Milton Keynes (city), Buckinghamshire Genealogy

Guide to Milton Keynes history, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.



History
At the end of WWII, Britain was in urgent need for new houses to replace those lost in the bombing raids throughout the country. The Government proposed that several new areas be considered as "New Towns, or "New Cities". One of the unique (for Britain) was that these new towns would have a minimum of 30% of the total area left undeveloped, as parks and greenways.

Milton Keynes, locally abbreviated to MK, is a large town in the Borough of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, of which it is the administrative center. It was formally designated as a new town on 23 January 1967, with the design brief to become a "city" in scale. It is located about 45 miles (72 km) north-west of London.

At designation, its 89 km2 (34 sq mi) area incorporated the existing towns of Bletchley, Wolverton, and Stony Stratford, along with another fifteen villages and farmland in between. It took its name from the existing village of Milton Keynes, a few miles east of the planned center.

At the 2011 census, the population of the Milton Keynes urban area, including the adjacent Newport Pagnell and Woburn Sands, was 229,941. The population of the Borough in total was 248,800, compared with a population of around 53,000 for the same area in 1961.

Cemeteries (Civil)
There is one cemetery and one crematorium in the area of Milton Keynes. Information follows:

Whalley Drive Cemetery 22 Whalley Drive Bletchley, Milton Keynes, MK3 6HP Phone: +44 1908 658112

Crownhill Crematorium Crownhill Milton Keynes MK8 0AH +44 1908 568112

Parishes
There are a number of known Anglican churches in Milton Keynes. They follow:

St Mary's Church Green Road Bletchley Milton Keynes MK6 3BJ Phone: +44 1908 366531

All Saints Willen Road Milton Keynes MK10 9AF Phone: +44 7438 786034

All Saints Pilcher Lane Loughton Milton Keynes MK5 8AS Phone: +44 1908 504452

The Church of Christ, the Cornerstone] 300 Saxon Gate Milton Keynes MK9 2ES Phone: +44 1908 237777

Saint Martin's Manor Road Bletchley Milton Keynes MK2 2HW Phone: +44 1908 372825

St. Mary's Woughton on the Green Newport Road Woughton on the Green Milton Keynes MK6 3BE Phone: +44 1908 392583

St. George the Martyr St. George's Way Wolverton Milton Keynes MK12 5EX Phone: +44 7462 301853

Non Conformists
The Milton Keynes area has a large Roman Catholic population, part of the Northampton Diocese. The following web site provides further information:


 * The Northampton RC Diocese

Other Christian and non-christian groups follow:


 * Baptist
 * Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
 * Grace Church
 * Jehovah's Witness
 * Methodist
 * New City Church
 * New Life Church
 * Presbyterian
 * Seventh Day Adventist

Non Christian groups that meet regularly in Milton Keynes include:


 * Buddhist
 * Hindu
 * Jewish
 * Muslim
 * Sikh

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The following link provides access for Milton Keynes:


 * Births, Marriages, and Death Records for Milton Keynes
 * UKBMD for Buckinghamshire
 * BMD certificates; Milton Keynes

Local Histories
As a newly instituted town or city, Milton Keynes itself does not have much history. The following links may help:


 * MK Inspire
 * A History of Milton Keynes; Milton Keynes City Council
 * The struggle for the Soul of Milton Keynes

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Michelin map of Milton Keynes
 * oldmapsonline; Milton Keynes
 * Vision of Britain; Milton Keynes

Newspapers

 * Milton Keynes Citizen

Occupations
As a new city, Milton Keynes has never had a base for industrial development. It is, to a great extent, a "bed room city" for the London Megalopolis.

Given that however, Milton Keynes has consistently benefited from above-average economic growth. Outside of London it is ranked as one of the most attractive places for business along with Oxford, Cambridge and Manchester.

One of the original villages that now make up Milton Keynes is Bletchley. Bletchley Park was home to the Government Code and Cypher School during the Second World War. The famous Enigma code was cracked here, and the building housed what was arguably the world's first programmable computer, Colossus. The house is now a museum of war memorabilia, cryptography and computing. Bletchley Park is still the base for a large part of the UK's cryptography operations.

Milton Keynes is home to several national and international companies, including the UK headquarters of Argos, Domino's Pizza, Marshall Amplification, Mercedes-Benz, Suzuki, Volkswagen AG, Red Bull Racing, Network Rail and Yamaha Kemble.

Societies

 * Buckinghamshire FHS
 * Buckinghamshire Family History Society; Milton Keynes
 * Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society
 * Buckinghamshire Historical Association

Archives

 * living archives: Milton Keynes
 * Milton Keynes Council archives
 * Milton Keynes Heritage Archives

Web Sites

 * Keynes wikipedia; Milton Keynes
 * Milton Keynes Council