| Name | Luton |
| Alt names | Lintone | source: Domesday Book (1985) p 30 | | Loitone | source: Domesday Book (1985) p 30 | | Lutton | source: Van Marle, Pittura Italiana (1932) |
| Type | Parish (ancient), Civil parish, Borough (county), Unitary authority |
| Coordinates | 51.878°N 0.41°W |
| Located in | Bedfordshire, England |
| See also | Flitt Hundred, Bedfordshire, England | hundred in which it was located |
- source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
- source: Family History Library Catalog
- the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia
Luton is a large town, borough and unitary authority area of Bedfordshire, England, north of London. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the "Luton/Dunstable Urban Area" with a population of about 258,000.
The town was for many years famous for straw hat making, and was also home to a large Vauxhall Motors factory; the head office of Vauxhall Motors is still situated in the town. Car production at the plant began in 1905 and continued until 2002, where commercial vehicle production remains.
Governance
Luton was originally an ancient parish in the Flitt Hundred of Bedfordshire, England. Luton also had the title of "ancient borough". As an ancient parish it had supervision of a number of chapelries and townships surrounding it: Biscot, Leagrave, Limbury, Stopsley and West Hyde.
Luton became a municipal borough in 1876 and a county borough, with administration independent of the county of Bedfordshire in 1964. When the Local Government Act 1972 came into existence in 1974 Luton remained outside the adjacent South Bedfordshire District which was based in the neighbouring community of Dunstable. Luton became a full unitary authority in 1997.
History
For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Luton.
Research Tips
- The website British History Online provides three chapters of the Victoria County History Series on Bedfordshire. The first covers the religious houses of the county; the second and third provides articles on the parishes of the county. The parishes are arranged within their "hundreds".
- GENUKI main page for Bedfordshire which provides information on various topics covering the whole of the county, and also a link to a list of parishes. Under each parish there is a list of the settlements within it and brief description of each. This is a list of pre-1834 ancient or ecclesiastical parishes but there are suggestions as to how to find parishes set up since then. GENUKI provides references to other organizations who hold genealogical information for the local area. There is no guarantee that the website has been kept up to date and therefore the reader should check additional sources if possible.
- Bedfordshire family history societies are listed in GENUKI.
- The FamilyTree Wiki has a series of pages similar to those provided by GENUKI which may have been prepared at a later date and from more recent data. The wiki has a link to English Jurisdictions 1851. There is a list of all the parishes in existence at that date with maps indicating their boundaries. The website is very useful for finding the ecclesiastical individual parishes within large cities and towns.
- A Vision of Britain through Time, Bedfordshire, section "Units and Statistics" leads to analyses of population and organization of the county from about 1800 through 1974. There are pages available for all civil parishes, municipal boroughs and other administrative divisions. Descriptions provided are usually based on a gazetteer of 1870-72 which often provides brief notes on the economic basis of the settlement and significant occurences through its history.
- These two maps indicate the boundaries between parishes, etc., but for a more detailed view of a specific area try a map from this selection. The oldest series are very clear at the third magnification offered. Comparing the map details with the GENUKI details for the same area is well worthwhile.
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