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( MOVE BACK TO THE MAIN PAGE - VERDI GALLERY ) Historical persons (HP) behind the opera characters Performers and collaborators of the first Premieres Performers most liked by Giuseppe Verdi and his wife Giuseppina Strepponi Greatest performers after Verdi's times Persons are sorted by roles and birth years. Please, add profiles only to the main page, "Verdi Gallery". Fal...
Windsor Castle, Berkshire, England=The authentic history of Windsor Castle cannot be carried back beyond the 11th century. The romantic legends told by Froissart of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table at Windsor lack the foundation of prosaic record, but are interesting as representing the traditions as to the early history of Windsor which were current in the 14th and 15th centuries...
Berkshire Main Page ===== Image right - Berkshire Flag Public Domain, Wiki Commons ==Historic County of EnglandThis is the umbrella project for Berkshire===Related Projects>===== Berkshire Burials >===== Berkshire - Famous People >===== Berkshire - Monumental Inscriptions and Graveyards >===== Berkshire Genealogical Resources >===== Historical Berkshire
Located on Reservoir Road in Berkshire Center, Franklin County Vermont. The cemetery is current, with the oldest burial being 1808. Find a Grave
ENGLAND, United Kingdom - Place Projects=This is a sub-project of International Places Project Index Every person is born somewhere, marries, lives, works and dies somewhere. Places are a key component to family history research. This project aims to be the starting point in your search for a place in ENGLAND on Geni to discover more about your ancestors. If a place you are looking for in Engla...
Ashdown House, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), England= Ashdown House underwent few changes through its existence until the second World War when it was requisitioned. This had a dire consequence for the house leaving it in an exceedingly poor, near derelict, condition. In 1956 it was donated to the National Trust by Cornelia, Countess of Craven . The National Trust have leased the house and recen...
Bearwood College, Berkshire, England=In about 1830, John Walter (1776–1847), owner of The Times newspaper, purchased the 5,000-acre (20 km2) estate in which the school is now located. His son, also called John Walter (1818–1894), employed architect Robert Kerr to build a mansion within it as his country seat. Erected 1865–74, it is one of the largest Victorian country houses in England. Nikolau...
Caversham Cell, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), England=Near Reading, on the opposite side of the Thames, is Caversham, where the Earl of Cadogan, who was created baron Reading in the year 1716, built a magnissicent house, which his successor thought proper to reduce: it is now in the possession of Major Marfach. Here was a priory of black canons, cell to Notley abby in Buckinghamshire, famous for...
Wallingford Castle, Berkshire(now in Oxfordshire), England=>===== Image by Pitou250 - Own work, Public Domain, Wiki Commons Robert D'Oyley of Liseux built Wallingford Castle, a motte and bailey affair, between 1067 & 1071. He spent much of his time acquiring land, mostly at the expense of the church. The monks of Abingdon were eventually forced to conspire against him and pray for his repentanc...
Abingdon Abbey, Berkshire, (now Oxfordshire), England= Abingdon Abbey , also known as 'St Mary's Abbey was a Benedictine Monaster.===History===It is thought that the abbey was founded either by Cissa, viceroy of Centwine, king of the West Saxons , or by his nephew Hean, in honour of the Virgin Mary, for twelve Benedictine monks.During the reign of King Alfred . it was destroyed by the Danes hav...
Deanery Garden, Berkshire, England=An early C20 house by Edwin Lutyens surrounded by a contemporary formal and informal garden by Lutyens, with planting plans by Gertrude Jekyll .HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT Edward Hudson of 'Country Life' Magazine was introduced to Edward Lutyens by Gertrude Jekyll so when he bought a walled orchard in Sonning in the 1890s he was an obvious choice to employ to design ...
The Abbey at Sutton Courtenay, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), England=>===== Imahge Geograph © Copyright David Howard and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons Licence . Written records of Sutton’s history began in AD 688 when Ine, King of Wessex , endowed the new monastery at Abingdon with the manor of Sutton. In AD 801 Sutton became a royal vill, with the monastery at Abingdon retaining th...
Calcot Park, Berkshire, England= Calcot Park is a country house estate, situated between Calcot and Tilehurst, suburbs of the town of Reading, and within the civil parish of Tilehurst. It is north of the Bath Road (now part of the A4).===History=== Calcot Park , originally the manor house of Tilehurst manor with a significantly larger estate than at present is thought to have originally been bu...
Foxhill House, Berkshire, England= Foxhill House is located in on Foxhill Drive in Whiteknights park, the grounds of Reading University in Earley. It is an excellent example of Late Victorian Gothic Revival being the masterpiece of Alfred Waterhouse who built it in 1868 for himself. The Old Whiteknights House nearby was also built b Waterhouse for his father. This is not just a red brick house,...
THE HALL or HALL PLACE. Berkshire College of Agriculture, Berkshire, England=THE HALL or HALL PLACE appears to have been an estate of a family called Hurley. John de Hurley was a landholder in Hurley in the first half of the 13th century. Disputes with the prior about the payment of Peter's pence, about attendance at the prior's view of frankpledge, and about his right to take estovers in the p...
Carswell Manor, Berkshire (Now Oxfordshire), England= Carswell Manor is a Jacobean country house at Carswell in the civil parish of Buckland in the English county of Oxfordshire (formerly Berkshire). It is located just north of the A420 road between Swindon and Oxford. The Manor of CARSWELL (fn. 62) (Kerswell, xiii cent.; Karswell, Craswelle, Cassewell, xiv cent.) was held of the St. Philiberts...
Sonning Bishop's Palace, Berkshire, England=Around 1000 an extensive Bishop's palace was built on the ground that is now Holme Park and St Andrew's Church. A Saxon Nave and Chancel would have stood at the site. The palace was in Holme Park near the River Thames. It was a residence of the Bishops of Salisbury.In 1135, while staying at the palace, Bishop Roger of Salisbury attended the funeral of...
Wokefield Park, Berkshire, England=The Allfreys were Sussex yeomen farmers over many generations, the name first appearing in records as early as 1296. By the end of the medieval period, there were several distinct branches of the family, whose history has been traced by the Felbridge & District History Group. It was the branch of the family at West Dean which eventually rose to greater prosper...
Ufton Court, Berkshire, England===Architecture==Parts of the house date from 1474, including the basis of the great hall and the screens passage complete with the original 'pantry and buttery' doors, although, at Ufton, there was a proper kitchen beyond. From 1568, the place was modified and extended by Elizabeth, Lady Marvyn, a prominent Roman Catholic, including the installation of a magnific...
Coworth House, Berkshire, England= Coworth House , located in Sunningdale, near Ascot is a late 18th Century house recently gutted and rebuilt for use as a hotel. ===History===Cowarth House was a new house at the time of the American Declaration of Independence and contemporary with Captain Cook's third and last world voyage, being first built in 1776. It is named for and situated in the Hamlet...
Swallowfield Park, Berkshire, England=The present house at Swallowfield Park , was erected in 1689 by Henry Hyde, the 2nd Earl of Clarendon, for his wife, the Swallowfield heiress, Flower Backhouse. She was the daughter of William Backhouse, the famous alchemist and inventor, whose family had owned the estate since the late 16th century. Their old Tudor mansion had replaced the previous 'castle...
Welford Park, Berkshire,England= Welford Park was originally the site of a monastic grange that was granted to Abingdon Abbey way back in Saxon times. The house was known as 'Farm Court' and was run on behalf of the monks by a bailiff.After the Dissolution, King Henry VIII used the place for a time as a hunting lodge. Later, in 1546, it was granted on a long-term lease to Sir Thomas Parry Senio...
Sunninghill Park, Berkshire, England= Sunninghill Park is a country house and estate of some 665 acres (2.69 km2; 1.039 sq mi), located north of Cheapside, in the civil parishes of Sunninghill and Ascot and Winkfield, adjoining the south-western boundary of Windsor Great Park in the English county of Berkshire. It was the official residence of the Duke of York from 1990 until 2004.SUNNINGHILL P...
Sunningdale Park (Northcote House), Berkshire, England===BRIEF HISTORY OF SUNNINGDALE PARK=====Early History===Although there is little evidence of local Stone-Age settlements, the light and sandy soil lacked the flints used for tools, there are many Bronze-Age barrows in the area.In Roman tomes the trees, heath and undergrowth covering Sunningdale formed part of Windsor Forest. The main highwa...
Stanlake Park, Berkshire, England=The present house dates from the latter part of the 16th century. A wing was added on the south-west in the 18th century, when the house was considerably renovated, while in recent years further additions have been made to the south of the house, a central entrance porch built, and the building generally restored and modernized. The Elizabethan building was H-s...
South Hill Park, Berkshire, England=Over the years the various owners of South Hill Park have made their mark on its Grade II listed building. These links with the past are particularly important in the context of a new town where any connection with history is at a premium.===The Early Years===Before the 1600s the area of South Hill Park was part of Windsor Forest. This was a mixture of heath ...
Denford Park, Berkshire, England=Another part of Kintbury, also formerly known as Inglewood (Ingelflote Cumbrewell or Godingeflod, xii–xiii cent.), but now as ANFILLES (Hanvills, Hanfieldes, Goddingflod, Goldingfield, xvi cent.), is detached from the remainder of the parish. It appears to have been held in 1086 by William, probably William de Ow, who held Denford (q.v.), and of him by three the...
Shottesbrooke Manor, Berkshire, England=At the date of the Domesday Survey the manor of SHOTTESBROOK was held of the king by Alward the goldsmith, whose father had held it of Queen Edith in the reign of Edward the Confessor. In 1166 the manor is entered on the Pipe Roll as 'Sotesbroch aurifabrorum' and its tenure is returned later as that of furnishing charcoal to the king's goldsmith for the k...
Cranbourne Lodge, Berkshire, England= Cranbourne Lodge Round in Cranbourne Chase, now part of Windsor Great Park with only the Grade II* listed Cranbourne Tower remaining, it was originally a keeper's lodge for the royal hunting grounds of Cranbourne Chase.===History===Dating from as early as the 13th Century when the royal forest of Windsor was divided up, a substantial house and the first tow...
Sandleford Priory, Berkshire, England=This small priory of Austin canons was founded by Geoffrey, the fourth count of Perch, and Matilda of Saxony, his wife, on a site about a mile south of Newbury, called Sandleford or Sandford, close to the banks of the Enborne, which forms the boundary between Berkshire and Hampshire. The date of the foundation lies between the years 1193 and 1202. It appear...
Caversham Park & Caversham Manor, Oxfordshire (Now Berkshire), England===Caversham Park== Caversham Park , located in the Reading suburb of Caversham, originally a part of Oxfordshire but since 1911 has been in Berkshire, is a Victorian stately home but its history goes back at least as far as Norman times when after the conquest, William the Conqueror gave the estate, then called Caversham Man...
Tilehurst Manor, Berkshire, England= The manor of TILEHURST is not mentioned in the Domesday Survey, but it is possible that it was included with other hamlets in the manor of Reading. This seems more probable, since in 1291 Tilehurst is enumerated among the hamlets of Reading. Tilehurst came into the possession of Reading Abbey before the 13th century, and the manor was held by the abbey until...
Denman College, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), England=(Formerly known as Marcham Park) Denman College , is a residential adult education college centred on Marcham Park at Marcham in the English county of Oxfordshire (formerly Berkshire).Founded by the National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI) in 1948, Denman offers day schools and residential courses in cookery, craft and lifestyle.===Ma...
Park Place, Berkshire,England= Park Place is a historic Grade II Listed country house and gardens in the civil parish of Remenham in Berkshire, England, set in large grounds above the River Thames near Henley, Oxfordshire.===History===Lord Archibald Hamilton bought the estate in 1719 from Mrs Elizabeth Baker and built a new villa on the site.Frederick, Prince of Wales (father of King George III...
Padworth Manor, Berkshire, England=The earliest mention of PADWORTH occurs in 956, when 5 cassates of land there were granted by King Edwy to his man Eadric.t is possible that this estate afterwards became the larger manor of Padworth, which was held by three thegns in parage in the reign of Edward the Confessor, and was in 1086 the property of Stephen son of Eirard. The manor was held of the k...
Monkey Island, Bray, Berkshire, England====Early History===Monkey Island has been in use since at least the twelfth century. Monks resided at Merton Priory at Amerden Bank, a moated site on Bray Lock on the Buckinghamshire bank of the river, until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the sixteenth century. The monks used the island during their fishing activities from 1197. According to some a...
Kingston Bagpuize House, Berkshire (Now Oxfordshire), England====Introduction===The village's suffix comes from the De Bachepuis family who were lords of the manor from the 11th century. The De Kingstons later took over and evidently took their name from the village. John Latton purchased the estate in 1542. The family's main residences were Symeon's Manor in Chilton and Upton Manor in Blewbury...
Bulmershe Court, Berkshire, England=The early history of the manor of BELVERSHALL, BULNASSH, BULMARSH or BULMERSHE COURT is obscure. It was probably formed partly out of the manor of Sonning and partly from the manor of Earley. In 1447 as the 'manor of Belvershal called Bulnassh' it is found in the possession of John Lovell, who in that year granted it to Richard Earl of Salisbury, John Nanfane...
Buckland House, Berkshire (Now Oxfordshire), England=Buckland Park, described in 'The Buildings of England' by Nikolaus Pevsner, as “the most splendid Georgian house in the County” is Grade II* listed, and occupies a commanding position with far-reaching views over the Thames Valley and surrounding countryside. The house faces due south and is situated on the edge of the picturesque village of ...
Bisham Abbey & Manor, Berkshire, England=Sir Henry Vansittart Neale,KCB was one time resident of "'Bisham Abbey"'. The nucleus of the house formed the preceptory of the 13th Century Knights Templars. In 1337 the monastic buildings of the house of Austin Canons were founded by William de Montacute Earl of Salisbury but were later demolished before the site and manor were granted to Sir Philip Ho...
Berystede, Berkshire, England= The Berystede site was originally part of the parish of Sunninghill, an area of great antiquity. There are a number of Bronze Age barrows in the district and the course of the great Roman road, the Devil's Highway crosses the Bagshot-Sunninghill road near Little Stream. Sunninghill was first called a manor in 1362 when it was settled by John de Sunninghill and his...
Benham Park, Berkshire, England=The original township of BENHAM seems to have consisted not only of the present township of Marsh Benham in this parish, but also of the township or tithing of Hoe Benham in the adjoining parish of Welford (q.v.). Certain lands here, granted in 956 by King Edwy to his servant Elfsy, were given by the latter to the abbey of Abingdon, and the bounds of the township...
Charney Manor, Berkshire (Now Oxfordshire), England= CHARNEY (Ceornei, ?ix cent.; Cernei, xi cent.; Cerneia, xii cent.; Cerneye, xiii cent.; Cherney, xvi cent.) is included in the forged list of lands supposed to have been granted to Abbot Rethune by Kenulf, King of Mercia , in 811, (fn. 54) and it is also named in another spurious charter ascribed to the same king dated 821. (fn. 55) At the ti...
Coley Park, Berkshire, England= Coley Park was the home of the Vachell Family from 1309 until 1727. The family maxim, Tis better to Suffer than to Revenge, is said to have come from an incident which took place here in the 14th century. John Vachell was in dispute with the Abbot of Reading over rights of way through the former's estate. The Abbot sent a monk to test his rights with a load of co...
Ginge Manor, Oxfordshire, England= Ginge Manor or Ginge Manor House is a manor house at West Ginge in the civil parish of West Hendred in the English county of Oxfordshire (formerly Berkshire), 3.9 miles (6.3 km) by road to the southeast of Wantage. It became a Grade II listed building on 25 October 1951. It is the family seat of the Viscount Astor and is currently occupied by William Astor , 4...
St. Peter's Church, Wallingford, Oxfordshire (Formerly Berkshire)====Graffiti from the 17th Century===A tower room tucked away at the top of a winding staircase is a novel feature of the new virtual tour of St Peter's Church in Wallingford.Overlooking the banks of the River Thames, St Peters is a Grade II listed building, noticeable for its beautiful 18th century architecture and towering openw...
Haines Hill, Berkshire, England= Haines Hill, in the liberty of Broad Hinton, is a large house, the older portion of which is Elizabethan or early Jacobean. Internally there is a long gallery similar to that at Bramshill and other large houses of the period. This part may have been built by William Hide, called of Haines Hill, who died in 1589. The house was formerly H-shaped in plan and had se...
A brief history of Basildon, Berkshire= Basildon is a Thames-side Parish in the Royal County of Berkshire, lying between Pangbourne to the south and Streatley to the north and some 8 miles west of Reading. It has a population of 1600 and comprises some 3,500 acres.Nowadays it is best known for Basildon Park, a National Trust property, built by John Carr of York between 1777-1783 for Sir Francis...
Ascot place is owned by Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan and is situated in Windlesham in Berkshire with the surmised value of £60 million. Ascot Place was bought by Zayed bin Sultan al- Nahyan the ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the United Arab Emirates for £18 million in 1989. He bought it from the heir of Mercedes-Benz fortune Mick Flick .The Grade II listed 18th century mansion is only 15 min...
Hungerford Park, Berkshire, England=Pictured right:Antique Photograph of Hungerford Park - this version © Nash Ford PublishingHungerford Park was first established as a deer park, in 1247, for Simon de Montfort, the Earl of Leicester, and so-called ‘Father of English Democracy’. The area was just one of his many parcels of land around the country, but as it was located on the main road from Lon...
Historic Buildings of Berkshire ===England Image right - Windsor Castle >>=====By Diliff - Own work, CC BY 2.5, Wiki The object of this project is to provide information about historic buildings in the county of Berkshire, with links to sub-projects for specific buildings as appropriate. GENi profiles of people associated with those establishments can be linked to this project and/or to indivi...
Aldermaston Court, Berkshire, England= Aldermaston Court is a country house and private park built in the Victorian era for Daniel Higford Davall Burr with incorporations from a Stuart house. It is south-east of the village nucleus of Aldermaston in the English county of Berkshire. The predecessor manor house became a mansion from the wealth of its land and from assistance to Charles I during t...
Sulhamstead Abbots, Berkshire, England=The manor of SULHAMSTEAD ABBOTS is not mentioned in the Domesday Survey, and its early history is entirely unknown until it appears amongst the possessions of Reading Abbey at the close of the 12th century. At that time one of the tenants of the abbey, Robert Pincent (Punzun), was deeply in debt and together with his son and heir William quitclaimed much o...
Shaw House, Berkshire, England= Shaw House is an important example of an early symmetrical H-plan Elizabethan mansion, located at Shaw, on the north-eastern outskirts of Newbury in Berkshire.===History===The manor house of Shaw, Shaw House was built by the wealthy cloth merchant, Thomas Dolman, and completed in 1581. It is famous for its reputation as King Charles I's headquarters during the Se...
Englefield House, Berkshire, England= ENGLEFIELD was held under King Edward the Confessor by a certain Alwin, and after the Norman Conquest it was apparently granted to William Fitz Ansculf. At the time of the Domesday Survey the overlordship of the manor was vested in William Fitz Ansculf, who also held the neighbouring manor of Bradfield. Englefield was one of a small group of manors which we...
Beckett Hall Berkshire (now Oxfordshire)= Image Right - Barnacle Lodge , built as an entrance lodge to Beckett Hall in the 1830s.>===== Image by Motacilla - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wiki Commons Beckett Hall (or Beckett House) is a country house at Shrivenham in the English county of Oxfordshire (formerly in Berkshire). The present house dates from 1831.===History===This ancient historical manor...
Easthampstead Park & Manor, Berkshire, England= The manor of EASTHAMPSTEAD was held in 1086 by Westminster Abbey. It was then assessed at 5 hides, formerly at 10 hides, and was worth 50s., but in the Confessor's time 100s. In the 13th century Richard Abbot of Westminster (1223–36) granted the manor at farm to the Prior of Hurley (a cell to Westminster) at a yearly rent of 100s. In 1276 it was r...
Ardington House, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire)= ARDINGTON was held during the reign of Edward the Confessor by two freemen, Edvin, whose holding inlcuded a Mill worth 11s and 26 acres of meadow, and Sawin. In 1086 both their estates had passed to Robert Doyley , of whose honour of Wallingford they were subsequently held as one knight's fee.The second and larger holding had two mills, one of which...