Place:Bozeat, Northamptonshire, England

Watchers
NameBozeat
TypeAncient parish, Civil parish
Coordinates52.217°N 0.662°W
Located inNorthamptonshire, England
See alsoHigham Ferrers Hundred, Northamptonshire, Englandhundred in which it was located
Wellingborough Rural, Northamptonshire, Englandrural district 1894-1974
Wellingborough District, Northamptonshire, Englanddistrict municipality 1974-2021
North Northamptonshire, Northamptonshire, Englandunitary authority covering the area since April 2021
the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Bozeat is a village and civil parish in now in the unitary authority of North Northamptonshire. From 1974 until April 2021 it was part of the Borough of Wellingborough of Northamptonshire, England.

It is situated about 6 miles (10 km) south of the town of Wellingborough on the A509 road, near Wollaston. At the time of the 2011 UK census, Bozeat's population (including Easton Maudit's population of under 100) was 2,052.

Before the Norman Conquest of 1066, the Saxon thane, Strix (of Strixton) held some of the land here under Earl Waltheof, a powerful Saxon Earl of Northumbria. At the Norman Conquest, William I gave most of the land locally to his niece Judith, who became the first Countess of Northampton. Judith married Earl Waltheof, so the Saxon Earl and the Norman Lady became joint owners.

The Norman parish church dedicated to St Mary, built about 1130, is older than both Easton Maudit and Wollaston churches, and survived the Great Fire of Bozeat in 1729. It was rebuilt in 1880-83.

In the 15th century there was a thriving weaving industry within the farming community, and by the beginning of the 20th century the population had risen to 1,200 and boasted a cottage lace-making industry, a shoe industry and a windmill, with many independent tradesmen, making a very self-reliant village.

Bozeat's shoe trade dates back to the middle of the 17th century but until the middle of the 18th century, it was considered a cottage industry. Men made and mended shoes in small buildings near their homes which were called 'shops', but although some of these remain today, they now serve a different purpose. The population grew rapidly when large shoe factories were built, providing much-needed employment for both men and women, and these remained Bozeat’s main trade until 1982 when the last shoe factory closed. This was the Bozeat Boot Company who made the sports brand Gola.

The Victoria County History for Northamptonshire has an article for Bozeat in Volume 4, pp 3-7.

Research Tips

A Vision of Britain through Time

A Vision of Britain through Time describes parishes and former parishes from a gazetteer of 1871; provides an outline of the historic administration links for parishes. The OS map of 1900, the OS map of 1935, and the OS map of 1965 all show parish boundaries and settlements within parishes. These maps are all expandable to show individual parishes and are useful for inspecting changes occuring over the 20th century.

Archive Centres

  • Northamptonshire Archives is located at Wootton Hall Park, Northampton, NN4 8BQ, Telephone from the UK: 01604 767562 (from overseas replace the "01" with "44"). The website gives opening times and facilities available.
  • Northampton Central Library, Abington Street, Northampton, NN1 2BA (Telephone from the UK: 01604 26771 (from overseas replace the "01" with "44").

Northamptonshire Family History Society

The NFHS website describes the activities of the society. The Society is presently transcribing the deposited Marriage Registers for the period 1754 through 1837. These transcriptions may provide more details than can be found on other databases where subscriptions are charged.

GENUKI

The main GENUKI page for Northamptonshire lists a number of topics for research.

Victoria County History

  • the Victoria County History of Northamptonshire produced online by British History Online (founded by the Institute of Historical Research and the History of Parliament Trust in 2003) contains only some of the Hundreds of Northamptonshire in its collection. Articles that do exist will be referenced under the relevant hundred and parish.

Online Databases

FindMyPast includes (list checked July 2018)

  • Northamptonshire Parish Records (Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, and Probate Index)
  • Northamptonshire Freeholders 1795-1797
  • Northamptonshire Hearth Tax, 1674
  • Northamptonshire Military Tribunals 1916-1918
  • Northamptonshire Militia Lists 1771
  • Northamptonshire, Northampton General Hospital Admissions 1774-1846

While Ancestry offers (list checked July 2018)

  • Census & Voter Lists 1841-1911.
  • Northamptonshire Birth, Marriage & Death
  • Northamptonshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1532-1812
  • Northamptonshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1912
  • Northamptonshire, England, Church of England Marriages, 1754-1912
  • Northamptonshire, England, Church of England Burials, 1813-1912
  • Other Birth, Marriage & Death collections related to Northamptonshire. (32)
  • Northamptonshire, England, Church of England Confirmations, 1870-1911
  • Other Schools, Directories & Church Histories collections related to Northamptonshire. (34)
  • A calendar of wills relating to the counties of Northampton and Rutland : proved in the court of the archdeacon of Northampton
  • Other Wills, Probates, Land, Tax & Criminal collections related to Northamptonshire. (23)
  • Reference, Dictionaries & Almanacs collections related to Northamptonshire. (21)
  • Maps, Atlases & Gazetteers collections related to Northamptonshire. (7)
  • Northamptonshire Stories, Memories & Histories
Genealogy of the descendants of Thomas French: who came to America from Nether Heyford, Northamptonshire, England and settled
Works of Reverend James Hervey, 1713-1758
The Orlebar Chronicles in Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire, 1553-1733, or the Children of the Manorhouse
Descendents of Thomas Chichele of Higham-Ferrers, Northampton, England
Rockingham Castle and the Watsons
Other Northamptonshire Stories, Memories & Histories (14)

FamilySearch also has an extensive database online. It is free, but may not always provide the original images provided by the services one pays for.

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Bozeat. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.