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Stanford in the Vale is a village and civil parish now in the Vale of White Horse about 3 1⁄2 miles (5.6 km) south-east of Faringdon and 5 miles (8 km) north-west of Wantage. It was civil parish in the Faringdon Rural District of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred the area to the Vale of White Horse District of Oxfordshire. The 2011 UK census recorded the parish's population 2,093. Stanford in the Vale was an ancient parish in Ock Hundred. The township of Goosey was part of the ancient parish. [edit] Manor
In the reign of Edward the Confessor in the middle of the 11th century, one Siward Barn held the manor of Stanford. The Domesday Book of 1086 records that after the Norman Conquest of England, the Norman nobleman Henry de Ferrers held it. It was made part of the Honour of Tutbury, and remained with the de Ferrers family until the 1260s, when Robert de Ferrers, 6th Earl of Derby was defeated in the Second Barons' War and forfeited his estates in 1266. The Dictum of Kenilworth issued that October allowed him to reclaim his lands by paying a premium, which he did in 1269. However, by 1276 Stanford had been granted to Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester. When his successor Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester was killed at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, Stanford passed to Eleanor de Clare, wife of Hugh Despenser the Younger. As a result of the rebellions and executions of Hugh and his father Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester in 1326, and their descendant Thomas le Despenser, 1st Earl of Gloucester in 1400, all Despenser lands were twice forfeited to the Crown. But after each forfeiture, Stanford was among the estates restored to the rebel's widow. In the early 15th century Stanford was among the manors that passed by the marriage of Isabel le Despenser, Countess of Worcester to Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick. In 1474 Anne Beauchamp, 16th Countess of Warwick conferred all her estates on her two daughters. Stanford was among those that she passed to Anne Neville, Queen Consort of King Richard III. But in 1485 Richard was defeated and killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field and her estates were forfeit. In 1489 the all Countess's estates, including Stanford, were restored to her, but she conveyed them to the victorious King Henry VII. In the 16th century the manor of Stanford passed through notable local landholding families including those of Fettiplace and Knollys. When Francis Knollys died in 1596, the manor of Stanford was divided between his granddaughters Elizabeth and Lettice. Around the turn of the 17th century Elizabeth Knollys became married to Henry Willoughby of Risley, Derbyshire, who in 1611 was created 1st Baronet. Their daughter Anne was married to Sir Thomas Aston, 1st Baronet, and their half of Stanford remained in their family until Sir Thomas Aston, 4th Baronet died in 1744. Meanwhile, Lettice Knollys was married to William Paget, 4th Baron Paget, and her half of the manor of Stanford remained with his heirs until 1715, when Henry Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge conveyed it to Peter Walter and John Morse. By the end of the 18th century an Edward Loveden Loveden bought and reunited the two halves of the manor. The present manor house was built in the 16th century and remodelled in a Georgian style in the 18th century. It is a Grade II* listed building. Traces the ownership of the Manor of Stanford from the 11th to the 18th century, including the female line of the Beauchamp and Neville families. For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Stanford in the Vale. [edit] Research Tips[edit] Maps
[edit] Online Historical References
[edit] Nineteenth Century Local AdministrationEnglish Jurisdictions is a webpage provided by FamilySearch which analyses every ecclesiastical parish in England at the year 1851. It provides, with the aid of outline maps, the date at which parish records and bishops transcripts begin, non-conformist denominations with a chapel within the parish, the names of the jurisdictions in charge: county, civil registration district, probate court, diocese, rural deanery, poor law union, hundred, church province; and links to FamilySearch historical records, FamilySearch Catalog and the FamilySearch Wiki. Two limitations: only England, and at the year 1851. During the 19th century two bodies, the Poor Law Union and the Sanitary District, had responsibility for governmental functions at a level immediately above that covered by the civil parish. In 1894 these were replace by Rural and Urban Districts. These were elected bodies, responsible for setting local property assessments and taxes as well as for carrying out their specified duties. Thses districts continued in operation until 1974. Urban districts for larger municipalities were called "Municipal Boroughs" and had additional powers and obligations. Poor Law Unions, established nationally in 1834, combined parishes together for the purpose of providing relief for the needy who had no family support. This led to the building of '"union poorhouses" or "workhouses" funded by all the parishes in the union. The geographical boundaries established for the individual Poor Law Unions were employed again when Registration Districts were formed three years later. In 1875 Sanitary Districts were formed to provide services such as clean water supply, sewage systems, street cleaning, and the clearance of slum housing. These also tended to follow the same geographical boundaries, although there were local alterations caused by changes in population distribution.
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