Aldbourne is a village and parish, pleasantly situated in a fertile valley on the road from Swindon to Hungerford, 4½ miles east from Ogbourn station on the Cheltenham branch of the London and South Western railway, 8 miles north-west from Hungerford and 7½ north-east from Marlborough, in the Eastern division of the country, hundred of Selkey, petty sessions diviion of Marlborough and Ramsbury, Hungerford union and country court district, rural deanery of Marlborough, archdeaconry of Wilts and diocese of Salisbury. The church of St Michael is an ancient edifice of stone, in the norman style, supposed to have been aletered in the reign of Edward V and has a chancel with chancel aisles, nave of four bays, ailses, south porch and square embattled western tower, with pinacles, containing a clock and 8 bells; the church was restored in 1867 and an organ presented in 1869 by the widow of Henry Charles esq. in memoriam: in the south aisle is a handsome altar-tomb with several figures, erected to the Goddard family, of Upham, date 1597; there is also one to the Waldron family, bearing an inscription in three languages, date 1617; another of alabaster, to the memory of John Stone, prebendary of Sarum, formerly vicar of Aldbourne, date 1501: several ancient brasses remain perfect: there are 500 sittings. The register dates from the year 1637. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £275, with 420 acres of glebe, and residence, in the gift of the bishop if Salisbury, and held since 1910 by the Rev William Albert Butler M.A. of Worcester College, Oxford. There are Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist chapels, and four charitities – Brown’s, of £6, for schools; and Hill’s, of £3 2s. 5d. for clothing; Thomas Goddard’s, of 40s yearly, to the poor and the Wentworth charity, of £200 in Consols, producing about £5 a year. William Brown esq. is lord of the manor. The principle landowners are the trustees of the late Henry Wilson esq. and Miss Hanbury. The soil is light; subsoil, chalky. The chief crops are barley and roots. The area is 8,495 acres; rateable value, £4,691; the population in 1911 was 1,065.

Parish Clerk, John Hedges

Post, M O. & T. Office (letters should have Aldbourne, Wilts, added). – John Orchard, sub-postmaster. Letters delivered at 7 a.m. & 3.10p.m.; dispatched at 10.25 a.m. & 8.30p.m.

Schools

Elementary, built, with residence for mistress, in 1857, for 180 children; average attendance, 80; Mrs. W. Lawrence, mistress

Infants’, erected in 1873, for 100 children; average attendance, 78; Miss Emily Porter, mistress

Carriers to:-

Hungerford – Martin, daily

Marlborough – Stacey, sat

Newbury – Stacey, thurs

Swindon – Henry Charles Waite, mon. thurs. & sat

Police Constable, Henry Burt

 

Private Residents.

Barnett Capt. Robert Percy S

Brown Henry, The Warren

Butler Rev. William Albert M.A. (vicar), Vicarage

Church Mrs. Ivy cottage

Cressor Mrs. Vine cottage

Fowler Frank Dashwood, The Old Rectory

Hanbury Miss Hilda Beatrice, Upper Upham

Hewer Mrs. Rose cottage

McEvoy Charles Alfred

Smith Misses

Watts George Marshall

 

Commercial

Marked thus ¶ letters through Ramsbury.

 

Aldridge William Henry, blacksmith & farrier

Arkell Daniel, farm bailiff to W.J.E. Warry-Stone esq. Lower Upham farm

Barnes Joseph, blacksmith

Barret Alfred, jobmaster

Bray Albert E. chair maker

Brown William, farmer, North farm

Cook Daniel, carpenter & wheelwright

Deacon Thomas, tailor

Hawkins Rovert, farmer

Jeeves Sarah (Mrs.) shopkeeper

Jerram George, cooper & bill poster

Lattimore Fredk. Jas. boot repairer

Lawrence Walter, land measurer

Liddiard James & Albert, farmers

Liddiard Charles, cabinet maker

Loveday William Tomas, iron & brass founder & agricultural implement maker & agent; field rollers a speciality

Martin James, carrier

Moulding William, builder

Nelthorpe Edgar Elliot, gricer

¶Orchard Edney, poultry frmr, Preston

Orchard John, farmer & sub-postmstr

Ovens William Charles, grocer

Palmer Alfred, baker & mealman

Palmer John, Queen Victoria P.H

Pembroke Thomas Charles, farmer

Pembroke William, farmer

Pinniger William, tailor

¶Purver Wm. J.H. farmer, Preston

Read Thomas Edward watch maker

Sheppard Henry Brind, hair dresser

Smith Charles, maltster & farmer, assistant overseer & tax collector, Westfield farm

Smith Wm.Jas. saddler & harness ma

Stacey Ernest, carrier & coal dealer

Stroud Charles, haulier & beer retailer

Waite Henry Charles, carrier & farmer

Warren Robert, Crown P.H

Wentworth Edwd. farmer, East Leaze

West Albert, Bell P.H