Contents Buckinghamshire  Nearby Places Little Missenden "Little Missenden is a village, situated, like Great Missenden, on the same line of road from London, through Uxbridge and Amersham, to Aylesbury, &c. and about two miles nearer Amersham. The Parish is bounded on the North by Great Missenden, on the East by Chesham and part of Amersham, (in Burnham Hundred), on the South by the latter and part of Penn, and on the West by Great Missenden and Hughendon, in Desborough Hundred, the line of division crossing Wycombe Heath. Leland mentions Little Missenden as 'a street a mile and halfe lower, further towards London,' than Great Missenden." [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: Aylesbury Hundred - part three, Risborough, Missendens and their environs, Volume 9", Peter Quick.

Return to top of page

Cemeteries

War Memorials

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

Return to top of page

Census

In 1642 there were 100 people named in the tax returns for contributions for Ireland. Between them they were assessed at £8.11.1 of which sum Mr Francis Style contributed £2.0.0

In 1798 the Posse Comitatus listed 85 men between the ages of 16 and 60 in Little Missenden.

In the earliest government census of 1801, there were 625 inhabitants in 140 families living in 132 houses recorded in Little Missenden.

* = 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.

Return to top of page

Church History

• Rectors & Vicars of the Parish Church of St John the Baptist

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

• Buckinghamshire Stained Glass

Return to top of page

Church Records

The original copies of the parish registers for St John the Baptist, Little Missenden 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 Missenden showed the following numbers:

Return to top of page

History & Descriptions

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

LITTLE-MISSENDEN, in the hundred of Aylesbury and deanery of Wendover, lies about two miles from Great-Missenden, and three from Amersham, on the road to London.

The manor of Beaumont and Afflecks, in this parish, and a manor, which belonged formerly to Missenden abbey, are now the property of Lord Curzon, by inheritance from the Penns. The manor of Maunsells, in this parish, derives its name from an ancient family, who possessed it in the reign of Henry III. It has of late years passed with Shardeloes, and is now the property of Mr. Drake. The manor of Holmer belonged to the Longespees, Earls of Salisbury, and passed, by a female heir, to the Lacys, Earls of Lincoln; it was afterwards given to Burnham abbey: being in the crown in the reign of James I. it was granted in 1623, to Edward Ramsey, whose relation, the Earl of Holderness, sold it to the Styles; it passed afterwards, by a female heir, to the family of Harris, and having since undergone two or three alienations, is now the property of Lord Curzon. The manor of Thorne-Fee, or Brand-Fee, in this parish, which extends to Wycombe heath, was many years in the family of Brand, who possessed it as lately as the year 1791: it is now the property of John Field esq. The Earl of Stirling had a seat at Little-Missenden, in the early part of the last century.

In the parish church are some monuments of the family of Style of Holmer. Lord Curzon has the impropriation of the great tithes, which belonged to Missenden abbey, and is patron of the vicarage.

Return to top of page

Names, Geographical

The name Missenden is thought to possibly derive from the old english words mysse, denu, meaning 'valley where water-plants or marsh-plants grow'. The name Little being used as a distinguishing affix.

Return to top of page

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

Return to top of page

[Last updated: 12th January 2003 - Kevin Quick]