Contents Buckinghamshire  Nearby Places North Crawley (including Little Crawley) "This parish covers 3366 acres, of which 1130 acres are arable, 1660 permanent grass and only 42 woods and plantations. The soil is strong clay, the subsoil clay, and the chief crops wheat, oats and beans. It has a general level of 300 ft. to 350 ft. above the ordnance datum, and its northern boundary as well as the western for a considerable distance is formed by the Chicheley Brook. The division of the parish into Great and Little Crawley had been effected as early as 1197, and the designation of North Crawley was not applied to the more important part until the 15th century." [© 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: Newport Hundred, Bucks, Volume 1", Peter Quick.

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Cemeteries

• War memorials in North Crawley 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.
• War memorial details are also available online on the Roll of Honour web site.

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Census

In 1642 there were 74 people named in the tax returns for contributions for Ireland. Between them they were assessed at £16.9.8 of which sum Thomas White gent contributed £5.0.0

In 1798 the Posse Comitatus listed the following numbers of men between the ages of 16 and 60: 136 in North Crawley and 21 in Little Crawley

In the earliest government census of 1801, there were 617 inhabitants in 129 families living in 75 houses recorded in North Crawley.

* = 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 St Firmin

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

• Buckinghamshire Stained Glass

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Church Records

The original copies of the parish registers for St Firmin, North Crawley 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 North Crawley showed the following numbers:

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History & Descriptions

North Crawley was described in 1806 in "Magna Britannia" as follows:

NORTH-CRAWLEY, in the hundred and deanery of Newport, lies about three miles and a half to the west of Newport-Pagnell, on the borders of Bedfordshire. At this place was an ancient monastery, dedicated to St. Firmin, which is mentioned in the Survey of Domesday; it was destroyed or fell to decay so long before the general dissolution of monasteries, that no notice of it has been found in any records subsequent to the above-mentioned survey. There are three manors in this parish, all of which are now the property of William Lowndes Stone esq. [Footnote: An act of parliament, passed in 1755, to enable William Lowndes esq. to take the name of Stone, in addition to that of Lowndes.] of Brightwell, in Oxfordshire. The principal of these, called the manor of Great-Crawley, was held under the honor of Gloucester, by the Filiols, and passed by female heirs to the families of Bohun, Owen, and Southwell. It was purchased of the latter in the reign of King Henry VIII. by Sir Robert Dormer, and of his descendants in 1704, by Francis Duncombe, who sold it to William Lowndes esq. in 1724. A second manor (now called Broughtons) was in the family of Broughton from 1219 to 1529. It passed afterwards by successive purchases to the families of Morton, Stanton, Knight, and Gregory: the heirs of Gregory sold it to Mr. Lowndes. The Manor of Hellows belonged successively to the Latimers and Nevilles, and was at a later period in the families of Apreece, Smith, and Duncombe: Mr. Lowndes purchased of the Duncombes.

The parish church is a spacious and handsome Gothic structure, dedicated to St. Firmin, the patron of the ancient monastery at this place; the chancel was built by Peter de Guildford, rector of the parish, who died in 1321. Under the east window on the outside is the following inscription:

"Petrus cancellum tibi dat Firmine novellum
Ut cum lauderis Deo, Petri memories."

In the chancel are some memorials of the family of Hacket; the rood-loft remains, between the nave and chancel: the screen is of wood, richly carved and decorated with figures of saints, &c. under Gothic canopies.

The advowson of the rectory, which was formerly in the families of Hacket and Carew, is now the property of Mr. Lowndes Stone. This parish has been inclosed by an act of parliament, passed in 1772, when an allotment of land was assigned to the rector, in lieu of tithes.

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Names, Geographical

The name Crawley derives from the old english crawe + leah, and means 'Crow-clearing'. The addition of the word North is self explanatory.

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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: 1st February 2004 - Kevin Quick]