Contents Buckinghamshire  Nearby Places Ilmer "The parish of Ilmer, having an extent of a little over 753 acres, lies low, to the north-west of the Chiltern Hills. The land is lowest, under 200 ft. above the ordnance datum, in the south, where two streams cross the parish flowing in a north-westerly direction. Towards the north and east the land rises, especially in the latter district, in which the village is situated and where a height of 282 ft. is reached. The village itself is small and compact, the church of St. Peter standing to the north-east. Near by is the manor-house, now occupied as a farm." [© copyright of the editors of The Victoria Histories of the Counties of England]

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.
"Dictionary of English Place-Names", A.D. Mills, Oxford University Press, 1997, ISBN 0 19 28131 3
"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

War Memorials

War memorials in Ilmer have been transcribed by Peter Quick, and published in a booklet entitled "War Memorials and War Graves: Aylesbury Hundred, part 3 - Risboroughs, Missendens and their environs, Volume 9", available from the Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society.

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Census

In 1798 the Posse Comitatus listed 23 men between the ages of 16 and 60 in Ilmer.

In the earliest government census of 1801, there were 74 inhabitants in 13 families living in 13 houses recorded in Ilmer.

* = 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

• Vicars of the Parish Church of St Peter

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Church Records

The original copies of the parish registers for St Peter, Ilmer 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 Ilmer showed the following numbers:

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History & Descriptions

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

ILMER, in the hundred of Ashendon and deanery of Waddesdon, lies on the borders of Oxfordshire, about five miles east of Thame. The manor was anciently in the families of Molins and Hastings; afterwards in the Dormers, who held it by the service of being marshall of the king's falcons. In an abstract of the king's revenue, printed at the end of a work, entitled "The first fourteen years of King James I." Lord Dormer is stiled master falconer to the king, within the manor of Elmer, in Buckinghamshire, with a fee of 27 l. 7s. 6d. per annum. From the Dormers this manor passed by a female heir to the noble family of Stanhope; it is now the property of the Earl of Chesterfield.

The great tithes, which were formerly appropriated to the nunnery of Studley, in Oxfordshire, belong now to the Earl of Chesterfield, who is patron of the vicarage.

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Names, Geographical

The name Ilmer means either 'boundary or mere of Ylla', or another version is 'pool where leeches are found'.

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Photographs

• Buckinghamshire Church 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]