Blunham, Bedfordshire
Historical Description
Blunham, a village and a parish in Beds. The village stands on the river Ivel, near the Cambridge and Bedford line of the L. & N.W.R., on which it has a station, and 7 miles E of Bedford. It was once a market-town. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Sandy. Acreage of parish, 1205; population of the civil parish, 599; of the ecclesiastical, 637. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Ely; net yearly value, £500 with residence. Patron, Earl Cowper. The church is Norman, and good. There are two Baptist chapels. Blunham House, belonging to the Payne family, is a chief residence.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Bedfordshire | |
| Diocese | Ely | |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Blunham St. Edmund | |
| Hundred | Wixamtree |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1571.
The Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service (BLARS) hold the registers for Blunham: Baptisms 1571-1999, Marriages 1571-1994, Burials 1571-1943, Banns 1754-1901. Transcripts in either book or microfiche form for registers prior to 1813 can be purchased from the BLARS (see website for details).
Churches
Church of England
St. Edmund (parish church)
The church of St. Edmund is a building of sandstone, partly of the Norman period, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles and a lofty embattled western tower, with pinnacles, containing a clock and 5 bells: in the south wall of the chancel is a monument with recumbent effigy to Susanna (Grey), daughter of Charles, 7th Earl of Kent of that family, and wife of Sir Michael Longueville, 17th century: there are also memorial slabs to the Bromsall family, including one to Margaretta Bromsall, 1664: the church was restored and entirely reseated in 1860, and in 1862 the organ was considerably enlarged at the expense of Miss Polhill of this place, who also contributed largely to the refitting of the church: the church plate includes a paten of silver given by Dr. Archer, of Blunham, in 1862: there are 350 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Blunham was in Biggleswade Registration District from 1837 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Blunham from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Blunham (St. Edmund))
- Kelly's Directory of Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Northamptonshire, 1914
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Bedfordshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Blunham are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Bedfordshire papers online:
- Bedfordshire Times and Independent
- Biggleswade Chronicle
- Luton Times and Advertiser
- Luton News and Bedfordshire Chronicle
Poor Law
Blunham was in Biggleswade Poor Law Union. For further detailed history of the Biggleswade Union see Peter Higginbotham's excellent resource: Biggleswade Poor Law Union and Workhouse.
Visitations Heraldic
A full transcript of the Visitations of Bedfordshire 1566, 1582, and 1634 is available online.