Place:Wicken, Northamptonshire, England

Watchers
NameWicken
Alt namesWick Divesource: early settlement in parish
Wick Hamonsource: early settlement in parish
TypeAncient parish, Civil parish
Coordinates52.0489°N 0.915°W
Located inNorthamptonshire, England
See alsoCleley Hundred, Northamptonshire, Englandhundred in which it was located
Potterspury Rural, Northamptonshire, Englandrural district 1894-1935
Towcester Rural, Northamptonshire, Englandrural district 1935-1974
South Northamptonshire District, Northamptonshire, Englanddistrict municipality covering the area 1974-2021
West Northamptonshire, Northamptonshire, Englandunitary authority covering the area since April 2021
NOTE: Wicken in Northamptonshire should not be confused with Wicken, in the nearby county of Cambridgeshire.


the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Wicken is a village and civil parish in the English county of Northamptonshire. It is about one mile north of the A422 road between Milton Keynes and Buckingham and forms part of West Northamptonshire unitary authority. At the time of the 2001 UK census, the parish's population was 299 people, reducing slightly to 295 at the 2011 UK census.

Wicken shares its boundary with the county of Buckinghamshire on both its southwest and southeast sides. Its northern boundary is with the parish of Deanshanger or Passenham.

During the Middle Ages, Wicken seems to have functioned as two villages: Wick Dive and Wick Hamon, separated by a stream and both in separate manors.

In 1511 the two manors were purchased by John Spencer of Snitterfield, Warwickshire, whose grandson, Sir John Spencer of Wormleighton, Warwickshire, secured in 1587, the union of Wick Dive and Wick Hamon into one parish.

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.