GenUKI Contents

Bedfordshire

STUDHAM

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"STUDHAM, a parish partly in the hundred of Dacorum, county Herts, but chiefly in that of Manshead, county Beds, 3½ miles south west of Market-Street, its post town, and 6 south west of Luton. The parish includes the hamlets of Humbershoe, Studham, and part of Market-Street. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely, value £150. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, contains a round stone font of curious workmanship. The parochial charities produce about £2 per annum."

• "MARKYATE, (anciently, Market Street), a chapelry in the parishes of Caddington, Flamstead, and Studham, partly in the hundred of Dacorum, county Herts, and partly in that of Manshead, county Beds, 3 miles south east of Luton. This place was anciently called Merkgate, and comprises three hamlets On a hill where now stands an ancient mansion called "The Priory" was formerly a Benedictine nunnery founded in 1145 by Geoffrey, Abbot of St. Albans, on land given by the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's, London. Its revenue at the Dissolution was £143 138. 8d., when the site was given to G. Ferrers. In the village, which consists of one long street facing, the road from London to Birmingham, several industries are carried on, as the manufacture of hats, bonnets, and straw plait. The living is a perpetual curacy (with parsonage and glebe) in the diocese of Ely, value £227. The church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is situated in the Priory Park, and was erected about the middle of the last century. There are places of worship for Wesleyans and Baptists. The charities consist of £138 per annum, belonging to the grammar school. There is a National school.

[The above was transcribed (and edited) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868]
by Colin Hinson ©2023

The following information was transcribed by Craig Pickup from Kelly's Bedfordshire Directory, 1940

• "HUMBERSHOE, a hamlet in the parish of Studham, county of Bedfordshire, 2½ miles east of Studham, adjacent to Markyate. Humbershoe and Markyate are in a detached portion of the parish."

Census

• The 1851 Census Index for Studham can be found in the 1851 Index to Census of Bedfordshire, Volume 6, Book 3 available from the Bedfordshire Family History Society.

Churches

• The following Churches have their own websites:
  • The Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Studham

Church History

• Church of England
  • The church of St. Mary, consecrated in 1220, is an edifice of mixed styles, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch and a western embattled tower containing 4 bells: chancel is Decorated, the arcades of the nave Early English : the windows are mostly Decorated and Perpendicular: the font is circular, and has a broad band of foliage at the base: the bowl is surrounded with figures of dragons and foliage: the roof of the south aisle was restored in 1876, and in 1893 a new pulpit and lectern of Cornish serpentine granite were placed in the church, a new roof added, and the interior renovated, re-floored and re-seated at a cost of £1,200. The register dates from the year 1570. [Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]
• Non-conformist
  • Here is a Wesleyan chapel. [Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]

Church Records

• Church of England
  • The parish record transcripts for St. Mary, are available on microfiche for the period 1570-1812 from the Bedfordshire Family History Society.

Gazetteers

• A transcript of the Studham parish entries from Samuel Lewis's 1831 Topographical Dictionary of England,
• A transcript of the Studham parish entries from Samuel Lewis's 1835 Topographical Dictionary of England,
• A transcript of the Studham parish entries from The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1866-9
• A transcript of the Studham parish entries from Kelly's 1898 Directory of Bedfordshire

Military History

• The BFHS Project in conjunction with Roll of Honour contains the Studham War Memorial transcription with details of the men found on it.