Name | Molesworth |
Alt names | Molesworde | source: Domesday Book (1985) p 141 |
Type | Ancient parish, Civil parish |
Coordinates | 52.367°N 0.417°W |
Located in | Huntingdonshire, England ( - 1965) |
Also located in | Huntingdon and Peterborough, England (1965 - 1974) | | Cambridgeshire, England (1974 - ) |
See also | Leightonstone Hundred, Huntingdonshire, England | hundred in which it was located | | Thrapston Rural, Huntingdonshire, England | rural district in which it was located 1894-1935 | | Huntingdon Rural, Huntingdonshire, England | rural district into which it was merged with Brington 1935-1974 | | Huntingdonshire District, Cambridgeshire, England | district municipality of which it has been part since 1974 |
- source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
- source: Family History Library Catalog
Until 1965 the village of Molesworth was located in the County of Huntingdonshire. After mergers in 1965 and 1974 the county became part of Cambridgeshire.
Molesworth was a civil parish in Thrapston Rural District until 1935 when the rural district was abolished. When Molesworth was transferred to Huntingdonshire Rural District it was merged with the neighbouring civil parish of Brington in the civil parish of Brington and Molesworth.
Saint Peter's Church stands on the west of the village and consists of a chancel, nave and tower. The chancel was built around 1275 but the presence of several 12th century stones suggests that an earlier stone church may have existed on the site.
The village gives its name to RAF Molesworth, a Royal Air Force station dating back to 1917.
For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Molesworth.
Research Tips
- Original historical documents relating to Huntingdonshire are now held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies at Shire Hall, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB7 4GS
- The Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire Family History Society has transcribed the parish registers for all the ancient parishes of Huntingdonshire and these can be purchased from the Society as pdfs.
- A History of the County of Huntingdon in 3 volumes from British History Online (Victoria County Histories). This is by far the most complete history of the parishes of the county to be found online. The chapters are ordered by the divisions of the county called hundreds, but each chapter is linked to the volume's content page. Volume 2 (published 1932) covers Hurstingstone and Toseland hundreds (index of parishes); Leightonstone and Norman Cross Hundreds (index of parishes) are found in Volume 3 (published 1936). Volume 1 is a part-volume describing the religious houses of the county.
- GENUKI has a page on Huntingdonshire and pages for each of the ecclesiastical or ancient parishes in the county. These give references to other organizations who hold genealogical information for the local area.
- The FamilyTree Wiki has a series of pages similar to those provided by GENUKI which may have been prepared at a later date.
- A Vision of Britain through Time, section "Units and Statistics" leads to analyses of population and organization of the county from about 1800 through 1974. There are pages available for all civil parishes, municipal boroughs and other administrative divisions.
- Map of Huntingdonshire divisions in 1888 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time
- Map of Huntingdonshire divisions in 1944 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time
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