Contents Buckinghamshire  Nearby Places Hughenden "Hughenden, Hugenden, Hitchenden, or Huchedene, is bounded, on the North, by Hampden, Great and Little Missenden, Penn, and Amersham; on the East, by Amersham; on the South, by High Wycombe; and on the West, by West Wycombe and Bradenham. The Hundred of Aylesbury extends over about half of the Parish; but the Church, Manor-House, and Village, are situated in the Desborough Hundred, southward of that line of division. The Parish altogether comprises, according to Mr. Langley, 7200 acres; of which 5500 are arable, 200 pasture, 1100 woodland, and 600 common." [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 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: Aylesbury Hundred, part 3 - Risboroughs, Missendens and their environs, Volume 9", 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 St Michael & All Angels church are in the library* of the Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society.
• War memorials in Hughenden 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 1798 the Posse Comitatus listed 94 men between the ages of 16 and 60 in Hughenden.

In the earliest government census of 1801, there were 887 inhabitants in 182 families living in 129 houses recorded in Hughenden.

* = 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 & Vicars of the Parish Church of St Michael & All Angels

Details of the stained glass in the church can be found on the following web sites (the site includes many photos):

• Buckinghamshire Stained Glass

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Church Records

The original copies of the parish registers for St Michael & All Angels, Hughenden 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 Hughenden showed the following numbers:

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History & Descriptions

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

HITCHENDEN, in the hundred of Desborough and deanery of Wycombe, lies scarcely two miles north of High-Wycombe. The manor having been part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, half-brother to William the Conqueror,was granted by Henry I. to his chamberlain, Geffrey de Clinton, and by him given to the prior and convent of Kenilworth. In 1540 it was granted by King Henry VIII. to Sir Robert Dormer, from whose family it passed by a female heir to the Stanhopes. About the year 1738, Sir William Stanhope sold the manor and advowson of Hitchenden to Charles Savage esq. whose niece, Ellen, Countess Dowager of Conyngham, is the present proprietor, and resides in the manor-house. The manor of Ravensmere in this parish, which lies in the hundred of Aylesbury, was anciently in the family of Albini, from whom it descended, through heirs female, to the Fitzalans, Arundels, and Dormers: it is now the property of Lord Dormer. The manor of Overhall and Pigots in Hitchenden, belonged successively to the families of Morton, Sydenham, and Hampden; it is now the property of Lord Hampden. The abbot and convent of Missenden had a manor in this parish; what became of it after the dissolution, we have not been able to ascertain: it is not improbable that it was the manor of Uphall, which belonged to the Lanes, in the early part of the last century; we could not learn who is the present proprietor of this estate. A manor within the manor of Hitchenden, belonging to Mr. Lloyd, was advertised for sale in the month of November 1804.

In the parish church are some ancient tombs, with figures in basso-relievo, supposed to have been intended for some of the posterity of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, who assumed the name of Wellesbourn. The arms on the shields are, 1. Gul. A lion rampant, with two tails, Arg. Devouring a man-child, Mountfort, Earl of Leicester. 2. Arg. A lion rampant, devouring a child, within an orle of cross-crosslets, Sable. - Mountfort of Warwickshire. 3. Bendy of ten. Or and Gul. Mountfort of Beldesert. 4. Gul. A Griffin segreant devouring a child Or, - A chief Checky, Or and Az. Over all a bend Ermine - Wellesbourn. One of the figures is very fair, and represents a crusader in a coat of mail: the others are of ruder workmanship; one of these represents an armed man, with a sword in one hand and a cross in the other. The descendants of Simon de Mountfort are said by tradition to have lived at a house in this parish, called Wreck-hall, in the windows of which were formerly the same coats of arms which occur on the tombs in the church. Under an arch in the south wall of the chapel, in which are the above-mentioned tombs, lies an emaciated figure, in a shroud, on an altar tomb: the shields on this monument are all plain.

The great tithes, which were appropriated to the prior and convent of Kenilworth, are now the property of Lady conyngham, who is patroness of the vicarage.

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Names, Geographical

The name Hughenden is believed to derive from the old english Hycgan-denu, and means 'Hycga's valley'.

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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: 11th January 2003 - Kevin Quick]