Melchbourne Bedfordshire Family History Guide

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Melchbourne is an Ancient Parish in the county of Bedfordshire.

Alternative names: Melchbourn

Parish church:

Parish registers begin:

  • Parish registers: 1706
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: 1602

Nonconformists include: Methodist

Adjacent Parishes

Melchbourne Parish Registers

Search online registers of baptisms, marriages, banns and burials including digitised images of original records and registers and indexed transcriptions.

Baptism Records

These records include indexed transcriptions of parish register baptisms.

Melchbourne, Bedfordshire Baptisms, 1602-1879

Marriage and Banns Records

These records include indexed transcriptions of parish register marriages and banns.

Melchbourne, Bedfordshire Marriages, 1602-1935

Death and Burial Records

These records include indexed transcriptions of parish register deaths and burials.

Melchbourne, Bedfordshire Burials, 1791-1822

Melchbourne Parish Registers 1602-1812

The Melchbourne Parish Registers 1602-1812 are available free to read online, with options to download the pdf for personal research

Melchbourne Parish Registers 1602-1812 Bedfordshire Parish Registers Edited by F. G. Emmison, Clerk of Records, Bedfordshire. Published under the auspices of the County Records Committee of the Bedfordshire County Council, and of the Ven. the Archdeacon of Bedford. Volume VII. Bedford: County Record Office, Shire Hall. 1933.

Bedfordshire parish registers v7

Melchbourne Parish Registers 1602-1812 Bedfordshire Parish Registers Edited by F. G. Emmison, Clerk of Records, Bedfordshire.

Free to Read Online or Download

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

MELCHBOURNE, a village and a parish in the district and county of Bedford. The village stands 2 miles E of the boundary with Northampton, 5 NNE of Sharnbrook r. station, and 5½ ESE of Higham-Ferrers; and was once a market-town. The parish comprises 2,574 acres. Post town, Higham-Ferrers. Real property, £3,170. Pop., 251. Houses, 52.

The property belongs to Lord St. John. Melchbourn Hall is Lord St. John s seat; was built about the time of James I. or Charles I.; has been modernized in the front; and stands in a fine park of about 400 acres. A preceptory of Knights Hospitallers was founded here in the time of Henry I., by Alice, Countess of Pembroke; was given, by Queen Elizabeth, to the Russells; and has left some remains.

The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely. Value, £150. Patron, Lord St. John. The church is modern; consists of nave, aisles, and chancel, with porch and tower; and contains a brass of 1377, and two monuments to the St. Johns.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

Historical Maps

OS Grid Reference: TL0275965824 (all-numeric format: 502759 265824)

View detailed 19th-century Ordnance Survey maps from the National Library of Scotland Maps – includes OS 25 inch 1892-1918 maps, a vast range of other historical OS maps and land use maps. These maps reveal old street layouts, parish boundaries, and landmarks long since vanished.

Administration

  • County: Bedfordshire
  • Civil Registration District: Bedford
  • Probate Court: Court of the Archdeaconry of Bedford
  • Diocese: Pre-1837 – Lincoln, Post-1836 – Ely
  • Rural Deanery: Eaton
  • Poor Law Union: Bedford
  • Hundred: Stodden
  • Province: Canterbury