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Rushden is a town and civil parish located in the county of Northamptonshire, England, adjacent to the town of Higham Ferrers in what is called the "Rushden-Higham urban area". The parish of Rushden covers an area of some 9,000 acres (36.42 km2), and is part of the the unitary authority of North Northamptonshire. From 1974 until April 2021 it was part of the East Northamptonshire District of Northamptonshire, England. It was an urban district between 1894 and 1974. According to the UK census of 2011 the population of Rushden was 29,272, making it the fifth largest town in the county. Rushden lies on the A6 major road midway between Bedford and Kettering. The southern limits of the town are the county boundary with Bedfordshire, and to its north of the town lies the River Nene (locally pronounced Nen) which flows into The Wash. [edit] History
Rushden's growth has resulted from a number of industries, including lacemaking and farming, and especially shoemaking and associated trades. In the mid-1900s there were well over 100 boot and shoe factories in Rushden but today there are only four shoemaking companies left in Rushden. One of the most renowned is Sanders and Sanders, which makes boots for the British Army and several other defence departments throughout the world. Today, as with many towns in England, industry in the town is varied, and mostly situated in an out-of-town industrial estate. In 1893 a short branch line railway opened linking Rushden and Higham Ferrers with the Midland Main Line. The line was closed in 1959 and dismantled. Rushden Hall is the oldest domestic building in the town, owned by many families throughout the years including the Sartoris family and the Pemberton family. It lies in 32 acres (13 ha) of land which now is a public park (Hall Park). The following description from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72 is provided by the website A Vision of Britain Through Time (University of Portsmouth Department of Geography).
The Victoria County History for Northamptonshire has an article for Rushden in Volume 4, pp 44-50. [edit] Research Tips[edit] A Vision of Britain through TimeA Vision of Britain through Time describes parishes and former parishes from a gazetteer of 1871; provides an outline of the historic administration links for parishes. The OS map of 1900, the OS map of 1935, and the OS map of 1965 all show parish boundaries and settlements within parishes. These maps are all expandable to show individual parishes and are useful for inspecting changes occuring over the 20th century. [edit] Archive Centres
[edit] Northamptonshire Family History SocietyThe NFHS website describes the activities of the society. The Society is presently transcribing the deposited Marriage Registers for the period 1754 through 1837. These transcriptions may provide more details than can be found on other databases where subscriptions are charged. [edit] GENUKIThe main GENUKI page for Northamptonshire lists a number of topics for research. [edit] Victoria County History
[edit] Online DatabasesFindMyPast includes (list checked July 2018)
While Ancestry offers (list checked July 2018)
FamilySearch also has an extensive database online. It is free, but may not always provide the original images provided by the services one pays for.
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