Buckingham

Buckingham, the county town of Buckinghamshire, stands, almost encircled by the Ouse, 61 miles NW. of London. An ancient place fortified by Edward the Elder (918), it yet has no antiquities, owing to a great fire in 1725. Since 1848 Aylesbury has superseded it as the assize town, and it lost its last member in 1885. The church (1781) was restored by Sir Gilbert Scott, who was born close by; and there are a town-hall of much the same date, and a grammar-school founded in 1548. The bobbin-lace manufacture has declined. Population, 3364. Stowe House, the princely seat of the Duke of Buckingham, 3 miles to the north-west, was rebuilt towards the close of the 17th century. Its art treasures were sold in 1848. William Giffard became Earl of Buckingham in the reign of William I. The same title was conferred on the youngest son of Edward III. For the first dukes of Buckingham, see below. In 1784 George Grenville, Earl Temple, became marquis of the town of Buckingham, and in 1822 his son became duke. The title of Duke of Buckinghamshire was conferred in 1703 on John Sheffield (q.v.), Marquis of Normanby. His town house was bought by George III. in 1761, and has been repeatedly altered and extended; and in 1837 Buckingham Palace became Queen Victoria's ordinary town residence.