The Inskips have been in Maulden, Bedfordshire since at least the 1760’s when John Inskip married Elizabeth Parker on Christmas Day 1766. John was a tenant farmer for John Russell, Duke of Bedford . The Duke had acquired land around Maulden in 1738 and was experimenting with new more productive agricultural techniques. The soil in the area was particularly good for market gardening, and the Inskips were a family of Market Gardeners. John paid the Duke 10/- (shillings or 50p in todays money) in 1775 to farm 4 acres.
It is highly like that John came from the Southill area, but tracing his exact branch of the Inskip clan in Bedfordshire has proved – well shall we say difficult. Anyway, it is much easier to move forward and the Inskip family has stayed in Maulden, intermarrying with many of the other local families – particularly Summerfields, Daniels and Stanbridges.
This picture was taken from a house on a market gardening small holding that dates back to the 18th century. It is now owned by an Inskip and used to be owned by the Stanbridges. It looks along The Knoll towards George Street and up to the village church (St Mary the Virgin, rebuilt in 1837 apart from the tower). This is the village centre where many of the Inskips lived and died, married and were buried.
You can see that there are a lot of brick houses, some rendered white, and some still have their thatch roofs. Of course the rather blue car, is not original.!!!!!!
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