Contents Buckinghamshire  Nearby Places Little Woolstone "Little Woolstone has an area of 631 acres (623 acres of land and 8 acres covered by water), of which 147 are arable land, 1 1/2 are covered by woods and plantations and the remainder laid down in permanent grass. The ground falls from the west, where it rises to 363 ft. above the ordnance datum, to about 200 ft. in the east, where the River Ouzel forms the boundary, and the land is liable to floods. The village lies in the south-east of the parish on the high road from Newport Pagnell to Fenny Stratford and on a road branching east from it. At their junction stands the Manor Farm occupied by Mr. John Sharman." [© 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 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 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

War Memorials

War memorials in Little Woolstone have been transcribed by Peter Quick, and published in a booklet entitled "War Memorials and War Graves: Milton Keynes & Wolverton area, Volume 6", available from the Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society.

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Census

In 1642 there were 19 people named in the tax returns for contributions for Ireland. Between them they were assessed at £2.0.2 of which sum Mr Roger Niccolls contributed £1.0.0

In 1798 the Posse Comitatus listed 25 men between the ages of 16 and 60 in Little Woolstone.

In the earliest government census of 1801, there were 103 inhabitants in 25 families living in 20 houses recorded in Little 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, Little 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 Little Woolstone showed the following numbers:

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History & Descriptions

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

WOOLSTON-PARVA, in the hundred and deanery of Newport, lies near Woolston-Magna, a little more than three miles south of Newport-Pagnell, on the road to Fenny-Stratford. The manor was successively in the families of Paganell, Somery, Coudray, Tyringham, and Broughton. In 1575 it was purchased by the Duncombes, in whose family it continued nearly two centuries: it now belongs to Mr. Smith. Another manor, which was successively in the Giffards, Clares, and Staffords, being part of the honor of Gloucester, was some years ago in the family of Neale: It has since been the property of Sir John Riddell, and now belongs to Mr. Hanscomb of Newport.

The advowson of the rectory belonged formerly to the priory of Cumbwell, in Kent: it is now in the crown. This parish has been inclosed by an act of parliament, passed in 1791: the lands were not exonerated from tithes.

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Names, Geographical

The name Woolstone means 'Wulfsige's farm'. The name Little 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: 12th January 2003 - Kevin Quick]