Records about the men who served as soldiers or were at least potential members of the local militia embrace a significant proportion of those who lived in the county during the past few hundred years.
The Commonwealth War Commission site is probably the best known of the many sources that are listed below. In addition, you can find your fallen neighbours from the First World War by visiting 'A Street Near You' and exploring its helpful maps. Many of the books and articles available focus on particular regiments or individual members of the forces, sometimes recording what they or their relatives had to say themselves.
- A copy of papers relating to Musters, Beacons, Subsidies etc. in the County of Northampton 1586-1623 edited by Joan Wake [1926] Based on a vast array of papers that illustrate how the militia operated and its impact through taxation and otherwise across the county. A detailed introduction and indexes to persons, places and subjects help to complete the picture.
- A Private Soldier by Theo Adams [2018] (page 80) Bert Adams of Northampton kept a daily diary from when he enlisted in December 1916 until his discharge from the Army in January 1919.
- A Quincentenary: The Battle of Northampton, July 10th, 1460 by R Ian Jack [1960] (page 21)
- A Street Near You contains records for over one million men and women who died whilst serving in the First World War. By zooming in and out on the map you can find which people from Northamptonshire and beyond did not come home. You can also search by address or postcode.
- Any Reasonable Sacrifice: Conscription in Northamptonshire 1916-1918 by Andrew North [2020] (page 77) The background to and operation of the Tribunals that heard applications for exemption from conscription in the latter part of the First World War, with details of particular examples.
- Battle of Northampton, 1460 Includes an account first published in 1548.
- Book of Musters, 1545-6 Includes the names and roles of over 90 men who were liable for military service.
- Captain Supple’s Order Books for 1778 and 1780 by Matthew McCormack [2020] (page 63) Discussion of the context and contents of two notebooks which recorded the regimental orders for the Northamptonshire Militia at the time of the American War of Independence.
- Civil War, 1642 Eye-witness accounts of troopers arriving at Kilsby and the local people killed and injured there.
- Civil War, 1642 Details of conflict at Brackley.
- Civil War, 1642 includes effects of the start of the Civil War on Northamptonshire.
- Civil War Petitions and Certificates This site features details of and indexes to petitions for financial help submitted by wounded soldiers, war widows and other dependents, as well as information about certificates and payments. The link leads to the 1,051 references that contain the word 'Northamptonshire'.
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission A register of 1.7 million members of Commonwealth forces who died in both World Wars.
- Cromwell in Northamptonshire Evidence of Oliver Cromwell's presence in the county.
- Extracts from letters written by Nehemiah Wharton These describe in detail the impact of Civil War on a number of places in Northamptonshire.
- First World War and Spratton This features biographies of all the men from the village who served in the Great War and pinpoints their homes there.
- Medieval soldiers Almost 290,000 records of named soldiers who served the English crown between 1369 and 1453 have been arranged in a searchable database. Search criteria include names but there is only limited information about places of origin ('Northants' leads to only 41 entries). Therefore, the site is most useful if names of interest have already been identified.
- Memoirs and Records of the Northamptonshire & Rutland Militia by Robert James D'Arcy [1873]
- Militarie Instructions for the Cavallrie by John Cruso [1632]
- Naseby: A Note on the Preliminaries of the Battle by Gyles Isham [1954] (page 10)
- Nassaburgh Militia Lists 1762 edited by Victor A Hatley and B G Statham [1983] (page 109)
- Northamptonshire Battlefields Society
- Northamptonshire Military Tribunals 1916-1918 (£) Searchable index with 14,594 entries for appeals submitted by men who had been refused exemption from military service. These have been drawn from 11,200 case files which are kept at Northamptonshire Archives.
- Northamptonshire Militia Lists 1777 edited by Victor A Hatley [1974]
- Northamptonshire Yeomanry, 1794 The text of a chorus sung by the yeomanry of the Kettering Division.
- Northamptonshire – You Can’t Get Away From It! A Diversion Into Archives by Bruce A Bailey [2009] (page 64) The majority of this article consists of the text of letters sent in 1854 by Captain Henry Bouverie, when he was serving in the Army in the Crimea.
- Old Soldiers in Victorian Northamptonshire by Tony Ireson and R L Greenall [1985] (page 186) The military service and funerals of James Edwin Dray (1894 at Kettering) and Robert McMillan (1903 at Northampton).
- Orders for a Military Harrison in the Reign of Charles II [1951] (page 41)
- Peterborough Volunteer Corps, 1745
- Plan of Battle of Naseby Details and assessment of a plan, said to be by Oliver Cromwell, of the battle.
- Privateersmen at Peterborough: Controversial Captives during the French Revolutionary Wars by H J K Jenkins [2005] (page 69)
- Records of the services of the Northamptonshire & Rutland Militia from 1756 to 1889 by Northamptonshire & Rutland Militia [1889]
- Regimental Badges and Uniforms by Graham Bandy [2022] Video presenting an overview of identifying badges and uniforms of soldiers, mainly connected with regiments associated with Northamptonshire.
- Relics of Naseby Fight List of armour and other relics of the Battle that were sold by auction in 1888.
- The Daventry Experiment 1935 by James Tomalin This video explains how experiments using a BBC transmitter near Daventry proved that radio waves could detect aircraft far away - the first step in the invention of Radar in time for the Second World War.
- The Battle of Naseby Anniversary, 1995 by Glenn Foard [1994] (page 45)
- The Battle of Northampton, 5 April 1264 by R F Treharne [1955] (page 13)
- The Fortification of Northampton, 1645
- The History of the Northamptonshire & Rutland Militia by Christopher A Markham [1924]
- The King Comes to Eydon by A J Tyrrell [1954] (page 29) A visit by George V to inspect Army manoeuvres there in 1913.
- The Long, Long Trail This site displays the results of extensive research into soldiers of the British Army in the Great War of 1914-1918. The link goes to the results of a search in the site for the word 'Northamptonshire', with numerous sections about various aspects of the subject relating to the county.
- The Lost Boys of Wellingborough: Remembering Those Who Fell in The Great War by Stephen Swailes [2012] (page 84)
- The Military Discipline Wherein is Martially Showne the order for Driling the Musket and Pike [1642] Comprehensive instructions for training troops with 36 illustrations explaining the actions to be performed.
- The Montagu Musters Book 1602-1623 edited by Joan Wake [1935]
- The Soldier in Late Medieval England A database of the names and other details of soldiers who served the English crown between 1369 and 1453 compiled from muster rolls and records of letters of protection. One of the searchable fields is 'Origin' which can be used to identify 41 records of individuals from 'Northants'.
- The taking of Grafton House, 1643
- Vagabond Soldiers and Deserters at Elizabethan Northamptonshire by Phillip Thomas [1995] (page 101)
- War Memorials in Stained Glass by Paul Sharpling [2014] (page 7)
- 7th (S.) Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment 1914-1919 by H B King [1919]