The Wavendon and Aspley Guise sections from Musson & Craven’s Commercial Directory of Buckinghamshire & Windsor, 1853:
Wavendon
Gentry
George Frederick Bounton, Esq.
Rev. Henry Burney, M.A.., rector
Henry Dennison, Esq.
William Henry Dennison, Esq., Hogsty End
Rev Charles Mayor, M.A., curate
Mr Thomas Odams, Hogsty End
Frederick Woodbridge, Esq.
Trades
George Abercombie, victualler, “Leather Bottle”
John Bailey, farmer
Robert Bailey, victualler, “Weathercock” Hogsty End
George Bodsworth, saddler and harness maker
Thomas Brandon, plumber and glazier
William Brandon, wheelwright
George Claridge, baker and beer retailer
David Cook, baker, Hogsty End
Daniel Eaton, shoemaker
William Facer, victualler, “Wheatsheaf”
William Goodall, shoemaker
James Harris, shopkeeper and shoemaker
William Harris, butcher and shopkeeper
Thomas Higgs, victualler “Red House”
Thomas Hillyer, parish clerk
Frederick Hutton, builder
Henry Hutton, farmer
John King, farmer and maltster
Samuel King, postmaster
Francis Lee, victualler, “Fir Tree” Hogsty End
William Henry Lockyer, schoolmaster
John Mabley, blacksmith
William Osbourn, station master, Hogsty End
Jonathan Putman, blacksmith, Hogsty End
Alfred Smith, horse dealer
James Smith, horse dealer
Josiah Spreckley, butcher
William Sturges, farmer
William Tansley, shopkeeper, Hogsty End
George Tite, builder
Benjamin Tomlin, draper and grocer
George Yates, tailor
Post Office
Samuel King, postmaster. Letters arrive from Newport Pagnell 9.15am; depart 5pm
Railway Station
Hogsty End
William Osbourn, Station master
Places of Worship
St James Church – Rev Henry Burney, M.A. rector; Rev Charles Mayor, M.A. curate, Service 11am and 3pm; Weds and Fri, 11am and 6pm; daily 8am.
Primitive Methodist Chapel – Circuit preachers. Service 2.30 and 6pm
Primitive Methodist Chapel, Hogsty End – Circuit preachers, Service 2 and 6pm
Weslyan Methodist Chapel – Cuircuit preachers, Service 2.30 and 6pm
Weslyan Methodist Chapel, Hogsty End – Circuit preachers, Service 2 and 6pm
Endowed School
William Henry Lockyer, master; Emma Lockyer, mistress. Number of scholars 40.
Craven’s Commercial Directory of Bedfordshire, 1853
ASPLEY GUISE a parish and village, is 2 miles north-west of Woburn, and 7 miles west of Ampthill, in the union of Wobum, diocese of Ely, and hundred of Manshead. The church is dedicated to St. Peter, and the Rev. John Vaux Moore, M.A., is rector, being in the gift of the Duke of Bedford. It comprises a nave, chancel, and a square embattled tower, and is a neat edifice. Beautiful new windows of stained glass, by those eminent artists Bailey and O’Connor, have been put in, at the expense of the present incumbent. This parish anciently belonged to the Guise or Gyse family, and John Guise, Esq., in 1540, exchanged with Henry VIII., his manor of Aspley for lands in Gloucestershire. The Wesleyan Methodists have a chapel here. There are two schools – a National and British. About 150 years since, there was an excellent classical school, of very considerable celebrity, but some years ago it gradually fell off, and the building is now made into shops. The population amounted in 1851, to 1302, being an increase of 168 since the previous census. Number of acres 1950. A market was formerly held here on fridays; and a fair at St. Botolph’s tide was granted to one of the Guises in 1207.
The beautiful village of Aspley Guise, appropriately styled “The Gem of Bedfordshire,” possesses a climate whose salubrity, if known, would gain for it the patronage of invalids generally and consumptive patients in particular. This peculiarity of climate very much resembles that of the Undercliffe, Isle of Wight, and may be ascribed to its soil, which is of a sandy nature, acting as a percolator in the wet season (for, after long continued rain, all signs of it immediately disappear, and the surface of the ground becomes firm and dry), and in hot weather possessing the twofold property, – first, of absorbing the heat by day, and secondly, of radiating it back again by night, thus diminishing those sudden transitions of temperature so extremely prejudicial to consumptive and other invalids. If proof be needed respecting Aspley and its climate, meteorological observations made on the spot may be quoted, in conjunction with the lengthened longevity of consumptive patients in this district when compared with other localities.
Gentry
Mrs. Mary Atterbury
Mrs. Mary Ann Bird
Miss Maria Corder
Mr. John Foster
Mr. William How, farmer
Mr. William Francis Kerr, Aspley Cottage
Rev. George William Mahon, M.A.
Rev. John Vaux Moore, M.A., rector
Miss Ann Osborn
Rev. Richard Pain, D.C.L.
Mr. Thomas Parker
Mrs. Elizabeth Percival
Mr. John Robinson
Mrs. Lucy Shepperd
Mr. Charles Hervey Smith, Aspley House
Colonel Hervey Smith, Aspley House
Mrs. Mary Ann Smith
Mrs. Sarah Smith
Mrs. Mary Wiffen
Mr. Benjamin Wiffin
Trades
John Thomas Assbee, victualler, “Bell”
Robert Bailey, victualler, “Weathercock,” and farmer, Wobum Sands
William Beesley, wheelwright
John Billington, carrier
William Bird, butcher
James Brandon, beer retailer and coal dealer
Kitty Britten, beer retailer
George Banyan, plumber, painter, and glazier
James Burton, beer retailer and poulterer
George Carver, painter and glazier
Joseph Cave, shopkeeper
Samuel Chibnall, bricklayer and plasterer, Woburn Lane
Thomas Clay, police constable
George Cook, victualler, “Swan,” and shopkeeper
Joseph Cook, shopkeeper
Robert Cruit, parish clerk and sexton
Richard Deverell, victualler, “Swan,” and farmer, Woburn Sands
Douglas Summers, farmer, Hayfield Farm
Henry Durrant, corn miller and farmer, Aspley Mill
Annie Ellen, National schoolmistress
Charles Ellen, National schoolmaster, Woburn Lane
William Ellis, shoeing and jobbing smith
Joseph Flude, tailor
Thomas Fryer, baker
William Gilbert, Aspley Hall Farm
George Goodman, shopkeeper
William and Henry Green, linen drapers and grocers
William Handscomb, nurseryman
John Hewlett, carpenter and joiner
William Hirdle, carpenter and builder, Woburn Lane
George Hobbs, saddler and harness maker
William Holmes, farmer
Henry Howe, cattle dealer, Woburn Lane
Frederick Jackson, carpenter and builder, Woburn Lane
John Large, boot and shoemaker
Edward Bead, shoeing smith
George Robinson, boot and shoemaker
Thomas Rutley, carpenter, Woburn Lane
John Samwell, saddler and harness maker
John Shemeld, postmaster
John Smith, baker
Abraham Page Turney, grocer and cheesemonger
William Warr, farmer, Manor Farm
George Whitman, tailor and hatter
Edwin Williams, surgeon dentist
James Williams, M.D., surgeon
Grace Wood, British schoolmistress
John Wood, British schoolmaster
Dennis Waterman Woodin, boot and shoemaker
Richard Waterman Woodin, beer retailer
Robert Wright, thrasher of corn by steam, and registrar of marriages for Woburn district
William Yardley, butcher
Post Office
John Shemeld, postmaster. Letters arrive from Woburn, 8 am; depart, 6pm
Places of Worship
St. Peter’s Church – Rev. John Vaux Moore, rector. Service, 11am, and 6.30pm
Wesleyan Methodist Chapel – Circuit preachers. Service, 2 and 6pm, Thurs, 7pm
Schools
British – John Wood, master. Grace Wood, mistress. Number of boys, 70; girls, 30
National – Woburn Lane – Charles Ellen, master. Annie Ellen, mistress. Number of boys, 90; girls, 60
Carriers
Bedford. – John Billington, Sat, 8am
Leighton Buzzard. – John Billington , Tues, 8 am
Page last updated Dec. 2018.