Contents Buckinghamshire  Nearby Places Moulsoe "This Parish is bounded, on the North, by Newport Pagnell and North Crawley; on the East, by Cranfield, Co. Beds.; on the South, by Broughton; and on the West, by Willen and Middleton Keynes, from which places it is separated by the small river Lovet. The soil is, in general, a deep loam; but in some parts a stiff clay: and the Parish contains about 1600 acres of land; being about eight miles in circumference. The Village stands on a conspicuouseminence declining towards the east. The place is very irregularly built; and the roads in the vicinity were formerly very bad. In 1712, the Parish contained 67 families and 270 inhabitants; but the population, in 1811, was reduced to 243, and has not since materially altered. The Land-tax, in 1712, amounted to 147l. 15s. 6d. at 4s. in the pound; and the Assessment to the Property-Tax, in 1813, to 340l. 12s. 2d." [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, Bucks, Volume 1", Peter Quick.

Return to top of page

Cemeteries

War Memorials

War memorials in Moulsoe have been transcribed by Peter Quick, and published in a booklet entitled "War Memorials and War Graves: Newport Hundred, Bucks, Volume 1", available from the Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society.

Return to top of page

Census

In 1642 there were 70 people named in the tax returns for contributions for Ireland. Between them they were assessed at £3.7.2 1/2 of which sum Mr Caton minister contributed £0.10.0

In 1798 the Posse Comitatus listed 65 men between the ages of 16 and 60 in Moulsoe.

In the earliest government census of 1801, there were 282 inhabitants in 64 families living in 62 houses recorded in Moulsoe.

* = 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 of the Parish Church of St Mary of the Assumption

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 Mary of the Assumption, Moulsoe 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 Moulsoe showed the following numbers:

Return to top of page

History & Descriptions

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

MULSO, in the hundred and deanery of Newport, lies on the borders of Bedfordshire, about three miles south-east of Newport-Pagnell. The manor was anciently in the Giffards, Earls of Buckingham; afterwards successiveley in the families of Cowdray, Talbot, Whittingham, and Verney. Being vested in the crown, (probably by exchange,) it was annexed to the honor of Ampthill, and afterwards granted to Sir John Spencer, from whose family it passed by marriage to the Comptons. It is now the property of Lord Carrington, who purchased it in 1801, of the Earl of Northampton, together with the advowson of the rectory, which formerly belonged to the priory of Goring. An act of parliament, for inclosing the parish, passed in 1802, when an allotment was given in lieu of tithese to the rector, and a deduction made from it, in consideration of its being exonerated from poor-rates: the parish was estimated to contain 1600 acres.

Return to top of page

Names, Geographical

The name Moulsoe derives from old english, being a persons name + hoh, and means 'Mul's spur of land'.

Return to top of page

Photographs

• Buckinghamshire Church 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]