A parish and township including Little Billington in the hundred of Manshead. It is a chapel to the vicarage of Leighton Buzzard. The civil parish of Billington, comprising Great and Little Billington, was formed out of the civil parish of Leighton-Buzzard. The ecclesiastical parish was formed in 1810.
Alternative names: Great Billington
Parish church: St. Michael
Parish registers begin:
Parish registers: 1653; the earlier registers form part of those of Leighton Buzzard
Bishop’s Transcripts: 1606
Nonconformists include: Primitive Methodist, Wesleyan Methodist.
Public Elementary School (mixed), built (with house for mistress) in 1863, for 80 children.
Parishes adjacent to Billington
- Slapton
- Stanbridge
- Eaton Bray
- Leighton Buzzard
- Edlesborough
Historical Descriptions
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
BILLINGTON, a chapelry in Leighton-Buzzard parish, Beds; on the river Ouse, and the Leighton and Luton railway, 2 miles SE of Leighton-Buzzard. Post Town, Leighton-Buzzard. Acres, returned with the parish. Real property, £2,345. Pop., 484. Houses, 102. The property is divided among a few. The living is a rectory in the dio. of Ely. Value, £280. Patrons, the Inhabitants. The church is good. There is a Wesleyan chapel.
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
Billington, 2m. S. Leighton-Buzzard. P. 335.
Source: Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales; Second Edition; C. W. Leonard, London; 1850
A Topographical Dictionary of Great Britain and Ireland 1833
Billington, Great, co. Bedford.
P. T. Leighton Buzzard (41) 2 m. SE. Pop. including the hamlet of Little Billington 237.
A parish and township including Little Billington in the hundred of Manshead. It is a chapel to the vicarage of Leighton Buzzard, in the archdeaconry of Bedford and diocese of Lincoln; of the clear yearly value of 20 l.; patronage with Leighton Buzzard vicarage.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of Great Britain and Ireland by John Gorton. The Irish and Welsh articles by G. N. Wright; Vol. II; London; Chapman and Hall, 186, Strand; 1833
Directories
Billington Kelly’s Directory of Bedfordshire, 1914
Administration
County: Bedfordshire
Civil Registration District: Leighton Buzzard
Probate Court: Court of the Peculiar of Leighton Buzzard
Diocese: Pre-1846 – Lincoln, Post 1845 – Ely
Rural Deanery: Pre-1852 – None, Post – 1851 – Dunstable
Poor Law Union: Leighton Buzzard
Hundred: Manshead
Province: Canterbury