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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. [edit] Research Tips[edit] A Vision of Britain through TimeA 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. [edit] Archive Centres
[edit] Northamptonshire Family History SocietyThe 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. [edit] GENUKIThe main GENUKI page for Northamptonshire lists a number of topics for research. [edit] Victoria County History
[edit] Online DatabasesFindMyPast includes (list checked July 2018)
While Ancestry offers (list checked July 2018)
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.
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