by Patricia CrutchForeword by Mary Hodges
Local history is about ordinary people and their everyday lives. Research into ten families has provided a basis for further study. Incorporating over 100 surnames, 416 individuals are named, many achieving office within the borough; these include 18 aldermen who served terms as mayor, 7 chamberlains who did not become aldermen, 3 members of parliament, 6 town clerks, 3 churchwardens and one rector of Bladon with Woodstock. In addition 6 comptrollers of Woodstock Park are studied along with their associates, the neighbouring gentry and nobility.
Seven of the main families represent the core of influence within the town, reinforced by judicious marriages and trade links. The remaining families lived in the three adjoining parishes; one each from Bladon (Hensington), Old Woodstock and Woodstock Park, and these represent the gentry and working classes with their contrasting lifestyles. The stories include the following families: Ayres, Bradshaw (2 families), Browne, Cooper, Fletcher, Glover, Johnson, Nash, Whitton.
£9.99 paperback 124pp ISBN 978-1-902279-22-0
