great Woolstone have been transcribed by Peter Quick and published by the Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society.

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

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Census

In 1642 there were 24 people named in the tax returns for contributions for Ireland. Between them they were assessed at £1.9.8 of which sum Edw. Puttnam rector and Wm. Chevall both contributed £0.5.0 each.

In 1798 the Posse Comitatus listed 26 men between the ages of 16 and 60 in Great Woolstone.

In the earliest government census of 1801, there were 113 inhabitants in 27 families living in 21 houses recorded in Great Woolstone.

* = 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.

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Church History

• Rectors of the Parish Church of Holy Trinity

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Church Records

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

Many of the registers for Great and Little Woolstone were destroyed in a church fire. Bishops Transcripts are available at the Record Office to cover the earlier 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 Great Woolstone showed the following numbers:

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History & Descriptions

Great Woolstone was described in 1806 in "Magna Britannia" as follows:

WOOLSTON-MAGNA, in the hundred and deanery of Newport, lies three miles south of Newport-Pagnell, on the road to Fenny-Stratford. The manor was anciently in the families of Peyvre and Green, afterwards in the Staffords, from whom it passed by Marriage to the Mordaunts, about the year 1642. It is now the property of William Selby esq. of Winslow, whose ancestor, Mr. Lowndes, became possessed of it about the beginning of the last century.

James Nield esq. is the patron of the rectory. The parish has been inclosed by an act of parliament, passed in 1796, when a corn-rent was settled on the rector in lieu of tithes.

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Names, Geographical

The name Woolstone means 'Wulfsige's farm'. The name Great being used as a distinguishing affix.

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Photographs

• 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

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[Last updated: 3rd January 2003 - Kevin Quick]