Contents Buckinghamshire  Nearby Places Shenley (including Shenley Church End and Shenley Brook End) "The townshipof Shenley Church End, containing about 2900 acres is situated in Newport hundred, but the hamlet of Shenley Brook End, consisting of about 1590 acres, is locally situated in the hundred of Cottesloe. The rateable value of the township is £2907; that of the hamlet is £1458. The population of Shenley with Tattenhoe is, at present 353 souls. The soil is a sandy clay, and in some parts of a deep feruginous or ochreous tint. The Village of Shenley Church End is small and pleasantly seated in a well wooded district. It is distant 3 1/2 miles N.W. from Fenny Stratford. Shenley Brook End is a scattered hamlet nearly one mile southward." [History and Topography of Buckinghamshire, by James Joseph Sheahan, 1862]

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.
"History and Topography of Buckinghamshire", Sheahan, James Joseph, 1862
"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, Volume 6", Peter Quick.

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Cemeteries

• War memorials in Shenley have been transcribed by Peter Quick, and published in a booklet entitled "War Memorials and War Graves: Milton Keynes & Wolverton, Volume 6", 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 the 1642 tax returns for contributions for Ireland, there were 42 people named for Shenley Brook End, and 45 people named for Shenley Church End. In Shenley Brook End they were assessed at £2.13.2 of which sum William Dudley contributed £0.10.0. In Shenley Church End they were assessed at £1.14.9 of which sum John Parratte contributed £0.10.0

In 1798 the Posse Comitatus listed the following numbers of men between the ages of 16 and 60: Shenley Brook End - 43, Shenley Church End - 54

In the earliest government census of 1801, there were the following numbers of people:

• Shenley Brook End - 232 inhabitants in 46 families living in 32 houses
• Shenley Church End - 166 *** inhabitants in 48 families living in 31 houses

* = 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.
*** = The Population figure for 1801 in Magna Britannia, differs from that given in the Victoria County History.

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 Mary

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Church Records

The original copies of the parish registers for St Mary, Shenley have been deposited in the Buckinghamshire Record Office in Aylesbury, and they hold the following years:

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 Shenley showed the following numbers:

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History & Descriptions

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

SHENLEY, in the hundred and deanery of Newport, lies between three and four miles from Stony-Stratford, near the great road to London. The manor of Church-end in this parish, was in the reign of King Edward I. in the family of Vache, from whom it passed by an heir female to the Greys. Sir Giles Daubeny purchased it of Lord Grey of Wilton in 1505, and, in 1520, sold it to the Pigots. Having been vested in the crown by an exchange, this manor was granted, in 1563, to the Ashfields, from whom it passed by marriage to the Fortescues and Whorwoods. It is now the property of the Rev. Primatt Knapp, whose ancestors purchased it of the Whorwoods in 1696.

The manor of Brook-end, or Shenley-Mansell, has been held with Church-end ever since the year 1426. It had formerly been in the Beauchamps, and on the attainder of Thomas Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, was granted, in 1397, to Thomas Mowbray, afterwards Duke of Norfolk.

The manor of Westbury, in this parish, was anciently in the family of Fitz-Eustace. In the reign of King Henry IV. it became the property of the Staffords of Totenhoe, and now belongs to William Selby esq. of Winslow, whose ancestor, Mr. Lowndes, purchase it of the Staffords in 1695. Mr. Selby has also the manor of Giffords in this parish.

In the parish church is a handsome monument for Thomas Stafford esq. of Totenhoe, who died in 1607. He founded an alms-house at this place, and endowed it with 35 l. per annum for four men and two women, the men to be allowed 1s. 9d. each weekly, and the women 1s. 2d.; the sum of 13s. 4d. to be allowed yearly for the men's and 8s. 6d. for the women's clothing.

Mr. Knapp is patron of the rectory and incumbent. Certain fields within the manor of Shenley-Brook-end were inclosed by an act of parliament passed in 1761, and an allotment of land was assigned to the rector in lieu of tithes.

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Names, Geographical

The name Shenley derives from the old english words sciene + leah, and means 'bright clearing'.

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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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Taxation

Shenley Brook End

• Poll Tax 1641 Cotteslow Hundred has been published by the Buckinghamshire Family History Society

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[Last updated: 1st February 2004 - Kevin Quick]