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News

Edward Winslow's English Origins
The Road to Kempsey: Volume one of two, by Liam Donnelly, a new publication in 2022
Liam Donnelly has traced the origins of Edward Winslow, one of the Pilgrim Fathers, back to Medieval Winslow.
Click here for the flyer with full details of the book.
Copies of Liam's book are available for £20 plus postage: contact him through Winslowgov@icloud.com.

HOW ONE MAN TRANSFORMED A TOWN:
WINSLOW 1640–1770 AND WILLIAM LOWNDES

Why does Winslow Hall dwarf the rest of the town? Why is there a vast open space in front of it? Why has Winslow got so many houses with a mixture of architectural styles from different centuries? Why are all the farmhouses hidden away in the fields?

This book tries to answer those questions, starting with Winslow in the 1640s when it was a town of small-scale farmers and craftsmen and had two visits from Oliver Cromwell. William Lowndes went off to London in 1667 and soon made enough money to start buying up land in Winslow and knocking down houses. He turned the town into a place where one family owned most of the land, and built a mansion in a style Winslow people had never seen. Meanwhile the Baptists became very influential for a time and built their own meeting house. Lowndes family money helped to create a town full of doctors and lawyers who modernised their houses, and the market and turnpike road provided business for inns and shops. The open fields were enclosed and farmers moved out into newly built farmhouses.

The book’s 386 pages also include ten detailed studies of Winslow families and 28 photos and maps. It is available from the Bucks Archaeological Society (https://bas1.org.uk/) for £11 + £3.50 p&p. If you’re in Winslow you can get it for £11 direct from David Noy (16 McLernon Way, tel.711683, d.noy@btinternet.com).

The Bucks Family History Society has published a transcription of the Winslow parish registers 1560-1901 on CD-ROM: click here to order

A transcription of the Winslow Congregational registers, with lists of members and abstracts of some minutes, is now available from the Eureka Partnership.

Winslow books for sale:

David Noy, Winslow in 1556: The Survey of the Manor (Bucks Archaeological Society, 2013): £5
David Noy, Winslow Manor Court Books 1327-1377 and 1423-1460 (2 vols, Bucks Record Society, 2011): £10 (drastically reduced price)
Alan Wigley, A Window on Winslow (Winslow, 1981): £5 - this contains many historical photos of Winslow

Please contact d.noy@btinternet.com for more information.

Additions to website

26 April 2024	Board of Guardians: minutes from 1851 and outdoor relief orders
22-23 April	1921 Census added to: Blake House, Western House, Church Street, Tennis Lane, Vicarage Road, Vicarage, Western Lane, Tinkers End, Tuckey Farm
14 April	Article about Winslow Hall from Country Life, 1951: the author regarded the attribution to Christopher Wren as nearly certain, and described the appearance of the Hall in 1951
12 April	Will of John Varney, veterinary surgeon, 1921: parish councillor and builder of Newlands, 30 Station Road
6 April	Public Hall: public meeting in 1945 about turning the Oddfellows' Hall into a community centre Alehouse Recognizances: now complete for 1794-1820
30 March	Will of Joseph Cox of Little Horwood, baker, 1708 (proved 1708/9) Will of Robert Grainge of Little Horwood, esquire, 1741/2 (proved 1750): this will, which lists a huge number of distant relatives, was contested
26 March	Winslow road names updated
19 March	Workhouse and Board of Guardians: information from 1850-51 added, including more about the James Spicer affair and trouble with "refractory" inmates
15 March	Will of Thomas Adams of Little Horwood, yeoman, 1657 Will of Robert Hawkins of Little Horwood, husbandman, 1657
14 March	Outdoor relief for Winslow paupers, 1849-51 Pages for The Greyhound and 30 High Street reorganised with a new theory about where the Greyhound was
6 March	Keach's Meeting House: church re-formed, 1862, and accounts 1916-17
5 March	Winslow Almanac, Handbook, and Diary for 1910: detailed description of the town and a large number of adverts for local shops
29 Feb	1919 Parish Council election: Winslow elected its first Labour council, but the result was reversed when a poll was called
25 Feb	Keach's Meeting House: new information 1812-1853 Will of John Walker, greengrocer, 1912, and sale of 82-84 High Street
18 Feb	Attempted murder, 1860 updated
15 Feb	List of Winslow pupils at the Royal Latin School, Buckingham (1907-22)
11 Feb	Workhouse: Guardians' minutes about the James Spicer scandal (1850) Keach's Meeting House: account of events c.1807-1812 Will of John Illing of Little Horwood, yeoman, 1609
7-8 Feb	Board of Guardians: minutes and orders for outdoor relief, 1849-50
3-4 Feb	Land Tax Assessment, 1832: extensive list of owners and occupiers of houses and land Fire insurance policies from 1742 for John Budd, William Firth Bucks County Council election, 1907: a Conservative win, reversing the previous trend Winslow RDC election, 1907: with a poem Winslow Hall: Agricultural Show, 1907 News from 1907 about: The Swan, water supply, Shipton, tennis Map of the proposed Relief Road (1980s) 1871: sale of land by trustees of George West
31 Jan	News from 1907 about Winslow Hall, telephone service, Flower Show, Workhouse, Market Square well, church 'Don' Slate Club: a new mutual aid society with 50 members
30 Jan	News from 1907 about Oddfellows Hall, Winslow United FC, hockey, tennis, Evening School, 14-16 Church Street Workhouse: appointment of new master and matron School: installation of a new flagstaff Evangelical tent mission in the Flower Show field Sale by executors of James & Elizabeth East: 9 Station Road, 60 & 124 High Street
25 Jan	Bull Inn: fire in 1928 Silvanus Jones: anecdotes about the Three Pigeons and the Northampton Mercury in the 1830s Henry Arthur Jones: obituary; sale of remaining property (1929)
23-24 Jan	Board of Guardians: additions to minutes 1841-43 Henry Rodwell, protester and emigrant (1811-1898)
14 Jan	Workhouse: the scandal of James Spicer the master, who embezzled funds and suffered from "alcoholic mania". The inspector's notes also point out that it will cost 33s 9d per week to keep a family in the Workhouse where they could stay in their own home if the father was paid 9s a week for his work as a farm labourer.
9 Jan	Workhouse: another complaint from some paupers, this time about bad sanitation and a collapsing wall Return of emigrants assisted to go to Australia by Poor Law funds, 1848-49: the Goodger and Budd families
7 Jan	New page: 28-30 High Street. T.P. Willis turned some older properties (including a short-lived inn called the Black Bull) into his house and offices, "The Elms". In 1939 it was occupied by Czechoslovakian refugees.
4-5 Jan	Lawsuit from 1481 concerning John Worsop Lawsuit between Henry Hughes and Robert Gibbs, 1664 Lawsuit between John Pearse and William Hogson, 1664 Silvanus Jones: picture added Fire insurance: list of Royal & Sun Alliance policies, 1787-93
3 Jan	Board of Guardians: orders for outdoor relief 1841-44
31 Dec 2023	Workhouse: appointment of schoolmistress and inspection of schoolmaster ("improvement required") (1849) Case of debt involving Robert Lowndes (father of William) in 1664; the money was borrowed in 1659
28 Dec	Workhouse: letter of complaint sent by some paupers to the Poor Law Commissioners describing conditions; the Guardians blamed it all on a Chartist agitator (1849) New information about the suicide of William Wilson (1829) New information about the estate of Thomas Wilson of Shipton (d.1804)
24 Dec	Tennis: Winslow beat Vale of Aylesbury, 1903 Station Road: sale of clover and grass, 1908
19 Dec	Board of Guardians: minutes June 1840 - March 1841, including a surprising amount of outdoor relief
12 Dec	Will of William Ingram, butcher, 1922 (proved 1928): owner of 12 High Street and Staniford House Will of Mildred Sleath Jones, 1940 (proved 1949): owner of 20 Horn Street
9-10 Dec	Will of Frances Hickox, widow, 1902 (proved 1916) Will of Fanny Clara Hickox, spinster, 1920 (proved 1940) - both lived at 20 Horn Street Will of Elizabeth East, widow, 1903 (proved 1907): of Chesham House, 160 High Street
8 Dec	New page: 20 Horn Street: history of the house and site from late 17th century to 1949
6 Dec	More correspondence of Viscount Fermanagh with Robert Lowndes and Nicholas Merwin, 1712-13 Dismissal of excise officer, 1713
3 Dec	General election, 1906: a Liberal victory despite a lot of Conservative activity at Winslow Blackberry trade (1900-06) Hockey match, 1906: the first one recorded in Winslow Miles Charity: distribution of coal, flannel and blankets in 1906
1 Dec	School sports 1906: held at the cricket ground in Buckingham Road 15 Market Square: clearance sale for H. Horwood, special offer on corsets Flower Show: held in 1906 on "Winslow Hall Cricket Ground"