Thatcham is an historic market town and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire, centred 3 miles (5 km) east of Newbury, 14 miles (24 km) west of Reading and 54 miles (87 km) west of London.
Midgham railway station, formerly known as Woolhampton railway station, is a railway station in the English county of Berkshire. It is located in the village of Woolhampton, but takes its current name from the village of Midgham that lies some 2 miles (3.2 km) away.
Midgham is a village and civil parish occupying slopes and the alluvial plain on the north side of the Kennet. It is centred 6 miles (10 km) east of Newbury, Berkshire and 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Thatcham. The north of the parish is 4.5 miles (7 km) south of the M4 motorway. Midgham Lock is on the Kennet and Avon canal which in summer months draws much of the water from the valley. It has smaller watercourses alongside. Its elevations range from 60 to 121 metres above sea level. Midgham Wood covers most of the north-west and Channel Wood covers most of the north-east eighth of the parish. The vast majority of the other green space is cultivated land, pasture or hay meadows. The lowland area of lakes, river and canal is greater than that covered by roads across the whole parish, as at the 2005 Office for National Statistics survey.
Woolhampton is a small village and civil parish in West Berkshire, England. The village straddles the London to Bath (A4) road between the towns of Reading (8 miles) and Newbury (6 miles). The village homes are clustered and are on the northern side of the plain of the River Kennet, with the Berkshire Downs rising through the fields and woods of the village northwards.
Aldermaston Wharf is a small multi-parish settlement centred 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north-northwest of Aldermaston in West Berkshire, England. The Kennet and Avon Canal passes through the settlement with Aldermaston Lock near the centre while the Great Western Railway passes at the northern side where Aldermaston railway station is also located. The A340 road from Basingstoke passes through the village crossing the canal over a single file lift bridge and joins the A4 road which runs just north of the village.
The High Sheriff of Berkshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'.
William Watts was a British official with the East India Company. He was involved in the overthrow of the last independent ruler of Bengal, leading directly to the consolidation of Company rule in India and his own personal enrichment. Through his wife Begum Johnson, he had notable descendants, including a Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
George Samuel Browne, 8th Viscount Montagu was an English nobleman.
Midgham Lock is a lock on the Kennet and Avon Canal, between Thatcham and Woolhampton, Berkshire, England.
There have been two baronetcies created for persons with the surname Black, both in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom.
William Augustus Henry Fawkener (c.1750–1811) was a British civil servant and diplomat.
John Jefferys was an English clockmaker and watchmaker.
Richard Michael England was an English cricketer. England was a right-handed batsman who fielded as a wicket-keeper.
Benjamin Buck Greene was a British banker and financier. He inherited a large fortune derived from the Atlantic slave trade and the sugar industry in the Caribbean, later becoming one of London's leading merchants and shipowners. He served as a director of the Bank of England for fifty years from 1850, also serving as deputy governor (1871-3) and governor (1873–5).
Robert Lifford Valentine "Val" ffrench Blake was an English Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, cattle- and horse breeder, and author.
Stephen Poyntz (1685–1750), of Midgham in Berkshire, was an English diplomat and courtier.
Isabella Cecil, Marchioness of Exeter, formerly Isabella Poyntz, was the wife of Brownlow Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Exeter, and the mother of the 3rd Marquess.
Sandleford Priory was a small Augustinian Priory, the remains of which now stand at Sandleford in the civil parish of Greenham in the English county of Berkshire.
George Poyntz Ricketts was a Jamaican-born English plantation owner who became Governor of Tobago and Governor of Barbados.
