Contents Buckinghamshire  Nearby Places Little Linford "Little Linford is bounded, on the North, by Gayhurst; on the East, by Newport Pagnell; on the South, by Stanton-Barry; and on the West, by Haversham: the River Ouse forming its boundary-line towards the east, south, and south-west. It is situated about a mile and a half north-west of Newport Pagnell; and probably derived its name from a ford over a brook, which anciently might have borne the name of Lin. This place, though, as to Ecclesiastical Rights, was originally only a Chapelry to Newport; yet, as to Temporal matters, was distinct from it, and possessed by different Lords or proprietors. On compiling Domesday Book, in 1082, it was reputed a Manor, although valued lower than any parish in this division, and which then consisted of three separate and distinct Hundreds, now united into one, and fixed at Newport, the principal Town in the district." [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: Newport Hundred, Volume 1", Peter Quick.

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Cemeteries

• War memorials in Little Linford have been transcribed by Peter Quick, and published in a booklet entitled "War Memorials and War Graves: Newport Hundred, Volume 1", available from the Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society.
• War memorial details are also available online on the Roll of Honour web site.

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Census

In 1642 there were 23 people named in the tax returns for contributions for Ireland. Between them they were assessed at £1.13.4 of which sum Daniel Smith contributed £0.6.8

In 1798 the Posse Comitatus listed 8 men between the ages of 16 and 60 in Little Linford.

In the earliest government census of 1801, there were 44 inhabitants in 8 families living in 8 houses recorded in Little Linford.

* = 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.
  • Little Linford transcript published by Buckinghamshire Family History Society.

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Church History

• Curates of the Parish Church of St Leonard

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Church Records

The original copies of the parish registers for St Leonard, Little Linford 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 Little Linford showed the following numbers:

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History & Descriptions

Little Linford was described in 1806 in "Magna Britannia" as follows:

LITTLE LINFORD, in the hundred and deanery of Newport, lies about three miles to the north-west of Newport-Pagnell. The manor was anciently in the Pagnells, from whom it passed, by female heirs, to the families of Somery, Botetort, Burnell and Bermingham. Having been purchased of the last-mentioned family, by the Botelers, it passed with Great Linford, till about the year 1658, when it was purchased of the Thompsons, by Kilpin and others, and by them sold to an ancestor of the present proprietor, the Rev. Primat Knapp, who is patron of the curacy.

The church of Little Linford, now a separate parish, was formerly a chapel of ease to Newport-Pagnell, and was given by the Pagnells to Tickford Priory. The inhabitants of Little Linford bury their dead at Haversham, excepting the family of the lord of the manor, for whom there are some monuments in the church.

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Names, Geographical

The name Linford derives from the old english hlymn-ford meanin 'ford by the stream or pool'. The name Little being used as a distinguishing affix.

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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: 1st February 2004 - Kevin Quick]