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Until 1836, Berkshire lay within the diocese of Salisbury, (with the exception of the parishes of Chilton and Langford, the former of which was in the diocese of Oxford, and the latter in the diocese of Lincoln,) and province of Canterbury (see below for additional), forming an archdeaconry which was divided into the deaneries of Abingdon, Newbury, Reading and Wallingford, with a total of one hundred and forty-eight parishes, of which, seventy-two were rectories, sixty-four vicarages, and twelve perpetual curacies. For civil purposes, Berks was divided into twenty hundreds: Beynhurst, Bray, Charlton, Compton, Cookham, Faircross, Farringdon, Ganfield, Hormer, Kintbury-Eagle, Lambourn, Moreton, Ock, Reading, Ripplesmere, Shrivenham, Sonning, Theale, Wantage, and Wargrave, including the boroughs and market-towns of Abingdon, Reading, Wallingford, and Windsor; the incorporated market towns of Maidenhead, Newbury, and Wokingham; and the market towns of Farringdon, Hungerford, East Ilsley, Lambourn, and Wantage. In 1974, some parishes became part of Oxfordshire, but for the purposes of our research, ancient boundary lines have been respected (see below).
Berkshire was home to a number of Combs &c. families, and its history and geograhpical location may have played a significant role in the lives of some of the early Combs &c. families of this county, and Lovett families, and for this reason, we refer researchers to the Combs-hosted History of Berkshire, including footnotes in respect to the Archdale, Combs and Lovett families, and others.
Of the many Combs families in Berks, at least one is being actively researched at present:
John COMBE (s/o John & Margaret ARCHDALE Combs), baptised 16 Aug 1602, St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, London; d Apr 1652, Sparsholt, Berks; m 8 Jul 1630, Soulbury, Bucks, Elizabeth LOVETT, d/o Sir Robert & Anne SAUNDERS Lovett of Liscombe, Bucks (1.24 miles south of Soulbury; no Combs records found in that parish as yet). See Also the Combs-Associated Archdale Families and Lovett Families)
Due to the strong interest and active research of the Sparsholt Combs, the records of this county have been segregated by parish, with the early Combes of many other parishes viewed in terms of possible relationships to the Combes of Sparsholt. (See Parishes within 11 miles of Sparsholt)
Note: Numerous Berkshire parish records have been read by Archdale-Combs-Lovett researcher Denise Mortorf which are published in many of the following parishes. In a number of other cases, Denise read parish register films with negative results. A separate list of these will be published here shortly (See Also Combs Research List Archives, Year: 1998)
Also note: A number of marriages of Berks residents took place in Oxfordshire. All of those marriages have not yet been cross-filed here.
Our primary geographical source, unless otherwise stated, is A Topographical Dictionary of England, Samuel Lewis, S. Lewis and Company, London, 1831 (See also History of Berkshire).
Wills and Administrations: Entries from various published indices to wills and administrations have been added to applicable parishes/towns. These sources may be incomplete, however, due to the following, courtesy of Gen-UKI, Berks:
"Berkshire was an archdeaconry in the diocese of Salisbury in the archdiocese of Canterbury, until it was transferred to the diocese of Oxford in 1836, Wills, Administrations and other probate records (prior to 1858) will be found in the Record Office related to the ecclesiastical court where the will was proved. For the archdiaconal court this is Berkshire Record Office near Reading, for the Consistory Court of Salisbury this is the Wiltshire Record Office in Trowbridge and for the Prerogative Court of Canterbury this is the Public Record Office at Chancery Lane.Combs &c. researcher Denise Mortorff adds that during the Interreggnum (1649-1660), the archdeaconry did not, by order of Parliament, handle probates and that many wills and administrations from this period are not extant.
"Unfortunately, for various 'peculiars' the records may be elsewhere, such as the Bodleian Library at Oxford for Langford, Wantage (early), Hungerford, West Ilsley and Shalbourne. Wills for the few inhabitants of Windsor Castle are kept at The Aerary in Windsor Castle."
Chronology of Records by Hundred and Parish
