Place:Deanshanger, Northamptonshire, England

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

Deanshanger is now a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, having been part of South Northamptonshire District between 1974 and April 2021. It is located 5 miles (8 km) west-northwest of Milton Keynes. The population of the civil parish (including Puxley) at the 2011 UK census was 3,817. Deanshanger is 50 miles (80 km) northwest of London and 52 miles (83 km) southeast of Birmingham. At the time of the 2001 UK census, Deanshanger parish had a population of 2,900, rising to 3,817 at the 2011 UK census.

The civil parish named Deanshanger was called Passenham at least up to the 1870s (and found on county maps up to 1944). In 1951 boundary changes introduced the civil parish of Old Stratford representing the eastern section and also taking in part of the parish of Furtho. (Sources: Ordnance Survey map of 1944 and Ordnance Survey map of 1965).

The original population centre of the parish was the hamlet of Passenham. However, from the late 18th century the coming of the Grand Union Canal to the east made the settlement of Deanshanger an agricultural industrial centre and caused it to grow quickly. This growth accelerated with the building of the London and Birmingham Railway in the first half of the 19th century which also passed through the nearby villages of Wolverton, Bletchley (both now parts of Milton Keynes) and Roade.

From the 1820s, the main industry within Deanshanger was an iron foundry and later an iron oxide works (making pigment for paint). This gave some of the surrounding area a red colouration from the oxide dust. However, in 1999, the works closed and was demolished.

The following description from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72 is provided by the website A Vision of Britain Through Time (University of Portsmouth Department of Geography).

"PASSENHAM, a village and a parish in Potterspury [registration] district, Northampton[shire]. The village stands on the river Ouse, at the boundary with [Buckinghamshire], 1 mile W S W of Stony-Stratford, and 3 W S W of Wolverton [railway] station; was known to the Saxons as Passanham; and was the place where Edward the Elder halted in his expedition against the Danes, and raised an entrenchment while fortifying Towcester. [before the Norman Conquest of 1066]

"The parish contains also the hamlet of "Denshanger", and parts of Puxley and Old Stratford; and its post town is Stony-Stratford. Acres: 2,230. Real property: £5,386. Population in 1851: 969; in 1861: 1,105. Houses: 233. :"The property is subdivided. The manor belongs to the heiress of the late Viscount Maynard. The parish is traversed by the Buckingham canal, and includes great part of Whittlewood forest. Lace-making is carried on. The living is a rectory, united with the [perpetual] curacy of Denshanger, in the diocese of Peterborough. Value: £650. Patrons: the Trustees of the late Viscount Maynard.

"The church is old and ivy-clad; consists of nave and chancel, with a tower; and contains a finely carved pulpit, twelve richly carved stalls, and a handsome monument to Sir R. Banastre, who died in 1649. A new church was built in 1853; and there are chapels for Baptists and Primitive Methodists, parochial schools, and a boarding school."

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.