Family Gazetteer
Place names of family interest, churches, and other locations mentioned in the texts with some topographical and historical notes are listed here in no particular order. Where applicable, links are included for recommended further reading. (This page is under construction).
Northampton. Registration district created 1st July 1837. Sub-districts : All Saints; Bugbrooke; Sub-districts St. Giles, Abington, Bugbrooke, Dallington, Duston, Great Billing, Harpole, Kingsthorpe, Little Billing, Moulton Park, Nether Heyford, Northampton, Upper Heyford, Upton, Weston Favell. The Registers are now held in Northampton district Records Office. St. Andrews ecclesiastical parish was formed in 1842 from the parishes of the Holy Sepulchre and the Priory of St Andrew in Northampton. The church was erected in 1841 at a cost of £7,000. It was restored in 1913. The parish registers date from about 1870. St Andews was de-consecrated in 1978/9 and has since been demolished. St. Edmunds ecclesiastical parish. Formed on June 23rd, 1846 from the parishes of St. Giles and the Priory of St Andrew in Northampton. The Church of St. Edmunds was erected in 1850 and renovated in 1902. It finally fell into disuse and was closed in 1978. It has since been demolished. The parish registers are now held by RO Northampton and date from 1852. St Giles Parish Church was erected at the beginning of the 12th century but it has undergone a series of changes which renders it difficult to trace it's history; it presents remnants of various styles from the Norman period downward, rebuilt, it is supposed, in 1613. The parish registers date from 1559 and the church is still in use.
Pertenhall. "The parish of Pertenhall is in the hundred of STODDEN, county of BEDFORD, 2 miles (S. W. by S.) from Kimbolton, containing 324 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry of Bedford, and diocese of Lincoln, rated in the king's books at £18, and in the patronage of the Rev S. R. Martyn." [From A Topographical Dictionary of England - Samuel Lewis - 1831] The Parish church is dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul and is constructed of stone in the "Transition, Early English and Later" styles. The building consists of a chancel, clerestoried nave of the 13th century, north aisle, south porch and a perpendicular western tower of four stages, with a fine octagonal broach spire with dormer lights, and containing 3 bells. In 1703 the arcade was taken down and rebuilt, and new roofs put on the nave and north aisle. The register dates from the year 1582.
"Here also was formerly a preceptory of the Knights Templars, of
which only the site, surrounded with a moat, is now remaining There
is a chalybeate spring, called Chad-well" [A Topographical
Dictionary of England - Samuel Lewis - 1831]
By Local Government
Board Order 6,982, dated 9 Oct. 1879, detached parts of Pertenhall were
added to Bolnhurst, Little Staughton and Keysoe. [Kelly's Directory
- Bedfordshire - 1898]
Carlton A village in the Bedford district of Bedfordshire, England, part of the "Carlton with Chellington" parish with the adjacent village of Chellington. The village owes its existence to the River Great Ouse, which was used by Stone Age man and whose tools have occasionally been uncovered in the area. A Roman road is thought to have existed between the villages of Harrold, Carlton and Stevington, to the south east. Other nearby places are Pavenham, Turvey, Lavendon and Little Odell. Carlton was recorded in the Domesday Book (as "Carletone"), a parish within the Hundred of Willey[1]. William the Conqueror gave land in the parish to his niece, Countess Judith, and a deer park to his stepbrother, the Bishop of Bayeux. (With acknowledgements to the Carlton and Chellington Parish Council). The parish church is dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin. The building, is of local stone, and was begun around AD 950. Over the years it has been altered and enlarged, but by the end of the 15th century, the church building was complete and would have looked much as it does now. The list of incumbents goes back to AD 1229, and includes some interesting characters. One Thomas Wells was Parson for 'three score years and ten' and died at the age of 100 years. However the next Parson was dismissed after only five years for alleged drunkenness and is reputed to have kept his horse in the church during a service!
The diary of Benjamin Rogers (Rector from 1720 to 1771) still exists, and gives a detailed account of life in the 18th century, including details of the farming year, the social life of the local gentry and medical remedies of the day. The Parish Registers date from the year AD 1554.
Sawtry St. Judith. In former times, the town of Sawtry was comprised of the three parishes: All Saints, St. Andrew's and St. Judith's. Until the year 1880, there were two churches here, All Saint's and St. Andrew's but they were both demolished and the materials used in the erection of a new church of All Saint's on the site of an old Cistercian abbey founded by Simon St. Liz, Earl of Northampton in 1147. The new church was built in the Early Decorated style, from designs by Sir A. W. Blomfield M.A., A.R.A., F.S.A. architect, and consisting of chancel, nave and a western turret containing 1 bell, formerly belonging to the Abbey. The parishoners of St. Judith's also attended this church. In 1886 the two parishes of All Saint's and St. Andrew's were consolidated into a single parish, designated Sawtry All Saint's and St. Andrew's. The register of All Saints dates from the year 1591; that of St. Andrew from the year 1662.
Old Weston. A parish in the hundred of LEIGHTONSTONE, county of HUNTINGDON, 7¼ miles (N.) from Kimbolton, containing 379 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy, united to the rectory of Brington, in the archdeaconry of Huntingdon, and. diocese of Lincoln. The church is dedicated to St. Swithin. (From "Samuel Lewis Topographical Gazeetter - 1831). The church is mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086, but the earliest parts of the present building are the later 13th century arcades. During the 14th century, the church seems to have been largely rebuilt and further improvements were added in the 15th and 16th centuries. The roof of the present day nave was reconstructed in 1657, that of the north aisle in 1638 and the south aisle in 1785. The church is still in use today and the parish records go back to 1604.
Thrapston. Civil Registration. Old Weston was formerly in
the Thrapston Registration District of Northamptonshire from 1st July
1837, but it subsequently came under the Raunds sub-District of Thrapston.
Registration County : Northamptonshire. Created : 1.7.1837. Sub-districts
: Raunds; Thrapston. GRO volumes : XV (1837-51); 3b (1852-1930).
The district of Thrapston spans the boundaries of the counties of Huntingdonshire
and Northamptonshire. Parishes in Huntingdonshire (1837-1930): Brington,
Bythorn, Covington, Keyston, Molesworth, Old Weston. Parishes in Northamptonshire
(1837-1930): Aldwincle, Brigstock, Chelveston cum Caldecott, Clopton,
Denford, Great Addington, Hargrave, Islip, Little Addington, Lowick,
Raunds, Ringstead, Slipton, Stanwick, Sudborough, Thrapston, Titchmarsh,
Twywell, Woodford.
Registers now divided between Oundle, Thrapston,
Wellingborough and Huntingdon districts.
Hamerton is a tiny village a few miles north west of Alconbury, Huntingdonshire and situated equally between the parishes of Sawtry and Old Weston. In those days it consisted of a a late 16th Century manor house, a small church, some farm buildings and no more than a dozen or so tithed cottages.
Great Addington, (grid reference SP959750) is a small village in the East Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire. It lies near the west bank of the River Nene about 8 km east of Kettering. It consists of approximately 100 houses and has a population of approximately 300 people. It has a village church, a village hall, a small local pub called the Hare and Hounds, a playing field located between the near by village, Little Addington and Great Addington. Great Addington also has a small Primary School with less than 100 pupils.
Rochford District Created 1st July 1837. Sub-districts : Great Wakering; Prittlewell; Rayleigh; Rochford. GRO volumes : XII (1837-51); 4a (1852-1930). Ashingdon, Barling, Canewdon, Canvey Island (from 1881), Eastwood, Foulness, Great Stambridge, Great Wakering, Hadleigh, Havengore, Hawkwell, Hockley, Leigh, Little Stambridge, Little Wakering, North Shoebury, Paglesham, Prittlewell, Rawreth, Rayleigh, Rochford, Shopland, South Benfleet (from 1847), Southchurch, Southend on Sea, South Fambridge, South Shoebury, Sutton, Thundersley (from 1847). Registers now in Southend-on-Sea district.
Essex Regimental Museum, Oaklands Park, Moulsham Street, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 9AQ. Tel: +44 (0) 1245 615 101. Email: pompadour@chelmsfordbc.gov.uk
Fort St George. Fort St George was the name of the military garrison in Madras, (present day Chennai) and it was home to British Army units in southern India for many centuries. It is now the headquarters of the state legislature for Tamil Nadu. (Present day Tamil Nadu province was formerly part of the Presidency of Madras established by the British in the 17th Century). St Mary's Church was built between 1678-80. It was the first catholic place of worship in Madras and represents the oldest British building in India to survive. It is also said to be the oldest Anglican church outside of Europe. The church has three aisles with semi-circular roofs and a Neo-Classical tower topped with an octagonal lantern. The church was almost entirely rebuilt in 1759 after being damaged in a siege.
Quetta. . An early frontier town in Baluchistan on the borders of Afghanistan and former British India, (now Pakistan). It originally consisted of a primitive mud-walled fort surrounded by about 300 dwellings. (The name is derived from the Pashtu word for fort ). It was improved and occupied briefly by the British during the First Afghan War in 1839, but it was not until 1876 that Quetta came under permanent British control and Robert Sandeman was made political agent in Baluchistan. It became the headquarters of the 3rd and 4th (Quetta) British Divisions and soon developed into a bustling city and sprawling cantonment. After the devastating earthquake of 1935, all new cantonment buildings were of single story construction and family married quarters were provided with a tented annexe, (tambu) for shelter. Since independence and partition, Quetta has become a flourishing city of several million and has continued as an important military base for Pakistani frontier forces.
