Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for BABRAHAM

BABRAHAM, anciently Badburham, a village and a parish in Linton district, Cambridge. The village stands on an affluent of the river Cam, near the Gogmagog hills, 2½ miles ENE of Whittlesford r. station, and 6½ SE of Cambridge. It has a post office under Cam bridge; and was formerly a market town. The parish comprises 2,350 acres. Real property, £2,760. Pop., 304. Houses, 67. The manor belonged to Algar, Earl of Mercia; passed, about the year 1576, into the posses sion of Sir Horatio Palavicini, a Genoese; and now he longs to H. J. Adeane, Esq. Sir H. Palavicini collected the pope's taxes in England during the reign of Mary; converted them to his own use, and became Protestant, on the accession of Elizabeth; became a favourite of that queen, one of her negotiators in Germany, and a commander of one of her ships against the Spanish armada; and died at his seat in Babraham; and his widow was married to Sir Oliver Cromwell, the uncle of the Protec tor. A curious epitaph on him is given in "Lord Or ford's Anecdotes of Painting." The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely. Value, £106. Patron, H. J. Adeane, Esq. An almshouse and a free school, with income of £134, were founded in 1723 by Lebinus Bush and Judith Bennet; and a monument to her is in the church.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a village and a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Babraham CP/AP       Linton RegD/PLU       Cambridgeshire AncC
Place: Babraham

Go to the linked place page for a location map, and for access to other historical writing about the place. Pages for linked administrative units may contain historical statistics and information on boundaries.