Place:Wothorpe, Northamptonshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

Wothorpe is a village and civil parish in the City of Peterborough unitary authority of Cambridgeshire, England. It is in the far northwest of the district, and to the south of Stamford, Lincolnshire. The parish meets the present border with Northamptonshire on its west. Prior to 1866 it was a hamlet or chapelry in the parish of Stamford Baron. There is no church at Wothorpe and it remains part of Stamford Baron for ecclesiastical purposes.

The parish was historically part of Northamptonshire. When County Councils were created in 1889 Thornhaugh was made part of the Soke of Peterborough administrative county, which was nominally still part of Northamptonshire, but independent of Northamptonshire County Council. In 1965 The Soke of Peterborough was merged with the county of Huntingdonshire to form the administrative county of Huntingdon and Peterborough, which was itself abolished in 1974 and absorbed into Cambridgeshire. Since 1998, Thornhaugh has been a parish in the unitary authority of the City of Peterborough, which remains part of the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire.

History

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

Wothorpe Priory was a "small Benedictine nunnery", founded apparently around 1160. All but one of the nuns died in the outbreak of Plague in 1349, with the survivor becoming part of the priory at Stamford. The property was dissolved by King Henry VIII and was granted to Richard Cecil (ca. 1495 - 1553).

Wothorpe became a separate civil parish in 1866. Historically the parish was part of the Soke of Peterborough, associated with Northamptonshire. Administratively, it became part of the Stamford rural sanitary district in the 19th century, then in 1894 became part of the Barnack Rural Districtof the administrative county of the Soke [of Peterborough], then passing to the county of Huntingdon and Peterborough in 1965 and the county of Cambridgeshire in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972.

The early 17th century "Wothorpe Towers" (photo in Wikipedia) was a lodge that was once part of the Burghley estate, built by Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter (1563 – 1612), eldest son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (1520 – 1598) who was son of Richard Cecil mentioned above. After Thomas' death, the Towers were leased to George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, then used as a dower house and finally, part dismantled to provide an eye-catcher in the newly landscaped park. The latest owners purchased the whole historic site in 2004. After carrying out extensive works to remove the building from the Heritage at Risk Register, the family have placed the monument in the care of the Wothorpe Towers Preservation Trust, and are restoring the gardens and surrounding buildings, which are now their home.

Research Tips

• If you are researching anyone whose lifetime preceded (or even mostly preceded) 1889, the places in which he or she lived are going to be in Northamptonshire rather than the Soke of Peterborough. The Soke of Peterborough was actually a section of Northamptonshire.
• Original historical documents relating to the Soke of Peterborough are held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies at the County Record Office in Peterborough.
• GENUKI does not provide webpages for the Soke of Peterborough and its provision for Northamptonshire is very limited.
• The FamilyTree Wiki has a series of pages on Northamptonshire (including the Soke of Peterborough).
• A Vision of Britain through Time, section "Units and Statistics" leads to analyses of population and organization of the county from 1889 through 1974. There are pages available for all civil parishes, municipal boroughs and other administrative divisions.
• Map of Northamptonshire in 1900 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time shows the Soke of Peterborough (not labelled as such) in the top right hand corner.
• Map of Northamptonshire divisions (including the Soke of Peterborough) in 1944 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time