BUCKINGHAM, a parish in the hundred of BUCKINGHAM and county of BUCKINGHAM, comprising the borough and market-town of Buckingham (which has a separate jurisdiction), the chapelry of Gawcott, the hamlets of Bourton, Bourtonhold, and Lenborough, and 'the precinct of Prebend-End, and containing 3465 inhabitants of which number, 1495 are in the borough, 17 miles (N.W.) from Aylesbury, and 56 (N. W. by W.) from London. This place is supposed to have derived its name either from the Saxon Bocce, a beech tree, or from Bucca, a stag, having been equally remarkable for the extensive beech woods in its neighbourhood, and for the great number of deer with which those woods abounded: some, however, from the name having anciently been written Boch-ing-ham, deduce it from Boch-ing, a chartered or free meadow, as loch-land, among the Saxons, signified a charter-land, to distinguish it from folc-land, or copyhold. In 915, King Edward the Elder fortified both sides of the river on which the town is situated, with ramparts and turrets,- to protect it from the incursions of the Danes, who, in 941, committed dreadful outrages in the neighbourhood, and, in 1010, took possession of the town. In the reign of Edward III., Buckingham sent three representatives to a great council held at Westminster, at which time it was a considerable staple town for wool; but upon the removal of that distinction to Calais', its prosperity declined, and it finally became one of those decayed towns for which relief was granted by an act of parliament in 1535. About this period, the assizes, formerly held here, were removed to Aylesbury; but in 1758 Lord Cobham obtained an act for holding the summer assizes at this town. In 1644, Charles I. fixed his head-quarters, and Sir William Waller, after the battle of Cropredy-Bridge, and Fairfax after his defeat at Borstall House, took up their stations here. In 1724, a considerable part of the town was destroyed by an accidental fire. Buckingham is pleasantly situated on the river Ouse, by which it is environed on every side except the north, and over which are three bridges of stone: it consists principally of one long street} the houses in general are built of brick, and the town is paved, lighted with oil, and plentifully supplied with water. The trade chiefly consists in sorting wool, tanning leather, and the making of lace. Of the last, prior to the introduction of the lace manufacture'into Nottingham, a great quantity was made, not only in this town, but throughout the county,- affording employment to a large portion of the female inhabitants: there .are several corn and paper mills- on the banks of the Ouse. A branch of the Grand Junction canal, extending to the town, affords the means of supplying it with coal, and considerably facilitates its trade. There are several limestone quarries in the vicinity, besides a quarry of marble; the marble is of a darkish colour, but. can neither endure the weather, nor retain a good polish, on which account it is but little worked. The market is on Saturday: fairs are held on January 12th, and on the last Monday in that month, March 7th, the second Monday in April, May 6th, Whit-Thursday, July 10th, September 4th, and October 2nd, chiefly for cattle and sheep; on the Saturday after Old Michaelmas-day, which is a statute fair; and November 8th and December 13th, for cattle. The government, by charter of incorporation granted in the reign of Edward III., confirmed by Henry VIII., and subsequently by Queen Mary, is vested in a bailiff, high steward, recorder, and twelve principal burgesses, assisted by a town-clerk and subordinate officers. There are four incorporated fraternities, viz., the Mercers, Tanners, Merchant Taylors, and Butchers; but the freedom of the borough has become obsolete. The bailiff is a justice of the peace, and, with three of the burgesses, and the deputy steward, holds a court for the recovery of debts under £5. The corporation hold courts of session in April and October, for the trial of all offenders, except such as are accused of capital crimes. The town-hall is a neat and spacious brick building, nearly in the centre of the town. The borough gaol, a commodious structure, was erected by Lord Cobham, in 1748, at an expense of £7000: on a tablet over the entrance is an inscription recording the restoration of the summer assizes in 1758. The borough has constantly returned two representatives to parliament since the 36th of Henry VIII.: the right of election is vested exclusively in the officers of the corporation, thirteen in number, who are in the interest of the Duke of Buckingham: the bailiff is the returning officer. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the peculiar jurisdiction of the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln, rated in the king's books at £22, and in the patronage of the Duke of Buckingham. The church, dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, was erected in 1781, on the site of an ancient castle, supposed to have been built by one of the earls of Buckingham, prior to the Conquest, the foundations of which are occasionally discovered, and constitute its only vestiges: it is a handsome structure, with a square embattled tower surmounted by a well-proportioned spire. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, Wesleyan Methodists, and Presbyterians. The free grammar school, now incorporated with an English school under the management of the corporation, was founded by Edward VI., who endowed it with the revenue of a dis solved chantry belonging to the guild of the Holy Trinity, and appropriated to its use the chapel founded, in 1268, by Matthew Stratton, Archdeacon of Buckingham, and dedicated to St. John the Baptist and Thomas a Becket, of which the seats, erected in the reign of Edward IV., and the original entrance, in the Norman style, are still remaining. The Green-coat school, for twenty-six boys, was founded and endowed in 1760, by Mr. Gabriel Newton, alderman of Leicester; and a National school for two hundred boys and one hundred girls, established in 1819, for which a handsome building of stone has been erected, is supported by subscription. The almsb.6uses, called Christ's hospital, for sik aged women, were founded by Queen Elizabeth, about 1597. Buckingham gives the title of duke to the family of Temple.