Catalogue description Buckingham Borough

This record is held by Buckinghamshire Archives

Details of B/Buc
Reference: B/Buc
Title: Buckingham Borough
Description:

B/Buc/1. Borough Charters 1553/4, 1684

 

B/Buc/2. Borough Lease 1574-1772

 

B/Buc/3. Corporation Records 1567-1835

 

B/Buc/4. Borough Council Records 1835-1974

 

B/Buc/5. Quarter Sessions Records 1598-1890

 

B/Buc/6. Other Borough Court Records 1534-1814

 

B/Buc/7. Records of Parliamentary Elections 1756-1913

 

B/Buc/8. Title deeds, miscellaneous properties 1464-1896

 

Class lists of B/Buc/3-8 follow:

 

B/Buc/3. Corporation Records, 1567-1835

 

B/Buc/3/1. Memoranda and register book, 1567-1835

 

B/Buc/3/2. Precedents book, 1608-1767

 

B/Buc/3/3. Ordinances, 1690/1

 

B/Buc/3/4-12. Borough elections and appointments, 1688-1835 (including poll books, 1791-1835)

 

B/Buc/3/13. Addresses, 1683-1822

 

B/Buc/3/14. Petition, 1821

 

B/Buc/3/15. Charities, (1760)-C19

 

B/Buc/4. Borough Council Records, 1835-1974

 

Minutes and Orders

 

B/Buc/4/1 Minutes, 1835-1974

 

B/Buc/4/2. Day books (draft, minutes), 1839-72

 

B/Buc/4/3. Watch committee minutes, 1836-49

 

B/Buc/4/4. Attendance register, 1966-72

 

B/Buc/4/5. Bye-laws and orders, 1836-1939

 

Burgess Lists

 

B/Buc/4/6. Burgess lists, 1835-1914

 

B/Buc/4/7. Draft burgess lists, 1866-1913

 

Borough Elections and Appointments

 

B/Buc/4/8. Aldermen, 1850-1901

 

B/Buc/4/9. Councillors, 1849-91

 

B/Buc/4/10. Auditors and assessors, 1849-64

 

B/Buc/4/11-14. Misc. appointments, 1863-76

 

B/Buc/4/15. Declarations on acceptance of office, 1835-1973

 

Mortgages

 

B/Buc/4/16,17. Mortgages, 1878-1928

 

Legal Papers

 

B/Buc/4/18. Counsel's opinion, 1848

 

Town Clerk

 

B/Buc/4/19. Letter books, 1850-1927

 

B/Buc/4/19A. Filing, [1923]-1963

 

B/Buc/4/20. Bridges, 1742-1852

 

B/Buc/4/21. Public health, 1840-49

 

B/Buc/4/22. Planning, 1961-63

 

B/Buc/4/23. Addresses, 1844, 1937

 

B/Buc/4/24. Archives: lists and notes, 1818-1965

 

B/Buc/4/25-34. Correspondence and administration, 1837-1966

 

Treasurer

 

B/Buc/4/35. Statments of accounts, 1839/40, 1964-65

 

B/Buc/4/36. Borough Fund, 1867-92

 

B/Buc/4/37. Accounts, 1949-68

 

B/Buc/4/38. Accounts - Housing, 1920-69

 

B/Buc/4/39. Rates books, 1916-63

 

B/Buc/4/40. Valuations, 1956-73

 

Police

 

B/Buc/4/41. Report books, 1838-88

 

Gaol

 

B/Buc/4/42. Plans, administrative records, 1839-89

 

Fire Brigade

 

B/Buc/4/43. Papers, 1858-60

 

Lighting Inspectors

 

B/Buc/4/44. Bank books, 1872-93

 

Urban Sanitary Authority

 

B/Buc/4/45. Waterworks: papers, bank book, 1890-96

 

Medical Officer of Health

 

B/Buc/4/46. Register of notifications, 1946-74

 

B/Buc/4/47. Public Health notices, 1913-15

 

Surveyor

 

B/Buc/4/48. Tingewick Road housing estate, 1938-46

 

Miscellaneous

 

B/Buc/4/49. Schools [C19]

 

B/Buc/4/50. Parish, 1917

 

B/Buc/4/51. Celebrations and events, 1935-54

 

B/Buc/4/52. Newspapers (various)

 

B/Buc/4/53. Official guides and street plans

 

B/Buc/4/54. Photographs

 

B/Buc/4/55. Buckingham Fat Stock Society, 1930-73

 

B/Buc/4/56. Publications

 

B/Buc/4/57. Acts of Parliament

 

B/Buc/4/58. Personal (F.G. Varney)

 

B/Buc/4/59. Miscellaneous

 

B/Buc/5. Borough Quarter Sessions Records

 

B/Buc/5/1. Order books, 1598-1607, 1748-1828

 

B/Buc/5/2. Sessions 'rolls', 1781-1837

 

B/Buc/5/3. Register of committals, 1827-37

 

B/Buc/5/4. Warrants, 1832-38

 

B/Buc/5/5. Alehouse recognizances, 1790-1843

 

B/Buc/5/6. Oaths and sacraments, 1755-1843

 

B/Buc/5/7. Printing press, 1799

 

B/Buc/5/8. Deposited plans, 1814, 1823

 

B/Buc/5/9. Savings Bank rules, 1818, 1833

 

B/Buc/5/10. Highways Sessions, order book, 1759-1843

 

B/Buc/5/11. Appointment, clerk of the peace, 1817

 

B/Buc/5/12. Grant to the Reformed Borough, 1836

 

B/Buc/5/13. Commissions of the Peace, 1852, 1878

 

[For commissions 1651, 1659, see Q/CP/B]

 

B/Buc/5/14. Revocation of Grant, 1890

 

B/Buc/6. Borough Court Records

 

B/Buc/6/1. Court of Portmote, Three Weeks Court, and views of frankpledge, 1534-61, 1781-1829

 

B/Buc/6/2. Court of Record, 1841

 

B/Buc/7. Records of Parliamentary Elections

 

B/Buc/7/1. Poll books, 1832-37

 

B/Buc/7/2-6. Registers of elections, 1832-97

 

B/Buc/7/7. Election indentures, 1756, 1852

 

B/Buc/7/8,9. Election papers, 1762-1859

 

B/Buc/7/10. Oaths, mid C19

 

B/Buc/8. Deeds

 

Corporation/Council properties

 

B/Buc/8/1. Miscellaneous:

 

Corporation properties, also property of Bagot's Charity

 

1684-1893

 

B/Buc/8/2. Property in North East End, Buckingham

 

1703-1896

 

B/Buc/8/3. Butcher's Shambles, Buckingham 1783

 

B/Buc/8/4. Land in Maids Moreton 1892

 

Property not identifiable as belonging to Corporation/Council

 

B/Buc/8/5. Prebend of Sutton cum Buckingham (1547-1613)

 

[copies]

 

B/Buc/8/6. Vicarage of Buckingham also misc. records re vicarage

 

1613-1676

 

(1341/2)-1815

 

B/Buc/8/7. Property in Well Street, Buckingham 1464-1504

 

B/Buc/8/8. Cock Inn, Market Hill, Buckingham 1584-1699

 

B/Buc/8/9. Miscellaneous: properties in Buckingham (including the Ship), Maids Moreton, Whaddon and Siresham (Northants)

 

1675-1780

 

B/Buc/8/10. Land in Preston Bissett 1768

Date: 1554-1974
Arrangement:

The records of the borough have been divided into those of the corporation before 1835 (B/Buc/3) and those of the reformed council, 1835-1974 (B/Buc/4). The charters and the lease have been put into separate sections at the beginning of the catalogue (B/Buc/1,2).

 

Separate sections have also been created at the end of the list for quarter sessions (B/Buc/5), other borough courts (B/Buc/6), records relating to parliamentary elections (B/Buc/7) and deeds (B/Buc/8) since these all straddle the 1835 dividing-line.

 

When the Record Office classification scheme for borough and district council records (pre-1974) was devised, it had been intended eventually to allocate to Buckingham borough the reference MB1. However it became apparent in the course of listing, that the classification scheme did not suit a collection of greater scope and diversity than the records of an urban or rural district council or a borough of more modern creation. The Buckingham borough records have therefore been given the reference B/Buc.

Related material:

Records added to Archdeacon and Co. Deposit (D/AR)

 

The following records have been added to those of Archdeacon and Co. (D/AR) on the grounds that they have no identifiable connection with the Borough and are presumed to have strayed from Archdeacon's records. This provenance should not be regarded as proven, however.

 

AR29/74 New Ref. no.

 

125. Gawcott and Prebend End inclosure map, 1803 D/AR5/9

 

AR 81/75 New Ref.no.

 

6. Akeley: arbitrators' declarations, 1818, 1838 D/AR5/10,11

 

7. Delap estate, C19 D/AR4/44-47

 

8-14. Manor of Prebend, C18, C19 D/AR2/52-62

 

15,16. Conservative Association, C19 D/AR6/41,42

 

17,18. Agricultural Protection Society, 1844-52 D/AR6/47,48

 

19,20. Registers of electors, C19 D/AR6/43-46

 

21. Newspapers, C19, C20 D/AR1/10/1-12

Held by: Buckinghamshire Archives, not available at The National Archives
Language: English
Creator:

Buckingham Borough

Physical description: 8 subfonds
Access conditions:

Records are open for consultation unless otherwise indicated

Immediate source of acquisition:

Deposited by the District Secretary, Aylesbury Vale District Council

Custodial history:

Most of the records were transferred to the Record Office in 1974 as AR29/74. Three smaller transfers, almost entirely comprising 20th-century items, subsequently took place, (AR81/75, 75/86 and 21/88).

 

While the records were in the custody of the town clerk, Anthony Archdeacon, they were listed in 1952 by Douglas J. Elliott, honorary archivist to the borough (B/Buc/4/24/4). A list of additional items not included in Elliott's list was compiled in 1965 by R. S. Hampson.

 

A number of items included in these lists were deemed to be strays from other groups received at the same time as the 1974 deposit (AR29/74) and have been transferred as appropriate:

 

Buckingham General Charities (AR45/74)

 

Charity deeds, etc.

 

Archdeacon and Co., solicitors (D/AR)

 

Items relating to the manor of Prebend End

 

Miscellaneous deeds of properties in Buckingham

 

Stowe estate sale catalogues

 

Apart from these records transferred to other collections, the material from all four deposits has been brought together in one catalogue.

 

A few items included in the 1952 and 1965 lists have not been found among the deposits in the Record Office. A list of these is given after the list of contents.

 

An accumulation of 20th-century filing found in a cupboard in the old Town Hall (AR64/85) has also been incorporated in this catalogue, together with AR56/85 and 2 items from AR49/83

 

The Buckingham borough records were used by Douglas J. Elliott in his history of the borough, Buckingham: The Loyal and Ancient Borough (Phillimore, 1975).

 

Records not found in the deposits at the Record Office

 

Records listed in the inventory by D.J. Elliott, 1952:

 

Commissions of the peace 1717-1837

 

Appointment of deputy town clerk 1812

 

Resignation of town clerk and deputy steward 1827

 

Records listed in the inventory of additional items by R.S. Hampson, 1965:

 

Local Government Act 1929

 

Correspondence and Despatches of Sir Samuel Luke, 1643-45 printed vol.

 

[These inventories are listed as B/Buc/4/24/4]

Publication note:

Bibliography

 

Douglas J. Elliott, Buckingham: The Loyal and Ancient Borough (Phillimore, 1975)

 

George Lipscomb, History and Antiquities of the County of Buckingham, Vol. II (1847), pp. 546-593

 

Report of the Municipal Corporations Commissioners on Buckingham (1833)

 

W. E. Tallents and R. Sheepshanks, Report on the Borough of Buckingham, (c.1832)

 

Victoria County History of Buckinghamshire, Vol. III (1925), pp. 471-489

 

Browne Willis, History and Antiquities of the Town, Hundred and Deanery of Buckingham, (1755)

Subjects:
  • Buckinghamshire
  • Local government
Administrative / biographical background:

The Ancient Borough and Manor

 

Buckingham is an ancient borough, the known history of which dates back to the 10th century. According to the Domesday Book, 1086, it had 26 burgesses. Shortly after this date, the manor of Buckingham was granted to Walter Giffard, Earl of Buckingham. It was held by various families until it escheated to the crown on the attainder of Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham in 1521. About this date the term manor dropped out of use as applied to Buckingham and the lordship was thereafter referred to as the borough of Buckingham.

 

There is known to have been a bailiff from at least 1312 and the court of portmote is known to have existed from at least the 13th century. The borough appears not to have exercised its right to return two burgesses to Parliament, however, until 1529.

 

In 1522 the lordship of the borough was granted to Sir Henry Marny, the grant including the right to hold a weekly market on Saturdays and two annual fairs. In 1526 a further royal grant was made to William Carey, whose son sold the borough to Robert Brocas in 1552.

 

The Incorporated Borough

 

The borough was incorporated by the charter of Mary I, 27 January 1553/4 (B/Buc/1/1), under which the borough was to be governed by the bailiff (elected annually) and 12 principal burgesses. The charter also created the office of steward, to be elected by the borough. The bailiff was to hold the offices of escheator, coroner and clerk of the market and to act as a justice of the peace within the borough. The borough was also granted the return of writs to the exclusion of the sheriff of the county.

 

Among the privileges granted to the borough were a court to be held every three weeks to hear cases of debt, trespass, etc., up to the value of £5 (this appears to have replaced the court of portmote), a weekly market on Tuesdays, two annual fairs with a court of pie-powder, a twice-yearly view of frankpledge, the assize of bread and ale, the right to a gaol within the borough and the right to return two burgesses to Parliament.

 

In 1574 the then lord of the borough, Bernard Brocas, granted a 2000-year lease of the borough to six trustees to hold on behalf of the corporation in return for an annual rent of 40s. (B/Buc/2/1). The lordship was purchased by Sir Thomas Temple in 1604. Payment of this rent to his successors was discontinued in the 19th century.

 

During the period 1641-1889 the Temple family and their successors the Grenvilles, who later became Marquesses and Dukes of Buckingham and Chandos, also held the post of steward (apart from a brief period in the reign of James II) and they dominated the borough and the election of its MPs until the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835.

 

In 1684 the borough received a new charter from Charles II (B/Buc/1/2), by which the bailiff and principal burgesses were given the new titles of mayor and aldermen. A dispute with James II over the appointment of a new steward, when the king unsuccessfully tried to secure the election of Lord Chancellor Jeffreys, led to the dismissal of three mayors by the king in 1687-88. In 1688 James restored the charter of Mary I and the older titles of bailiff and principal burgess were resumed by the mayor and aldermen.

 

In the 18th century the earliest known references to the offices of recorder and town clerk, not mentioned in the charter, appear.

 

Boundaries

 

The boundaries of the borough and parish of Buckingham were co-extensive. As set out in the charter of Mary I, they extended from Dudley bridge in the west to Thornborough bridge in the east and from Chackmore brook in the north to Padbury Mill bridge in the south.

 

The borough comprised six districts or divisions (W. E. Tallents and R. Sheepshanks, Report on the Borough of Buckingham, c.1832):

 

the borough (so-called) these three formed the town of Buckingham

 

the district of Bourton Hold these three formed the town of Buckingham

 

the precinct of Prebend End these three formed the town of Buckingham

 

the hamlet of Bourton

 

the hamlet of Gawcott

 

the hamlet of Lenborough

 

The use of the term borough to refer to part of the town (presumably the area of the former manor of Buckingham) should not be taken to imply any difference in rights between that district and the borough as a whole.

 

In addition to the lordship of the borough, other manors within the borough were:

 

Prebend End of Buckingham cum Gawcott. This formed part of the endowment of the prebend of Sutton cum Buckingham in Lincoln Cathedral. On the Reformation it became a lay fee which was eventually purchased in 1613 by Sir Thomas Denton of Hillesden. In the 19th century it was purchased by the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos.

 

Bourton. This was held with the manor of Buckingham down to 1560. Accounts of 1473-74 show some tenants of the manor holding land within the manor of Buckingham, in Castle End, Castle Street and Well Street, representing in part the district known as Bourton Hold.

 

Lenborough.

 

The Reformed Borough

 

The administration of the borough was reformed as a result of the Municipal Corporations Act, 1835, and placed in the hands of a mayor, four aldermen and six councillors. The reformed borough was granted its own court of quarter sessions in 1836 and a small borough police force was formed. The grant of quarter sessions was revoked in 1890 when the office of recorder was consequently abolished and the town clerk lost his title of clerk of the peace. In 1892 the police force was amalgamated with that of the county.

 

The borough council was abolished in 1974 when, as a result of local government re-organization, the area of the borough was placed in the newly-created district of Aylesbury Vale.

 

For a brief note on the Parliamentary borough, see introduction to section B/Buc/7.

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