Rockingham Northamptonshire Family History Guide

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Rockingham is an Ancient Parish and a market town in the county of Northamptonshire.

Alternative names:

Parish church:

Parish registers begin:

  • Parish registers: 1562
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: 1707

Nonconformists include: Wesleyan Methodist

Adjacent Parishes

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

ROCKINGHAM, a village and a parish in the district of Uppingham and county of Northampton.

The village stands on the declivity of a hill, adjacent to the river Welland, at the boundary with Rutlandshire, 1 mile S of the Stamford and Rugby railway, and 9 N of Kettering.

It was known to the Saxons as Rockingaham; served as a centre to Rockingham Forest a forest measuring 30 miles by 8; had, on the top of the hill, a castle erected by William the Conqueror, for defence of extensive iron-works then in the forest; was afterwards a market-town; gave the titles of Baron and Marquis to the family of Watson; and now has a post-office under Leicester, and a railway station.

The castle was the meeting-place of a great council in 1094; was occupied, for some time, by Edward III. and his court; was garrisoned for Charles I. by Sir L. Watson, afterwards created Lord Rockingham; and is now represented by only two massive bastions, which flanked its gateway.

The modern seat of the Watson family now occupies the castle’s site, and bears its name.

The parish comprises 890 acres. Real property, £1, 688. Pop., 211. Houses, 48. The manor belongs to G. L. Watson, Esq.

The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough. Value, £216. Patron, G. L. Watson, Esq. The church is old and partly ivy-clad.

There are a national school, and charities £17.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

Parish Records

FamilySearch

England, Northamptonshire, Rockingham – Cemeteries ( 1 )
Memorial inscriptions at the Church of St. Leonard, Rockingham
Author: Northamptonshire Family History Society

England, Northamptonshire, Rockingham – Census ( 1 )
Census returns for Rockingham, 1841-1891
Author: Great Britain. Census Office

England, Northamptonshire, Rockingham – Church records ( 4 )
Bishop’s transcripts for Rockingham, 1707-1871
Author: Church of England. Parish Church of Rockingham (Northamptonshire)

England, Northamptonshire, Rockingham, parish registers, 1562-1812
Author: Church of England. Parish Church of Rockingham (Northamptonshire); Northamptonshire Record Office

Parish register transcripts, 1722-1812
Author: Church of England. Parish Church of Rockingham (Northamptonshire)

Parish registers for Rockingham, 1562-1992
Author: Church of England. Parish Church of Rockingham (Northamptonshire)

England, Northamptonshire, Rockingham – Church records – Indexes ( 1 )
Parish register printouts of Rockingham, Northampton, England ; christenings, 1722-1812
Author: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Genealogical Department

Administration

  • County: Northamptonshire
  • Civil Registration District: Uppingham
  • Probate Court: Court of the Bishop of Peterborough (Episcopal Consistory)
  • Diocese: Peterborough
  • Rural Deanery: Weldon
  • Poor Law Union: Uppingham
  • Hundred: Corby
  • Province: Canterbury