Place:Lilford cum Wigsthorpe, Northamptonshire, England

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

Lilford-cum-Wigsthorpe and Thorpe Achurch are a pair of adjacent civil parishes in the English county of Northamptonshire that have shared a single parish council since 1974.

Forming part of the former district of East Northamptonshire its main settlements are Achurch, Thorpe Waterville and Wigsthorpe. The parish includes the manor, Lilford Hall. (Lilford cum Wigsthorpe is to the north of Thorpe Achurch.)

Since April 2021 the parish is in the unitary authority of North Northamptonshire.

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Lilford Hall.

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).

"LILFORD, a parish in Oundle [registration] district, Northampton[shire]; on the river Nen, near the Northampton and Peterborough railway, 3 miles S by W of Oundle. It contains the hamlet of Wigsthorpe; and its Post town is Oundle. Acres: 1,940. Real property: 2,503. Population: 179. Houses: 29. The manor, with Lilford Hall, belongs to Lord Lilford, and gives him his title of Baron. The Hall was built in 1635, and stands in a beautifully diversified park. The living is a vicarage, annexed to the rectory of Thorpe-Achurch, in the diocese of Peterborough."

The Victoria County History for Northamptonshire has an article for Lilford cum Wigsthorpe in Volume 3, pp 227-231.

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. For additional information, see History of the Parish and Manor of Lilford