Biddenham (St. James)
BIDDENHAM (St. James), a parish, in the hundred of Willey, union and county of Bedford, 2½ miles (W. by N.) from Bedford; containing 345 inhabitants. The family of the Botelers, of whom was Sir William Boteler, lord mayor of London in 1515, were settled here for ten generations. The property afterwards passed into the family of Lord Trevor, subsequently created Viscount Hampden; and on the decease of John, the last viscount, in 1823, it was bequeathed to the Hon. George Rice, eldest son of Lord Dynevor, who assumed the name of Trevor. The parish is bounded on the south, west, and north by the river Ouse, and on the east by the borough of Bedford; and is intersected by the road from that town to Newport-Pagnell, a little to the south of which thoroughfare the village is situated. The soil is good, though gravelly; and the scenery picturesque. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8; net income, £100; patron and impropriator, the Hon. Mr. Trevor: the glebe consists of 43 acres, with a good house. The church contains a handsome font, and several memorials to the Botelers. A national school here has an endowment.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.