Includes evidence given to Royal Commission on Old Age Pensions Thomas Pitkin and the Old Age Pension   By Ken Harris On Wednesday 14th February 1894, Thomas Pitkin, a life-long inhabitant of Swanbourne, appeared before the Royal Commission on Old-Age Pensions, being held in the Queen’s Robing Room in the House of Lords, Westminster. He […]

The burning of Swanbourne by Royalist Forces, 1643  Summarised by Clive Rodgers     Following a long period when the Stuart kings wanted to ride roughshod over the will of Parliament, the final straw and direct cause of the Civil War was the Ship Money  Tax. In 1635 King Charles ordered that everyone in the country should pay Ship Money. […]

Methodism in Swanbourne By Ken Harris Methodists are Christians who belong to the church that emerged as a result of the preaching of John Wesley and hymn writing of his brother Charles, during the 18th Century. The earliest reference to Methodists in Swanbourne comes in the correspondence of Captain Thomas Fremantle, writing home to his […]

History of Oakham Farm, Swanbourne By Lyn Jones Additional dates and Census information by Linda Rodgers Oakham Farm, is a Grade II listed farmhouse, previously known as Holcombe Farm. It sits on Holcombe Hill and is thought to have been built just after Enclosures, in 1767. The house faces south west overlooking Holcombe Cottages (lately […]

 The Swanbourne name – analysis of the evidence By Clive Rodgers The origins of the Swanbourne name have never been entirely clear.  The second half of the name ‘bourne’ is the most obvious, however, being a version of ‘burn’ which means a stream.  Elderly villagers still describe the village as ‘Swanburn‘ phonetically, and in the […]

The Adams Family of Swanbourne – Overlords of the Manor, 1624-1775 By Clive Rodgers The surname Adams has been local to the Winslow area and North Bucks since the Middle Ages, and in 1588 Theophilis Adams was granted land to rent in Swanbourne by Sir John Fortescue (the cousin of Queen Elizabeth 1 and Overlord […]

Charles Howe Fremantle (1800 – 1869) By Ken Harris Charles Fremantle was born in ‘The Old House’ on 1 June 1800. His middle name was given in honour of Admiral Lord Richard Howe, who had defeated the French off Ushant in the ‘Battle of the Glorious First of June’ 1794, exactly six years earlier. He […]

The claiming of Western Australia for Britain. By Clive Rodgers The first European to explore the river was  Dutchman, Willem de Vlamingh, in 1697, referring to it as New Holland. It was Vlamingh who named it  ‘Swan River’ after its black swans. To European eyes black was an  unusual colour for swans and worthy of […]

The Alderman Family of Swanbourne By Neil Rees The Alderman surname There are a number of separate Alderman families around England, and it is the kind of surname that could have evolved independently in different places.  It comes from Anglo-Saxon and the use of the word alderman still survives as an honorary position for county […]

Non-Conformist & Confirmation Parish Records Transcribed by Linda Rodgers   Records for Swanbourne Baptist Church:- In searchable EXCEL format:-     Baptist Members – Eureka Partnership Information In PDF format:-Baptist Members – Eureka Partnership Information Records for Swanbourne Methodist Church:- In searchable EXCEL format:- Methodist Christenings – Eureka Partnership Information – Copy In PDF format:- Methodist […]