Letter plus list of items in British Museum MS 36, 357 and list of charges for copies of photographs
P-D/L/006
Date: 1971
Notes for a talk on the latter half of Victorian era in Beaconsfield 1860- 1906
P-D/N/001
Date: 1981
Notes on Post Office Directory of 1869, giving information on tradesmen (names, trades and addresses) in Beaconsfield. Also some private individuals such as the rector, the Du Pres, and John Hargreaves of Hall Barn Park, Edmund Waller. Other information such as postal delivery times, key annual dates and population in 1861 noted as 1,662
P-D/N/002
Date: c1970
Short description of stage coach services through and lodgings in Beaconsfield, describing services between London and Oxford in 1669, 1816 and 1834. Mentions notorious highwayman Claude Duval, including robbery of £100 from a farmer at the Crown Inn.
P-D/N/003
Date: c1970
Brief history of horse-drawn coaching days and transport in Beaconsfield from 1667 until around the coming of the railway in 1906. Describes some services, mention of Jack Shrimpton, the highwayman, and tale of a horse breaking loose and running through building that was later the Broadway Hotel (now part of the Crazy Bear Hotel). Final ...
P-D/N/004
Date: c1970
Notes based on the memories of people who lived in Beaconsfield ‘during the last 100 years’, plus various accounts of trades people, types of traffic through Beaconsfield including the coming of the railway in 1906, recreational facilities for young people in 1897, entertainments and events in town taken from old copies of Parish Magazines ...
P-D/N/005
Date: c1970
Notes for a talk to the Mother’s Union. Miss Day’s description of daily life in Beaconsfield in the 1920’s, based on her personal experience (born in 1909), sharing her view of ‘the enormous changes in the pace of life within the last 60 to 70 years’
P-D/N/006
Date: 1991
Detailed descriptions of deliveries in Old Beaconsfield pre-motor car. Covers postmen, milkmen, and bakers’ rounds.
P-D/N/007
Date: c1990
Descriptions of grocers, drapers, bakers, milk shopping. Prices, earnings for Hall Barn gardeners (and their rent), and postmen. Short anecdote of Ernest Wright, milkman, and his horse, Kit
P-D/N/008
Date: c1990
Descriptions of various aspects of Old Beaconsfield in the 1920’s including places such as Windsor End, Wycombe End, Aylesbury End, the High Street (now known as London End?, and others such as Gregories Road and ‘Ledboro Lane’). Describes some of the changes since World War One. Also describes some town events such as a ...
P-D/N/009
Date: c1990
Brief notes on G K Chesterton and Miss Heath and Miss Fry, headmistresses of the Beaconsfield Girls and Infant schools respectively; description of their personalities and their work. On the reverse, also listed by, name only, five ‘Others’ :
P-D/N/010
Date: c1990
Descriptions of insurance for Henry Turrell carpenter, Mary Watson, Stephen Woodbridge, Barber and Perukemaker
P-D/N/011
Date: c1980
Typed notes covering memories of Beaconsfield
P-D/N/012
Date: c1980
Incomplete notes covering the origins of Beaconsfield Old Town, starting with the Saxon tribes.
P-D/N/013
Date: 26-Feb-80
Recollections of life in Beaconsfield Old Town at the end of the 19th century, including personal memories from Mrs Elizabeth Merritt (e.g. Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee arrival at Slough Station). Handwritten extract of report from Bucks Free Press of Friday May 8th, on ‘Mr W Baring Du Pre’s Accession to the ...
P-D/N/014
Date: 18/04/1990
Covers the memories of Bessie Merritt (nee Wright) various topics including: the Wright family who lived at Bank House – also mention of Mr Hare’s farm further down the street; social events of the church or chapel; various festivities including the coming-of-age of Mr Du Pre’s eldest son; Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897 at ...
P-D/N/015
Date: c1960
Brief description of the post office in London End and Beaconsfield bank services in the latter part of the 19th century
P-D/N/016
Date: c1960
Describes origins of Beaconsfield in Saxon times and at the time of the Domesday Book, reasons for growth, such as markets and fairs, with population and housing numbers in 1811 Mention of the estates of Hall Barn, Wilton Park and Butlers Court, and adjoining farmlands. Population ‘explosion’ caused by arrival of railway in 1906, and ...
P-D/N/017
Date: 01/03/1972
Brief description of the hunt season of the Household Brigade from Windsor, meeting on Saturday afternoons in Beaconsfield, and the route through Hall Barn estate.
P-D/N/018
Date: 1980
Notes on: the toll gate at Broad Lane; Oxford to London coach services and fares in 1664, 1667, 1669 and 1672; mention of Jack Shrimpton, highwayman, hanged in 1713
P-D/N/019
Date: 1990
Notes describing the transport links, methods and general level of traffic in Beaconsfield. Includes reference to the White Hart, and stabling for over 100 horses in 1870s, GWR coach link to Slough Station, description of the mail van, and accommodation for the bank clerks
P-D/N/020
Date: c1980
Describes his career in electronics, including as Chairman of Royal Television Society, and his work on radar Also describes his move to Beaconsfield and his charitable works, including founding the Beaconsfield & District Historical Society in 1961
P-D/N/021
Date: 1970
Notes by Anne Burnham describing the history of Hall Barn lands and buildings through the ages, starting in 1624 with acquisition of the land, and first building in 1675. Describes subsequent additions and alteration under different owners (Edmund Waller, his son Henry, and Sir Gore Ousley)
P-D/N/022
Date: 1970