ViewsWatchers |
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".) [edit] Research Tips[edit] A Vision of Britain through TimeA 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. [edit] Archive Centres
[edit] Northamptonshire Family History SocietyThe 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. [edit] GENUKIThe main GENUKI page for Northamptonshire lists a number of topics for research. [edit] Victoria County History
[edit] Online DatabasesFindMyPast includes (list checked July 2018)
While Ancestry offers (list checked July 2018)
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.
Categories: Northamptonshire, England | Grafton Regis, Northamptonshire, England | Cleley Hundred, Northamptonshire, England | Potterspury Rural, Northamptonshire, England | Towcester Rural, Northamptonshire, England | South Northamptonshire District, Northamptonshire, England | West Northamptonshire, Northamptonshire, England |