Buckden - a Huntingdonshire Village

A HISTORY OF ST MARY’S, THE PARISH CHURCH 129 1719/ 20 Paid William Banks for Weston paving tile for the church aisles £10 1s. 6d. 1731 Apr 19 Paid Thomas Landell senior for cleaning the Gravell Walks in the Churchyard £0 3s. 0d. 1732 Jan 15 Bought 2 padlocks for the church chest £0 1s. 8d. 1764 Feb 3 Paid for a letter from Hitchin £0 0s. 6d. 1766 Apr 28 Geo C Swan Esq paid for to build a workhouse for the poor £80 0s. 0d. 1768 Jan 24 Paid John Plowman & John Clark for cleaning the church leads (roof) of snow £0 2s. 0d. 1772 Feb 4 Paid William Stratton for a bat net £0 2s. 0d. 1772 May 12 One year salary paid to John Plowman for cleaning the (fire) engine and pipes £0 10s. 0d. 1773 Apr 29 Beer when the fire was at the Hackers (beer was provided for those who hand- pumped the fire engine and fought the fire) £1 5s. 8d. 1795 July Paid to build the new vicarage for Revd Edward Maltby (now the Old Vicarage [q.v] opposite the church) £260 0s.0d. 1800 Apr 14 Dr. Mackie, Surgeon and Apothecary of Huntingdon to be paid twelve guineas per annum to attend to the Parish poor, including Midwifery. Fractures and inoculations extra. (In 1801, the doctor’s wife complained that of 22 parishes, Buckden was the only late payer. This may explain the 1802 change below) £12 12s. 0d. 1802 May 4 Mr. Benjamin Roberts, Surgeon and Apothecary of Buckden, to attend to the Poor, including Midwifery at £0 7s 6d each 1803 May 9 Paid for the Huntingdon, Brampton, Offord, St. Neots and Godmanchester Fire Engines and labourers and soldiers 2 days and 2 nights (There had been a huge fire in Buckden) £25 9s. 0d. 1803 June Donations towards the loss by fire at Buckden (received from Buckden and all surrounding towns and villages) £560 0s.0d. 1806 Sept Paid John Balmer, plaisterer of Huntingdon to remove stucco from the outside of the church tower, from the parapets down to the foundation, and to re-stucco it £130 0s.0d. 1815 July Mary Ayers 3d, Ann Usher 3d, Mary Baker 3d, Ann Hunns 1d, Mary Middleton 3d from their Rewards at School (subscriptions to the widows and orphans fund after the Battle of Waterloo, included these Buckden schoolgirls giving their pocket money) £0 1s. 1d. 1841 Apr 13 Contract for the new box pews £230 0s.0d. 1842 Mar 5 Mr. Cartwright’s (q.v. – landlord of the George Inn) bill for refreshments for our children confirmed at Huntingdon £2 0s. 0d. 1842 Mar 23 New shoes for the Beadle ( forerunner of the village policeman ) £0 6s. 0d. 1864 Apr 7 Paid Wm Gale 1 years Ringing etc (he tolled one bell for every service and funeral) £1 6s. 0d. 1912 Jan 19 Printing Coronation Services (King George V) and National Anthem £0 15. 4d. 1929 Nov 1 BCH Electricity Co. Installation of electric plant and light in the church £70 15s.6d. 1930 Oct 2 Men paid to teach our men how to ring bells (the bells had not been rung since 1863) £3 3s. 0d.