Place:Finedon, Northamptonshire, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

Finedon is a small town now in the unitary authority of North Northamptonshire. It had a population at the 2011 UK census of 4,309 people.

In 1086 when the Domesday Book was completed, Finedon (then known as "Tingdene") was a large royal manor, previously held by Queen Edith, wife of Edward the Confessor. At the time of the Domesday Book Finedon was one of only four towns listed with a population greater than 50 in Northamptonshire - the others being Northampton, Brackley and Rushton.

From the 1860s the parish was much excavated for its iron ore, which lay underneath a layer of limestone and was quarried over the course of 100 years or more. Local furnaces produced pig iron and later the quarries supplied ore for the steel works at Corby.

Finedon is situated 4 miles (6.4 km) to the northeast of Wellingborough. Nearby communities include Irthlingborough, Burton Latimer and Great Harrowden.

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).

"FINEDON, or "Thingdon", a village and a parish in Wellingborough [registration] district, Northampton. The village stands near the Leicester and Bedford railway, 3½ miles NE by N of Wellingborough; and has a station on the railway, and a post office under Higham-Ferrers, both of the name of Finedon. Acres: 3,650. Real property: £8,418. Population in 1851: 1,588; in 1861: 1,840. Houses: 423. The increase of population arose from the extension of the shoe manufacture.

"The property is much sub-divided. Finedon Hall is the seat of the Dolbens. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Peterborough. Value: £843. Patron: the Rev. G. W. Paul. The church is later English, in very good condition; and has a tower and spire, and an octagonal font. There are chapels for Independents, Quakers, Wesleyans, and Free Methodists. A free school has £60; a girls' school has £78; and other charities have £55."

Governance

At the introduction of modern local government by the Local Government Act 1894, Finedon was designated an urban district, with a local council to administer it. In 1935 the Finedon Urban District was abolished, and Finedon became part of the Wellingborough Urban District. From 1974 until April 2021 it was part of the Borough of Wellingborough of Northamptonshire, England. In 1983, "Finedon Parish Council" was established, to provide better local representation and influence in decision-making. The Wellingborough District was abolished in April 2021 and replaced by the unitary authority of North Northamptonshire.

The Victoria County History for Northamptonshire has an article for Finedon in Volume 3, pp 196-203.

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.