Place:Sutton, Northamptonshire, England

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Sutton is a small village and civil parish that is located near Peterborough, now in the northwestern part of Cambridgeshire, England in the East Midlands region of England. It is situated about 5.7 miles from Peterborough and approximately half a mile south of the A47 major road.

According to Office for National Statistics, in the 2011 UK census, Sutton had a population (including the neighbouring small parish of Upton) of 196 (population density of 0.2).

From 1889 until 1965 Sutton was located in the the Soke of Peterborough. After mergers in 1965 and 1974 the county became part of Cambridgeshire. It was part of the Peterborough Rural District until 1974 and is now in the Peterborough administrative district of Cambridgeshire.

Dating all the way back to 972–992, the entire area of Peterborough was described as a "woody swamp" but was cleared to a certain degree when Abbot Adulf built manor houses and granges. In 'Old English', Sutton translates as a southern farm/settlement. The ancient church of Sutton dates back to the 12th century and was originally built as a chapel-of-ease to the church of St Kyneburgha in Castor.

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Sutton from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"SUTTON, a chapelry in Castor parish, Northampton[shire]; on the river Nen, near Wansford [railway] station. Acres: 880. Real property: £1,101. Population: 112. Houses: 22. The living is a [perpetual] curacy in the diocese of Peterborough. Value: not reported. Patron: the Bishop of {Peterborough]. The church is ancient. Charities, £10.

Research Tips

• If you are researching anyone whose lifetime preceded (or even mostly preceded) 1889, the places in which he or she lived are going to be in Northamptonshire rather than the Soke of Peterborough. The Soke of Peterborough was actually a section of Northamptonshire.
• Original historical documents relating to the Soke of Peterborough are held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies at the County Record Office in Peterborough.
• GENUKI does not provide webpages for the Soke of Peterborough and its provision for Northamptonshire is very limited.
• The FamilyTree Wiki has a series of pages on Northamptonshire (including the Soke of Peterborough).
• A Vision of Britain through Time, section "Units and Statistics" leads to analyses of population and organization of the county from 1889 through 1974. There are pages available for all civil parishes, municipal boroughs and other administrative divisions.
• Map of Northamptonshire in 1900 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time shows the Soke of Peterborough (not labelled as such) in the top right hand corner.
• Map of Northamptonshire divisions (including the Soke of Peterborough) in 1944 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time