Welcome
to the web site of the Northamptonshire Record Society.
The Society exists to publish the records of the ancient county of Northamptonshire including the former Soke of Peterborough and to promote the study of the county's history. Its members receive the magazine Northamptonshire Past and Present published each year and a copy of its books as they are published.
Society's Office Closed
The Society’s office remains closed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions until the Record Office re-opens.
NP & P for 2020 had been received from the printers before the current restrictions were enforced.
The Society's latest Centenary volume: The Best Burglar in the County Joan Wake and the Northamptonshire Record Society has been printed and is being held with the printers.
Both items will be posted as soon as the Record Office re-opens.
Posted 6 March 2021.
The Georgian Militia
The Society's lecture on
Saturday, 17th October, 2020.
Full details can be found on the Events page.
Posted 10th October 2020.
Society's Office now Open
The Society’s office is open following the reopening of the Record Office.
Personal visits, however, must be by prior arrangement only.
Posted 10 October 2020.
Recently released!
The latest publication in the Record Society's General Series:
The Manors of the Sacrist of Peterborough
See the publications page for a full description.
Posted 7th September 2020.
Northamptonshire Past & Present now available on-line
The Society is pleased to offer a further six issues of its journal on-line. Volume 6, Numbers 1 to 6 have now been scanned. For further details see the NP & P page or the e-Journals page.
Posted 27th July 2020.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
The Northamptonshire Record Society office based at the Record Office, Wootton Hall Park, Northampton is closed until further notice due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The Spring Lecture and AGM due to be held on Saturday 2nd May has been cancelled.
Posted 21 April 2020.
Vacancy for Honorary Treasurer
The Record Society is seeking a Treasurer to oversee both the Society’s accounting records and its investment portfolio.
For further details of the position and contact details, click here.
Posted 6th March 2020.
Recently released
The latest publication in the Record Society's Victor Hatley Series
Thomas Cowper Land Surveyor
This volume looks at the work of Thomas Cowper as part of the enclosure proces in Northamptonshire and its neighbouring counties.
For further details see the publications page.
Posted 21st February 2020.
The most popular downloads of 2019
By size, Fragile Images accounted for 32.5% of all downloaded publications. This was followed by editions of Northamptonshire Past & Present: Vol 2 No 6 at 16.4%, No 66 at 10.6%, Vol 2 No 5 at 7.9% and Vol 3 No 3 at 7%.
Analysing the results by popularity, i.e. how many times they're downloaded, puts NP&P No 66 in the top spot with 5467 downloads closely followed by Fragile Images with 5303 downloads. In third spot is the Fawsley Hundred from the 1777 Militia Lists with 3376 hits followed by the Nobottle Grove Hundred with 3332 hits. The Corby Hundred takes fifth spot with 3288 hits.
Posted 16th January 2020.
Northamptonshire Past & Present
The latest issue is now available:
Number 72, 2019
For further details see the NP & P page.
Posted 30th December 2019.
Northamptonshire Past & Present now available on-line
The Society is pleased to offer Issue No 71 of its journal on-line.
For further details see the NP & P page or the e-Journals page.
Posted 1st October 2019.
Northamptonshire Past & Present now available on-line
The Society is pleased to offer a further five issues of its journal on-line. Volume 5, Numbers 1 to 5 have now been scanned. For further details see the NP & P page or the e-Journals page.
Posted 1st October 2019.
Northamptonshire National Society and its schools, 1812-1854
The Society's lecture on
Saturday, 19th October, 2019.
Full details can be found on the Events page.
Posted 10th September 2019.
Northamptonshire Country Houses
The Society's lecture on
Saturday, 4th May, 2019.
Full details can be found on the Events page.
Posted 9th April 2019.
Recently released!
The latest publication in the Record Society's Victor Hatley Series
"Useless Anachronisms?" a Study of the Country Houses and Landed Estates of Northamptonshire Since 1880
This volume examines the fate of of the 100 principal houses and their estates in Northamptonshire since 1880.
For further details see the publications page.
Posted 15th January 2019.
Northamptonshire Past & Present now available on-line
The Society is pleased to offer Issue No 70 of its journal on-line.
For further details see the NP & P page or the e-Journals page.
Posted 1st January 2019.
Northamptonshire Past & Present
The latest issue is now available:
Number 71, 2018
For further details see the NP & P page.
Posted 1st January 2019.
Exploring Chester farm
The Society's lecture on
Saturday, 20th October, 2018.
Full details can be found on the Events page.
Posted 19th September 2018.
Manorial Records
This lecture will follow the Society's Annual General Meeting on
Saturday, 5th May, 2018.
Full details can be found on the Events page.
Posted 10th March 2018.
Northamptonshire Past & Present now available on-line
The Society is pleased to announce another 17 issues of its journal are available on-line. Numbers 53 (2000) to 69 (2016) have now been released. For further details see the NP & P page or the e-Journals page.
Posted 10th March 2018.
Another Record Society publication available on-line
The Society is pleased to offer another of its many publications on-line:
Fragile Images
This volume provides a detailed description of post-medieval stained glass windows in churches and other buildings of the county of Northampton and the former Soke of Peterborough.
For further details see the publications page or the e-Books page.
Posted 10th March 2018.
Northamptonshire Past & Present
The latest issue is now available:
Number 70, 2017
For further details see the NP & P page.
Posted 10th January 2018.
Fawsley and the Knightley Family
The Society's lecture on
Saturday, 21st October, 2017.
Full details can be found on the Events page.
Posted 22nd September 2017.
Northamptonshire Past & Present now available on-line
The Society is pleased to offer the third six issues of its journal on-line. Volume 3, Numbers 1 to 6 have now been scanned. For further details see the NP & P page or the e-Journals page.
Posted 25th July 2017.
Recently released!
The latest publication in the Record Society's General Series
See the publications page for a full description.
Posted 24th May 2017.
The Restoration of 78 Derngate by Charles Rennie Mackintosh c.1916-21
This lecture will follow the Society's Annual General Meeting on
Saturday, 6th May, 2017.
Full details can be found on the Events page.
Posted 14th March 2017.
Northamptonshire Past & Present
The latest issue is now available:
Number 69, 2016
For further details see the NP & P page.
Posted 7th November 2016.
'For I was tired of England Sir':
Pytchley's nineteenth century pauper emigrants
The Society's lecture on
Saturday, 15th October, 2016.
Full details can be found on the Events page.
Posted 3rd September 2016.
Recently released!
The latest publication in the Record Society's General Series
See the publications page for a full description.
Posted 27th June 2016.
Northamptonshire Past & Present now available on-line
The Society is pleased to offer the second six issues of its journal on-line. Volume 2, Numbers 1 to 6 have now been scanned. For further details see the NP & P page.
Posted 12th April 2016.
Apethorpe Hall: An English Country House
This lecture will follow the Society's Annual General Meeting on
Saturday, 7th May, 2016.
Full details can be found on the Events page.
Posted 5th April 2016.
Recently released!
The latest publication in the Record Society's General Series
See the publications page for a full description.
Posted 4th January 2016.
Northamptonshire Past & Present
The latest issue is now available:
Number 68, 2015
For further details see the NP & P page.
Posted 24th November 2015.
Magna Carta 1215
The Society's lecture on
Saturday, 17th October, 2015.
Full details can be found on the Events page.
Posted 15th September 2015.
Recently released!
The latest publication in the Record Society's General Series
See the publications page for a full description.
Posted 24th June 2015.
Northamptonshire and its Hearth Taxes
This lecture will follow the Society's Annual General Meeting on
Saturday, 2nd May, 2015.
Full details can be found on the Events page.
Posted 5th April 2015.
Northamptonshire Past & Present
The latest issue is now available:
Number 67, 2014
For further details see the NP & P page.
Posted 4th November 2014.
Recently released!
The latest publication in the Record Society's Victor Hatley Series
See the publications page for a full description.
Posted 25th August 2013.
Northamptonshire Past & Present now available on-line
The Society is pleased to offer the first six issues of its journal on-line. Volume 1, Numbers 1 to 6 have now been scanned. For further details see the NP & P page.
Posted 3rd September 2014.
WW1 POW Camps in Northamptonshire
The Society's lecture on
Saturday, 18th October, 2014.
Full details can be found on the Events page.
Posted 15th August 2014.
'The Monstrous Regiment of Women' in Tudor and Stuart England
This lecture will follow the Society's Annual General Meeting on
Saturday 3rd May 2014.
Full details can be found on the Events page.
Posted 13th March 2014.
Northamptonshire Past & Present
The latest issue is now available:
Number 66, 2013
For further details see the NP & P page.
Posted 4th November 2013.
Who let them in? Children in Hospitals before children’s Hospitals
The Society's lecture on
Saturday, 19th October, 2013.
Full details can be found on the Events page.
Posted 4th September 2013.
Library Bulletin No 7
A revised edition Rupert Gunnis's Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, 1660-1851 has been donated to the library. This and other dictionaries held by the library are discussed in the latest Library Bulletin.
Posted 4th September 2013.
Recently released!
The latest publication in the Record Society's General Series
See the publications page for a full description.
Posted 25th August 2013.
Members' Library Survey
Members are invited to complete a survey regarding their experience of using, or their reasons for not using, the Society's Library and suggestions for improvements. Click here for the questionnaire; print it out to complete it and return the completed form to the Secretary. Readers will require a copy of Adobe Acrobat reader, installed on most PCs, to be to able to read the file.
Posted 27th March 2013.
The Fall and Rise of Post Medieval Stained Glass
This lecture will follow the Society's Annual General Meeting on
Saturday 4th May 2013.
Full details can be found on the Events page.
Posted 27th March 2013.
Library Bulletin No 6
It is a remarkable fact that in a country where the classification and structure of its nobility has been so meticulous, there had been no satisfactory publication on the peerage by 1700, either contemporary or retrospective. Collins’s work was to hold sway from 1711 to the middle of the nineteenth century. This was achieved by the skill and dedication of three men. Read the details in the latest Library Bulletin.
Posted 27th March 2013.
Northamptonshire Past & Present
The latest issue is now available:
Number 65, 2012
For further details see the NP & P page.
Posted 4th November 2012.
Lax State of Affairs: King Stephen and the Empress Matilda revisited
The Society's Autumn Lecture on
Saturday 20th October 2012.
Full details can be found on the Events page.
Posted 10th September 2012.
Library Bulletin No 5
The Northampton Mortality Table was used by all major insurance companies when calculating life insurance policies; an article on the major histories of Northamptonshire; the Westmorland of Apethorpe archive to stay in the county; who really won the Battle of Waterloo? Read the details in the latest Library Bulletin.
Posted 10th September 2012.
Advance Notice of Autumn Lecture
The Society's Autumn Lecture 2012 will be:
20 October: King Stephen and Matilda Civil War given by Edmund King.
Details will be posted nearer the time.
Posted 15th June 2011.
Another Record Society publication available on-line
The Society is pleased to offer another of its many publications on-line:
Printed Maps of Northamptonshire 1576-1900
This volume provides a detailed description of 691 maps of the county of Northamptonshire.
For further details see the publications page or the e-Books page.
Posted 8th June 2012.
Meet the Library Committee
Members are invited to visit the Society's Library on Saturday 5th May between 10.30 am and 12.30 pm, before the AGM and Lecture, to meet members of the Library Committee.
There are discoveries to be made in the additions to ... for more see the full bulletin.
Posted 14th April 2012.
Writing Northamptonshire's History: the early VCH in the county
This lecture will follow the Society's Annual General Meeting on
Saturday 5th May 2012.
Full details can be found on the Events page.
Posted 2nd April 2012.
Recently released!
The latest publication in the Record Society's General Series
See the publications page for a full description.
Posted 11th March 2012.
Northamptonshire Past & Present
The latest issue is now available:
Number 64, 2011
For further details see the NP & P page.
Posted 5th November 2011.
Meet the Library Committee
Members are invited to visit the Society's Library on Saturday 15th October between 10.30 am and 12.30 pm, before the Autumn Lecture, to meet members of the Library Committee.
There are discoveries to be made in the additions to ... for more see the full bulletin.
Posted 29th August 2011.
Revising the Northamptonshire volume in the
Pevsner Buildings of England series
The Society's Autumn Lecture on
Saturday 15th October 2011.
Full details can be found on the Events page.
Posted 26th August 2011.
Militia Lists now available on-line
The Society is pleased to offer two more of its many publications on-line; these will be particularly useful to family historians:
Northamptonshire Militia Lists 1777
A Northamptonshire Miscellany
The first of these gives the militia lists for the whole of the county except the Hundred of Nassaburgh, for which the militia lists for 1762 can be found in the second book.
For further details see the publications page or the e-Books page.
Posted 30th April 2011.
Recently released!
The latest publication in the Record Society's Victor Hatley Series
See the publications page for a full description.
Posted 26th April 2011.
The Heralds' Visitations of Northamptonshire
This lecture will follow the Society's Annual General Meeting on
Saturday 21st May 2011.
Full details can be found on the Events page.
Posted 23rd April 2011.
Record Society publication available on-line
The Society is pleased to offer the first of its many publications on-line:
The Open Fields of Northamptonshire
For further details see the publications page or the e-Books page.
Posted 24th January 2011.
Northamptonshire Past & Present
The latest issue is now available:
Number 63, 2010
For further details see the NP & P page.
Posted 24th January 2011.
Advance Notice of Spring Lecture
The Society's Spring Lecture 2011 will be:
21 May: The Heralds' Visitations of Northamptonshire given by Keith Lovell FHS
Keith is a Fellow of the Heraldry Society.
Details will be posted nearer the time.
Posted 5th November 2010.
Northamptonshire and the British Empire
The Society's Autumn Lecture on
Saturday 16th October 2010.
Full details can be found on the Events page.
Posted 9th September 2010.
Change of date for the Autumn lecture
The 2010 Autumn lecture will be held on:
16 October: Northamptonshire and the British Empire given by Dr Julia Bush
Details will be posted nearer the time.
Posted 23rd June 2010.
Sir Christopher Hatton
This lecture will follow the Society's Annual General Meeting on
Saturday 22nd May 2010.
Full details can be found on the Events page.
Posted 17th April 2010.
Advance Notice of Lectures
The Society will be hosting two lectures in 2010:
22 May: Sir Christopher Hatton given by Malcolm Deacon
2 October: Northamptonshire and the British Empire given by Dr Julia Bush
Details will be posted nearer the time.
Posted 24th February 2010.
Just released!
The latest publication in the Record Society's General Series
See the publications page for a full description.
Posted 9th December 2009.
Northamptonshire Past & Present
The latest issue is now available:
Number 62, 2009
For further details see the NP & P page.
Posted 13th October 2009.
The Library
New arrangements for accessing the Society's library announced.
Full details can be found on the Library page.
Posted 9th September 2009.
The Early Tanning Industry in Northampton
The Society's Autumn Lecture will be given on
Saturday 3rd October 2009.
Full details can be found on the Events page.
Posted 13th August 2009.
Just released!
The latest publication in the Record Society's General Series as an Anthony Mellows Memorial Trust volume
See the publications page for a full description.
Updated 1st August 2009
Posted 4th May 2009.
Enclosure and the Church of England
This lecture will follow the Society's Annual General Meeting on
Saturday 16th May 2009.
Full details can be found on the Events page.
Posted 17th April 2009.
Spring Lecture and Annual General Meeting
This meeting will be held on Saturday 16th May 2009.
Details will be published later.
Posted 7th March 2009.
Northamptonshire Past & Present
The latest issue is now available:
Number 61, 2008
For further details see the NP & P page.
Posted 7th December 2008.