Melchbourne is a village and former

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, now in the parish of

Melchbourne and Yielden Melchbourne and Yielden is a civil parish in the Borough of Bedford in the county of Bedfordshire, England. The two parishes of Melchbourne and Yelden Yelden or Yielden is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Melchbourn ...

, in the

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

district, in the ceremonial county of

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

, England. In 1931 the parish had a population of 160. On 1 April 1934 the parish was abolished to form "Melchbourne and Yelden". The village is located west of Swineshead and east of

Yelden Yelden or Yielden is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Melchbourne and Yielden, in the Bedford district, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England, near the borders with Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire. It lies ...

. Melchbourne Preceptory was located in the village. Today the village is the location of the Church of St Mary Magdalene.

Notable residents

* Audrey Lawson-Johnston, the last living survivor of the sinking of the ''

RMS Lusitania RMS ''Lusitania'' was a United Kingdom, British ocean liner launched by the Cunard Line in 1906. The Royal Mail Ship, the world's largest passenger ship until the completion of her sister three months later, in 1907 regained for Britain the ...

'' in 1915. *

Sarah Kennedy Sarah Mary Kennedy MBE (born 8 July 1950) is a British retired TV and radio broadcaster. She presented her daily early morning radio show, ''The Dawn Patrol'', on BBC Radio 2 from 1993 to 2010. She is also a relative of John F. Kennedy In t ...

, BBC radio presenter. Moved 2012 * Major Gen; Sir

Percy Cox Major-general (United Kingdom), Major-General Sir Percy Zachariah Cox, (20 November 1864 – 20 February 1937) was a British Indian Army officer and Colonial Office administrator in the Middle East. He was one of the major figures in the creati ...

, British Diplomat (died there 1937) Influential figure in founding of Iraq.

References

Villages in Bedfordshire Former civil parishes in Bedfordshire Borough of Bedford {{Bedfordshire-geo-stub