Bisham Berkshire Family History Guide
Bisham is an Ancient Parish in the county of Berkshire.
Alternative names: Bustleham, Bysham Montague
Parish church:
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1560
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1606
Nonconformists include:
Adjacent Parishes
Historical Descriptions
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
BISHAM, or Bysham-Montague, anciently Bustleham, a parish in Cookham district, Berks; on the river Thames, 2 miles W by N of Cookham r. station, and 4 NW of Maidenhead. It has a post office, of the name of Bisham, under Maidenhead. Acres, 2,520. Real property, £5,491. Pop., 665. Houses, 136. The property is divided among a few. Bisham Abbey is the seat of G. Vansittart, Esq. A pointed doorway, an octagonal tower, and a hall are part of an ancient monastic edifice; and the rest of the mansion is of the ancient style of the Tudor architecture. The hall was tastefully restored in 1859; and has at one end a dark oak gallery, at the other, a beautiful ancient lancet window. The scenery of the grounds of the mansion is very fine, and has engaged the pencil of some eminent artists. A preceptory of Knights Templars was early founded here; passed, in the reign of Stephen, to other knights; was converted into an Augustinian priory, in 1338, by Montacute, Earl of Salisbury; was changed into a Benedictine Abbey, a short time before the dissolution, by Henry VIII.; was afterwards given, by that king., to his repudiated wife, Anne of Cleves; was conveyed by her to Sir Philip Hobby, in exchange for his house in Kent; and was for three years the residence, under its owner's guardianship, of the Princess Elizabeth, afterwards Queen Elizabeth. The barn of the priory, the old moat round the garden, and the spring which supplied the Princess Elizabeth's bath, still remain. There was an extensive copper factory at Temple-mills; but it was recently converted into a paper factory. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Oxford. Value, £156. Patron, G. Vansittart, Esq. The church shows some traces of Norman architecture; but was destructively modernized about 1810, and restored in better taste a few years ago; and it contains some grand monuments of the Hobbys. Many persons of high historical note, especially Earls of Salisbury, Neville the king-maker, the famous Marquis of Montague, and Edward the last Plantagenet, were buried in the Abbey; but the monuments of all have disappeared. The vicarage of Stubbings is a separate charge. There is a national school.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
Leonard's Gazetteer of England and Wales 1850
Bisham, 2 miles N.W. Maidenhead. P. 659.
Source: Leonard's Gazetteer of England and Wales; Second Edition; C. W. Leonard, London; 1850.
Parish Records
The Registers of Bisham - UK Genealogy Archives
Bisham Parish Registers 1560-1812 - archive.org
Berkshire Archives & Family History Groups
Berkshire Family History Society
Berkshire
England, Berkshire, Reading, Cemetery Records, 1843-1959
Wellington College Register 1859-1905
Abingdon Union Workhouse Census 1881
Bradfield Union Workhouse 1881
Easthampstead Union Workhouse 1881
Great Faringdon Union Workhouse 1881
Hungerford Union Workhouse 1881
Wallingford Union Workhouse 1881
Records for England
Births and Baptism Records
England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
Great Britain, Births and Baptisms, 1571-1977
England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008
United Kingdom, Maritime Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1787-1933
Marriage Records
Great Britain Marriages, 1797-1988
England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005
United Kingdom, Maritime Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1787-1933
Death Records
England Death Records, 1998-2015
England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991
Great Britain Deaths and Burials, 1778-1988
England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007
United Kingdom, Maritime Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1787-1933
England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1957
England and Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1640-1660
Non-Conformist Records
England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977
Census
England and Wales Census, 1841
England and Wales Census, 1851
England and Wales Census, 1861
England and Wales Census, 1871
England and Wales Census, 1881
England and Wales Census, 1891
England and Wales Census, 1901
England and Wales Census, 1911
Occupations
United Kingdom, Merchant Navy Seamen Records, 1835-1941
War and Conflict
Great Britain, War Office Registers, 1772-1935
United Kingdom, Chelsea Pensioners' Service Records, 1760-1913
United Kingdom, Royal Hospital Chelsea: Discharge Documents of Pensioners 1760-1887 (WO 122)
United Kingdom, Maritime Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1787-1933
United Kingdom, Militia Service Records, 1806-1915
United Kingdom, World War I Service Records, 1914-1920
United Kingdom, World War I Women's Army Auxiliary Corps Records, 1917-1920
Newspaper Archives
British Newspaper Archive, Family Notices
British Newspaper Archives, Obituaries
Maps
Vision of Britain historical maps
Administration
County: Berkshire
Civil Registration District: Cookham
Probate Court: Court of the Archdeaconry of Berkshire
Diocese: Pre-1836 - Salisbury, Post-1835 - Oxford
Rural Deanery: Reading
Poor Law Union: Cookham
Hundred: Beynhurst
Province: Canterbury