Bovingdon Village
Bovingdon Village, early 1900s
Bovingdon village history
Bovingdon is a large village in the west of Hertfordshire, on the
Buckinghamshire boarder. For hundreds of years it was a small farming community with a
population numbering in the hundreds, but development in the last century has seen
Bovingdon grow into a busy place, with a population today of over 5000.
Until the mid 1800s, Bovingdon and its sister village Flaunden were part of Hemel
Hempstead parish. Bovingdon has had it's own church since the early 1200s, although the
present church of St Lawrence dates to the 1840s, when it was rebuilt. The churchyard is
one of the largest in Hertfordshire, being about 4.5 acres.
The village has many shops, pubs and other amenities. Some of the farms and houses date
back to medieval times, and there is a village green a short distance from the village
centre.
A well-known feature of the village is the Memorial Well at the bottom of the High Street.
This was built in memory of Granville Dudley Ryder, a local benefactor and Lord of the
Manor, who lived at Westbrook Hay.
An airfield was constructed during the Second World War, on farm land to the north west of
the village. This was used by part of the 8th United States Army Air Force and later by
the RAF. Next to the airfield is a prison, HMP "The Mount", built in the 1980s.
There has been much development of the village post-war, with many housing estates having
been built to meet the needs of the increasing population.
Kelly's Post Office Directory of 1855
BOVINGDON
and FLAUNDEN entry
A business directory giving a description of the area, with some local residents and
traders.
Bovingdon Church Records (Burgin Extracts)
The parish registers dates back to 1674, although "Bishop's
Transcripts" exist which are copies of the earlier records, now lost.
These records were copied from microfilm copies kept at Hemel Hempstead library. I have
only included information older than 100 years here, although newer information is
available.
(All the baptisms and burials are from the one Burgin family I have been researching. The
marriages from 1791 are as well, but I don't know if the earlier ones are connected. The
one exception is the name "Burgoine", which I have taken to be a separate
family.)
BAPTISMS
(1798-1900)
MARRIAGES
(1696-1895)
BURIALS
(1812-1902)
Bovingdon Censuses
I transcribed these census extracts from the microfilm copies kept at Hemel Hempstead library. I have tried to keep the style and spellings as close to the original as possible.
Burgin Extracts:
1841
1851
1861
1871
1881
1891
1901
Some old photos from around Bovingdon village
Map of Bovingdon, 1930
Further Information:
Hertfordshire Monumental Inscriptions - Bovingdon, No 3 - Hertfordshire Family History Society (1983)
Bovingdon Airfield, Ray Potter (1995)
All ExtraOrdinary Remarkable, Tales from Bovingdon Church and its People, Sarah
Brown (1998)
Bovingdon, A Celebration of Our Village, Jeff Lindsey (2000)
Hertfordshire Militia Lists - Bovingdon, No 108 - Hertfordshire Family History Society (2000)
Bovingdon - History of a Hertfordshire Village, Sarah Brown (2002)