Turvey Bedfordshire Family History Guide

TURVEY is a village and parish, 7 miles north west from Bedford. 4 east from Olney, and 9 north east from Newport Pagnell, on the borders of Buckinghamshire, from which is divided by the river Ouse, in the hundred of Willey, and county court district of Bedford, rural deanery of Clapham, archdeaconry of Bedford, and diocese of Ely¹.

Parish church: All Saints

Parish registers begin:

Parish registers: 1576
Bishop’s Transcripts: 1602

Nonconformists include: Independent/Congregational, United Reformed Church, Wesleyan Methodist, Roman Catholic, Society of Friends

Table of Contents

Adjacent Parishes

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

TURVEY, a village, a parish, and a sub-district, in the district and county of Bedford. The village stands on the river Ouse, 5¼ miles W of Oakley r. station, and 8 WNW of Bedford; and has a post-office under Bedford.

The parish comprises 3,944 acres. Real property, £5,920. Pop., 1,093. Houses, 228. The manor, with T. Abbey, belongs to L. Higgins, Esq. T. House, T. Cottage, Woodside, Laws Hill, Holmwood, and Picts Hill are chief residences. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Ely. Value, £458. Patron, W. F. Higgins, Esq. The church was recently enlarged and beautified. There are two dissenting chapels, a national school, a reading room, a reformatory, and charities £116. The sub-district contains three parishes. Acres, 9,280. Pop., 2,407. Houses, 510.

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

Parish Records

FamilySearch

Bedfordshire Historical Directories

Directory Transcriptions

Directors of Companies

The following people were listed in the Directory of Directors 1881 as directors of companies who were either living in Turvey or the company was based in Turvey or both.

Higgins – Mr William Francis Higgins, B.A., D.L., J.P., Turvey House, Bedford, is deputy chairman of the Bedford and Northampton Railway Company

The Post Office Directory of Bedfordshire 1869

TURVEY is a village and parish. 7 miles north west from Bedford. 4 east from Olney. and 9 north east from Newport Pagnell, on the borders of Buckinghamshire, from which is divided by the river Ouse, in the hundred of Willey, and county court district of Bedford, rural deanery of Clapham, archdeaconry of Bedford, and diocese of Ely.

The streets and principal dwellings are lighted with gas. The church of All Saints is a handsome stone structure, with tower, and has been much enlarged and beautified: it contains a very fine organ, which cost £1,600, the expense of which, as well as of the enlargement of the church, was entirely borne by Charles Longuet Higgins, Esq.: the chancel windows are of stained glass: there are several fine monuments to the families of Lord Mordaunt and the Earls of Peterborough.

The living is a rectory, in the gift of Denis Lambert Higgins Esq. value £453, with residence, and is held by the Rev William Breighton Russell, M.A., of St Catherine’s College, Cambridge, rural dean. Here are National and Infant schools, with residences, and a reading room and museum. The houses and cottages are nearly all built of native stone, and are unusually capacious and neat.

The Three Fishes inn is one of the old inns, with projecting gables, and is dated 1624. A great flood on September 26th 1797, rose about four feet above the roadway, near the Three Fishes. There are Wesleyan and Independent chapels also extensive charities. There is also a reformatory, under Government inspection, at which about forty boys can be located and instructed in agricultural pursuits, &c. Large quantities of pillow thread lace are made here, and shoe making is carried on.

The approach to Turvey from Bedford is by an avenue of trees, nearly a mile in length; at the further extremity of the village is a bridge with eight arches, facing which in the water, is a marble statue, said to represent Jonah kneeling on a fish: the other entrances to the village are also picturesquely interesting. Turvey House and Turvey are the property of W.F. Higgins Esq. JP., the latter at present the residence of Sir Henry Mervyn Vavasour Bart.

Turvey Abbey is the property and residence of C.L. Higgins Esq. JP.; it is situated in an extensive and finely wooded park; Picts Hill, a mile and a half east of Turvey, the property and residence of Lieut-Col W.B. Higgins JP., is in a park. The principal landowners are W.F. Higgins Esq. C. L. Higgins Esq., who is lord of the manor, and Lieut-Col W.B. Higgins. Turvey House. occupied by George William Baker, Esq,. is large and is situated in a pleasant park. The soil is mixed gravel and strong clay, subsoil clay gravel and rock. The land is chiefly arable. The population in 1861 was 1,093 the area is 4,000 acres.
Parish Clerk Richard Wooding

Post & Money ORDER Office & Post Office Savings Bank & Government Annuity & Insurance Office – Gillaway Harley, postmaster. Letters received from Bedford at 8 am; dispatched at 4.35 pm; sundays at 3.30 pm.

INSURANCE Agent – Royal Farmers Fire, Life & Hail, William Thomas Sturges
Reading Rooms, Henry Ellis, librarian

SCHOOLS
National, John Y Rideal, master; Edwin R Ellis assistant master
Infant, Miss A Buckmaster mistress; Miss E Bailey assistant mistress
Reformatory John Jones superintendent

CARRIERS
Thomas Bailey to & from Bedford, monday, Wednesday & saturday; to & from Olneyl thursday
Field passes through from Olney to Bedford, tuesday, thursday & saturday
Tysoe to & from Wellingborough saturday

Gas Works Henry Ellis, secretary; William Vale foreman

PRIVATE RESIDENTS

Baker George William esq Turvey ho
Devine Rev John Independent
Elliott Major General W. E. A.
Godfrey Nathaniel esq
Higgins Lt-Col William Bartholomew JP Picts hill
Higgins Chas Longuet esq JP Abbey
Horwood Rev Robert Holme Wood ho
Russell Rev William Breighton MA rector & rural dean Rectory
Swinson George Newton MD
Vavasour Sir Henry Mervyn bart Turvey cottage
Watson Hon Mrs Woodside house

COMMERCIAL

Abraham Mary Mrs grocer

Bailey Thomas carrier
Bamford James bricklayer
Bithrey William shopkeeper
Bolton George farmer Great Oaks
Brown George Lee baker
Burdin John boot & shoe maker

Dunkley John farmer Crown farm

Ellis Henry Three Fishes & secretary to the Gas Works Co & road surveyor

Finch Joseph Pickford Three Cranes & butcher

Gasking John lace manufacturer & grocer & draper
Gas Company Henry Ellis secretary
Grace George shopkeeper

Harley George baker & shopkeeper
Harley Gillaway grocer & post office
Hinde Michael plumber glazier & painter

Lay Thomas carpenter & wheelwright
Litchfield Samuel saddler & harness

Millward Thomas blacksmith

Paine Charles & George tailors
Paine John farmer Elders Well farm
Paine Mary Ann Miss draper & grocer
Payne William blacksmith
Pressland Maria Mrs laundress

Rogers James farmer

Sargent Thomas boot & shoe maker
Shelton William boot & shoe maker
Skevington Edward farmer Lodge farm
Skevington Edward jun farmer Hall farm
Skevington Samuel King’s Arms
Skevington Thomas farmer & butcher
Sturges William Thomas farmer, corn, coal, seed, oilcake & agricultural manure merchant, general commission agent, manufacturing chemist & dealer in agricultural implements
Swinson George Newton MD surgeon

Toul John boot & shoe maker
Toul Sarah Mrs preparatory school
Tysoe David farmer Northey farm
Tysoe Steff baker & shopkeeper
Tysoe William boot & shoe maker

West George boot & shoe maker
Whitworth Charles farmer & miller
Whitworth Charlotte Mrs farmer
Woods Eli boot & shoe maker

Source: The Post office directory of Northamptonshire, Huntingdonshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, and Oxfordshire By Kelly’s directories, ltd 1869

Administration

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

1. The Post office directory of Northamptonshire, Huntingdonshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, and Oxfordshire By Kelly’s directories, ltd 1869