Little Billing, Northamptonshire Family History Guide
Little Billing is an Ancient Parish in the county of Northamptonshire.
Parish church: All Saints
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1632
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1706
Nonconformists include:
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Adjacent Parishes
Parish History
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
BILLING (Little), a parish in the district and county of Northampton; on the river Nen, adjacent to Billing Road r. station, 3 miles E by N of Northampton. Post Town, Great Billing, under Northampton.
Acres, 856. Real property, £1,839. Pop., 76. Houses, 16.
The manor belonged to the Longuevilles; and their seat on it is now a farmhouse.
The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough. Value, £349. Patron, Earl Brownlow. The church has a curious old font.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
History, topography, and directory of Northamptonshire, by Francis Whellan and co. 1874
Billing Little, or Billing Parva, is bounded on the north and west by Weston Favell, on the east by Great Billing, on the north-east by Overstone, and on the south by the river Nene, which divides it from Little Houghton. It contains 833 acres, of the rateable value of .£1759. The population in 1801, was 64 ; in 1831, 88 ; in 1841, 101 ; in 1851, 93 ; in 1861, 76 ; and in 1871, 64 souls ; and the gross estimated rental is £1873. The soil is of a similar character to that in Great Billing, with a larger proportion of meadow and grazing land. Lord Overstone is lord of the manor, and principal proprietor of the parish.
Manor. — Gunfrid de Cioches held here three hides and 1½ virgate of land, the arable land being 7 carucates, a mill, and 50 acres of meadow in the time of the Conqueror’s survey. The whole had been valued at 40s., but was then rated at 70s. The Earl of Morton appears to have held a hide and half a virgate at the same time, which had been valued at 2s., but was then rated at 10s. The lordship of Little Billing was certified to contain four hides in the reign of Henry II. ; it was in the hands of Gilbert de Preston in Henry III.’s time. In the fourth year of Edward II., 1311, John de Longueville levied a fine on the manor, and in the ninth year of the same reign was declared to be lord of it. This John de Longueville founded the convent of the Friars Augustins in Nor thampton, in the sixteenth year of the same reign. Several of his descendants »ere afterwards benefactors to it, and there buried. The manor remained in the possession of this family till about the year 1661, after which it was sold to pay debts, and raise portions for younger children. It was purchased of the Longuevilles by William Thursby, Esq., and accompanied Abington to J. H. Thursby, Esq. The manors of Little Billing and Abington were purchased, the former in 1837 and the latter in 1841, by the late Lewis Loyd, Esq., from whom they passed in 1858 to his son, Lord Overstone, the present possessor.
The Village, which is small, is situate about 3^ miles east of Northampton. In Bridges’ time it consisted of eleven families.
The Church, dedicated to All Saints, is a small ancient edifice of stone, partly in the Early English style, and consists of a nave and chancel, with north chapel and south porch, and a tower containing three bells and a clock. The chancel and north chapel are divided from the body by wooden screens under open arches, and the north chapel was rebuilt in 1849 by the late Lewis Loyd, Esq., to whom it belonged; and in 1854 he also restored the church, at a cost of about £800. At the same time Dr Geldart, the late rector, restored the chancel at a further cost of £300. The font is an exceedingly curious relic of a primeval church. In Van Voorsfs volume of fonts it is thus described : — ” This jar-like and singular font may be placed early in the Norman period ; both irregular in shape and rude in workmanship. It is chiefly interesting for its curious legend, which is written in characters exactly conformable to the great seal of William the Conqueror —
‘ WILBERHTVS ARTIFEX ATQ : LEMENTARIUS HVNL FABRICAVIT QVISQVIS SVVM VENIT MERLERE LORPVS PRLOVL DVBIO LAPIT.’
The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s books at £10, 2s. 11d., now worth over £350. Earl Brownlow is patron, and the Rev. Thomas Collingwood Hughes, B.A., is the rector. The tithes have been commuted for .£349, and there are eight acres of glebe land. Near the church stands the Rectory House, a very neat and comfortable building.
Post-Office. — Wall Letter Box. Letters arrive from Northampton at 9 A.M., and are despatched at 8.30 P. M.
The principal inhabitants are the Rev. Thomas Collingwood Hughes, B.A., rector, and Thomas Britten and Mrs Sarah Pell, farmers.
Parish Records
FamilySearch
Directories
Kelly Post Office Directory of Northamptonshire 1869 – Google Books
Kelly Post Office Directory of Northamptonshire 1885 – Archive.org
Administration
- County: Northamptonshire
- Civil Registration District: Northampton
- Probate Court: Court of the Archdeaconry of Northampton
- Diocese: Peterborough
- Rural Deanery: Haddon
- Poor Law Union: Northampton
- Hundred: Spelhoe
- Province: Canterbury