Place:Grafton Regis, Northamptonshire, England

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NameGrafton Regis
Alt namesGrafton-Regissource: Family History Library Catalog
TypeAncient parish, Civil parish
Coordinates52.1145°N 0.8965°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
the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Grafton Regis is a village and civil parish in the south of the English county of Northamptonshire. The civil parish of Alderton was merged into Grafton Regis in 1935. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 UK census was 253.

The parish is now in the unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. From 1974 until April 2021 it was part of the South Northamptonshire District of Northamptonshire, England.

The village is on the east side of the A508 road. It is about 8 miles (13 km) south of Northampton and 9 miles (14 km) north of Milton Keynes.

The ancient parish of Grafton Regis occupied some 1,300 acres on the west bank of the river Tove. The village extends back some distance from the road, albeit at a very low density, towards a church at the eastern edge of the village. Grafton is on the southern ridge of the valley of the River Tove which flows east between the village and Stoke Bruerne to the north and then progresses towards Buckinghamshire on the east of the parish. The Grand Union Canal also passes close by to the east.

In 1440, the mansion officially became a 'manor house' which belonged to the Woodville family during which time the village was known as Grafton Woodville. The manor was the birthplace of Elizabeth Woodville, queen consort to King Edward IV.

The house and manor passed to the Grey Marquesses of Dorset who were descendants of queen consort Elizabeth Woodville by her first marriage to Sir John Grey. At the end of the 15th century, the house and manor passed to King Henry VIII, grandson of Elizabeth Woodville by Edward IV. (Hence the change of suffix from "Woodville" to "Regis".)

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.

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Grafton Regis. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.