Place:Blisworth, Northamptonshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

Blisworth is a village and civil parish in the South Northamptonshire District of Northamptonshire, England. The West Coast Main Line, a railway line that travels from London Euston to Manchester and Scotland, runs alongside the village partly hidden and partly on an embankment. The Grand Union Canal passes through the village and the north portal of the Blisworth Tunnel is near Stoke Road.

Blisworth is about 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Northampton, 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Towcester and 10 miles (16 km) north of Milton Keynes. The 1961 census showed a population of 1,192. By the 2001 census there were 1,786 people in the parish (the 2010 estimated population is 1,870) in 792 dwellings. It is a commuting village with no industry and few local businesses.

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

"BLISWORTH, a village and a parish in Towcester [registration] district, Northampton. The village stands on the Grand Junction canal, 1 mile SSW of the Northwestern railway, at the junction of the line to Northampton and Peterborough, and 5½ SSW of Northampton; and it has a station, of its own name, at the railway junction, and a post office under Northampton.

"The parish comprises 1,980 acres. Real property: £4,314. Population: 1,022. Houses: 199. The property is divided among a few. The Blisworth tunnel on the canal, SSE of the village, is 1 mile long. The Blisworth cutting on the railway goes through hard blue limestone; is 2 miles long, with a mean depth of 50 feet; and, though not the largest work of its kind on the line, was the most difficult. Building-stone is quarried; and some iron ore is found. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough. Value: £351. Patron: the Rev. W. Barry. The church is ancient, and of mixed architectural character; has a brass of 1503; and was recently restored. There are a Baptist chapel, a free school, and charities £25."

Research Tips

These two maps show the boundaries of the individual civil parishes in the county in 1900 and in 1944. Comparing the two on a local level allows one to understand the alterations (should there be any) which occurred during the interim period which are noted in the text above.

• Ordnance Survey map of Northamptonshire 1900 provided by A Vision of Britain through Time
• Ordnance Survey map of Northamptonshire 1944 provided by A Vision of Britain through Time