Place:Duston, Northamptonshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Duston is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Northampton, Northamptonshire, England. It has been a settlement since at least Roman times.

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Duston from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"DUSTON, a parish in the district and county of Northampton; on the river Nen, adjacent to the Grand Union canal, near the Northampton and Peterborough and the London and Northwestern railways, 2 miles W of Northampton. Post-town: Northampton. Acres: 1,760. Real property: £6,527. Population in 1851: 714; in 1861: 1,162. Houses: 250. The property is divided among a few. The increase of population between 1851 and 1861 was occasioned by the erection of two iron foundries at St. James End. Some extent of quarrying is carried on. Some remains exist of an Augustinian monastery, founded in the 12th century by William Peverell, and styled St. James' abbey. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Peterborouh. Value: £159. Patron: Viscount Palmerston. The church is good; and has a tower. There are chapels for Independents and Baptists, and charities £22.

Following the building of the iron foundries and the subsequent increase in population described by Wilson in his Gazetteer, Duston was separated into two parishes: Duston, the more rural section, and Duston St. James, the centre of the industry and the area closer to Northampton itself. The parish of Dallington, to the southwest, was similarly divided into Dallington and Dallington St. James. the two "St. James" sections were merged into one Urban District for the period 1896-1900. (Hence the alternate title of St. James End.)

In 1932 the outer parts of Duston and Dallington merged under the name Duston and in 1965 the single parish was absorbed into Northampton.

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.