Melchbourne is a small village located in the

Borough of Bedford The Borough of Bedford is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. Its council is based in Bedford, its namesake and principal settlement, which is the county town of Bedfordshire. The bor ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

, England. The village is located west of Swineshead and east of

Yielden Yielden or Yelden is a village in Bedfordshire, near the borders with Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire. It lies on the River Til which feeds into the Great Ouse valley and is about above sea level. It is approximately north of Bedford, sout ...

. Melchbourne forms part of the

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 (also known as Yielden) were combined in 1934. Until 1974 the parish formed part of Bedford R ...

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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

Melchbourne Preceptory Melchbourne Preceptory was a priory in Melchbourne, Bedfordshire, England. It was established in the 12th century and disestablished around 1550. History The preceptory of Melchbourne was founded in the reign of Henry II of England, Henry II by Al ...

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

Notable residents

Audrey Lawson-Johnston The was a UK-registered ocean liner that was torpedoed by an Imperial German Navy U-boat during the First World War on 7 May 1915, about off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland. The attack took place in the declared maritime war-zone around th ...

, the last living survivor of the sinking of the ''

RMS Lusitania RMS ''Lusitania'' (named after the Roman province in Western Europe corresponding to modern Portugal) was a British ocean liner that was launched by the Cunard Line in 1906 and that held the Blue Riband appellation for the fastest Atlanti ...

'' 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. In the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours, Kennedy ...

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

Percy Cox 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 creation of the current Middle East. ...

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

References

Villages in Bedfordshire Borough of Bedford {{Bedfordshire-geo-stub