Place:Northampton, Northamptonshire, England

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NameNorthampton
Alt namesAntona septentrionalissource: Orbis Latinus (1971) p 22
Northhamptonsource: GRI Photo Study, Authority File (1989); Webster's Geographical Dictionary (1984)
TypeBorough (county)
Coordinates52.2369°N 0.8974°W
Located inNorthamptonshire, England     (500 - )
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Northampton is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; it had a population of 212,100 at the 2011 census (225,100 as of 2018 estimates).

Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates to the Bronze Age, Romans and Anglo-Saxons. In the Middle Ages, the town rose to national significance with the establishment of Northampton Castle, an occasional royal residence which regularly hosted the Parliament of England. Medieval Northampton had many churches, monasteries and the University of Northampton, all enclosed by the town walls. It was granted a town charter by Richard I in 1189 and a mayor was appointed by King John in 1215. The town was also the site of two medieval battles, in 1264 and 1460.

Northampton supported the Parliamentary Roundheads in the English Civil War, and Charles II ordered the destruction of the town walls and most of the castle. The Great Fire of Northampton in 1675 destroyed much of the town. It was soon rebuilt and grew rapidly with the industrial development of the 18th century. Northampton continued to grow with the arrival of the Grand Union Canal and the railways in the 19th century, becoming a centre for footwear and leather manufacture.

Growth was limited following the World Wars until it was designated a New Town in 1968, accelerating development which has continued into the 21st century. Northampton has unsuccessfully applied for city status three times; in 2000, 2002 and 2022.

Northampton had an estimated population of 212,069 at the 2011 census.

History

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Northampton. Wikipedia supplies an "in depth" summary of Northampton's history from a Bronze Age settlement to the 20th and 21st centuries.

Municipal and County Borough Administration

Northampton was a Municipal Borough from 1835 until 1888 and a County Borough from 1888 until 1974. Until 1909 it was made up of the ecclesiastical parishes as listed in the following table. The ecclesiastical parishes were also civil parishes within the Northampton Registration District and may be noted in FreeBMD entries.

ParishDuration
Northampton All Saints - 1909
Northampton Priory of St. Andrew - 1909
Northampton St. Giles - 1909
Northampton St. Peter - 1909
Northampton St. Sepulchre - 1909

The relative locations of these ecclesiastical parishes can be found by typing "Northampton" in the search box in English Jurisdictions 1851 provided by FamilySearch and expanding the map with the "+" sign in the right-hand bottom corner a number of times. Clicking on the parish numbers within the map brings up the date of the earliest parish register and other details which may be useful. FamilySearch prevents us from reproducing this map.

In 1909 the Borough of Northampton took over from the individual ecclesiastical boroughs. The other parishes in the list below all became part of Northampton at the end of their duration.

ParishDuration
Northampton 1909 -
Abington 1900 - 1913
Dallington St. James 1900 - 1913
Duston St. James 1900 - 1913
Far Cotton 1900 - 1931
Kingsthorpe 1894 - 1900

In 1974 the Borough of Northampton became the centre of the Northampton District which included other civil parishes in the immediate area.

Research Tips

These two maps show the boundaries of the individual civil parishes in the county in 1900 and in 1944. Comparing the two on a local level allows one to understand the alterations (should there be any) which occurred during the interim period which are noted in the text above.

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Northampton. 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.