County histories

The county histories listed below are accessible free of charge. Many of the books feature pictures of buildings that are no longer with us.

A topographical and statistical description of the county of Northampton by G A Cooke [c.1826] Appears to be undated but refers to population figures in 1821, indicating it was written or revised between then and the census of 1831.
Britannia by William Camden [1610] An English translation of the chapter about Northamptonshire in this edition by Dana F Sutton.
History and Antiquities of the county of Northampton volume 1 by George Baker [1822-1830]
History and Antiquities of the county of Northampton volume 2 by George Baker [1844]
History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire volume 1 by John Bridges, edited by Peter Whalley [1791] (**)
History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire volume 2 by John Bridges, edited by Peter Whalley [1791] (**)
History, Gazetteer and Directory of Northamptonshire by William Whellan and Co. [1849]
History of Northampton and its vicinity by John Cole [1815] First edition.
History of Northampton and its vicinity by John Cole [1831] Some pages of the First edition are in a better condition.
Magna Britannia by Thomas Cox [1720] Extracts relating to Northamptonshire. (**)
Northamptonshire by Malcolm William Brown [1911]
The Beauties of England, volume 11: by J Evans & J Britton [1810]. The last section of this book is about Northamptonshire. At the end of it, before the index, is a list of previously published books, maps and views relating to the county.
The natural history of Northamptonshire with some account of the antiquities by John Morton [1712]
Victoria County History of Northamptonshire volume 1 [1902] Natural history, Early man, Romano-British remains, Anglo-Saxon remains, Introduction to the Northamptonshire Domesday, Text of the Northamptonshire Domesday, The Northamptonshire Survey, Monumental effigies & Domesday index.
Victoria County History of Northamptonshire volume 2 [1906] Religious houses.
Victoria County History of Northamptonshire volume 3 [1930] Northampton, Polebrook hundred, Huxloe hundred, borough of Higham Ferrers & Higham Park.
Victoria County History of Northamptonshire volume 4 [1937] Higham Ferrers hundred, Spelhoe hundred, Hamfordshoe hundred, Orlingbury hundred & Wymersley hundred.
Victoria County History of Northamptonshire volume 5 [2002] Cleyley hundred.

In addition, these works concern aspects of the production of county histories:

About this section

For some items we list, copyright has expired and so they are in the public domain. It is important to comply with copyright restrictions where they do apply.
Resources that are housed on the FamilySearch site are indicated by the symbol (**). Before accessing such items it is necessary to create a free FamilySearch account.
Many of the books at Internet Archive that were first published less than 100 years ago are available only to ‘borrow’. This means they cannot be downloaded but may be viewed if you create a free Internet Archive account and nobody else is viewing the book at the same time.
If you find that an internet link no longer works or its destination has changed for the worse, the Wayback Machine may be able to help you find the material that used to be there.
Details of the Record Society’s own publications, many of which are available online free of charge, appear on our Publications page.
Links that go to a subscription website or to non-Record Society publications for which payment is required are indicated by the symbol (£).