Drovers Roads – with new route map By Ken Harris Drovers roads were the routes for droving livestock on foot to market. Many droveways started in Wales, and the drovers, many of whom came from Wales, accompanied the beasts on foot or on horseback. Sheep, cattle, pigs, turkeys and geese were taken long distances. The […]

Charles Gurnett By Neil Rees Charles Edwin Gurnett Charles Edwin Gurnett was born in 1871 at Swanbourne.  He was the fifth of eight children of William and Charlotte Gurnett and they lived in Nearton End, where they attended the Primitive Methodist Chapel. Charles worked as an agricultural labourer and then got a job as under […]

A History of Farming in Swanbourne By Frankie Fisher and Ken Harris In the Middle Ages, Swanbourne would have been farmed on the Open Field system – originally consisting of two fields, and then later, three fields with one field being left fallow each year. The main aim of the farm labourer was to provide […]

The North Family of Swanbourne By Carl Glaum of Milwaukee, USA. As with other branches of the family our research into the North family has turned up many interesting facts and debunked some of our family’s myths.  Two of the bubbles that were broken early on were stories dealing with royalty.  The first was a […]

Swanbourne’s links to the American Civil War Researched by Clive Rodgers Advice to Swanbourne residents, 1864:- “America is not at the present time a desirable place to emigrate to….” Article from ‘The Bucks Herald’ Newspaper Dated 26th March 1864 SWANBOURNE LECTURE ON AMERICA – On Tuesday evening, the Hon. W. Broderick endeavoured to instruct and amuse the […]

Politicians representing Swanbourne Parliamentary Constituency MP’s. Swanbourne has always been represented by Buckingham constituency MP’s. Prior to 1868, the Buckingham Constituency elected two MP’s.  Possibly the most famous was George Grenville who became Prime Minister. Grenville was a member of the Whig Party, which no longer exists.  On 8 April 1763 Grenville became Prime Minister.  […]

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 Enclosure Act of 1762 View a PDF of the PowerPoint presentation on Swanbourne Enclosure (by Ken Harris) taken from the presentation evening in Swanbourne Village Hall in November, 2012:- Enclosure Presentation by Ken Harris Enclosures (or Inclosures) were encouraged by 18th Century governments in an attempt to improve agricultural efficiency.  The Swanbourne Enclosure Act […]

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 […]