The Palmer Family – EMIGRATION TO THE USA By Neil Rees James Palmer James Palmer married Rachel Sophia Pickering in Swanbourne in 1809.  They had a daughter Jane christened in Swanbourne in 1809 and then they left the village.  They returned about 1820 and Samuel James Palmer was born in Swanbourne in 1821 and was […]

The Kibble Family of Swanbourne by Neil Rees Kibble surname The Kibble surname is quite unusual.   Kibble means to grind and kibble is kibbled grain used for animal feed.  The Kibble family came from Stewkley and were farmers. The Kibble family of Stewkley The Kibble family farmed Cottesloe Farm between Stewkley and Wing.  A number […]

The Fremantle Family By Ken Harris The Fremantle Family Tree- (See Table and Tree at end of article for ease of reference). A.   Captain Thomas Francis Fremantle (1765-1819) Fremantles have lived in Swanbourne since 1798. In the Summer of that year, Captain Thomas Francis Fremantle  purchased The Old House, and a few small fields, as […]

The Willett (Williatt) family By Clive Rodgers The surname known today as Willett previously had several different spellings, the most common of which was Williat.  The Willett name is common in North Buckinghamshire, especially around Great and Little Horwood and the surrounding villages. The Williats, though small in number in Swanbourne, are present in the 17th Century.  […]

The Carter Family (Research by Clive Rodgers still in progress) An  entry  in the Church Book of   1606   names   William  Carter  as the second largest holder of land in Swanbourne.  Some of this land wealth is probably  derived from his marriage in 1605 to Susan Deverell. At Enclosure most of these lands   along  with  the  Manor  […]

The Godwins By Clive Rodgers The name Godwin,  sometimes spelled  Godwyn or Goodwin seems to go back to Godwin, Earl of Kent,  who was the cousin of Suen, Earl of Essex and Father of Harold the King. The name is not on Sir J Fortesques list of tenants  in  1600 suggesting a Manor in its […]

The Deverell Family BELOW:- Reproduced from ‘Swanbourne – History of an Anglo-Saxon town’ by the late Ken Reading (reproduced by permission of his relatives). The Deverells (alt. spelling Deveral, Deverill) Of  leading importance in Swanbourne,  from the time that records began  in the 16th Century,  until the Fremantles finally  bought them  out in the 19th Century,  […]

The Askew Family By Clive Rodgers The Askew family are first linked to the Lords of the Manor after the murder of Thomas Adams.  The Widow of Thomas, Elizabeth Adams, married Thomas Askew of Swanbourne in 1627, moving in to the Manor House from the Askew Close in Nearton End. He took on the four […]