On 31 January 1642, Parliament passed ‘an Act for the speedy Contribution and Loan towards the relief of His Majesties
distressed Subjects of the Kingdom of Ireland’. The act sought to raise ‘Gifts and charitable Benevolences’ to relieve
(Protestant) victims of the October 1641 rebellion by Catholic gentry and miltary officers that had broken out. The
contributions and loans, given at interest, were also to defray the military costs of suppressing the rebellion. Buckinghamshire
At the time King Charles I, the reigning monarch, was unable to raise money from Parliament to finance his various
miltary campaigns, so the church was used for fund-raising.
The Collection took place over a number of months, house to house or via churches, varying in its timing from county
to county, up to (and in some cases beyond) June 1642, the date set by the act for the return of all monies
collected. The lists were never printed. However, returns of names and contributions were made to commissioners
at London. Some 1800 returns survive
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Buckinghamshire Contributions 1642
© Copyright David Mapley