This week, FMP’s East Midlands collections receive a boost with nearly 24,000 new records from Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire.
Northamptonshire Militia Lists, 1762–1819
Records added: 7,687
During this period of the Napoleonic Wars, able-bodied men aged 18 to 45 were balloted for militia service. Transcribed from original records at Northamptonshire Archives, the collection includes county-wide lists from 1762, 1771, and 1781, as well as Supplementary Militia returns for specific areas like Wellingborough, Brackley, Towcester, Kettering, and Higham Ferrers. The 1798 Posse Comitatus covers 28 parishes in the Northampton area. Each entry records name, occupation, and location.
Northamptonshire Land, Poll & Window Tax Lists
Years covered: 1625–1805
Records added: 2,630
Transcribed from Northamptonshire Archives, the collection includes Land Tax returns for 1801 covering most parishes and Northampton in 1805, givng property occupiers, owners, and tax amounts. Window Tax records, an indicator of property size and wealth, cover Higham Ferrers hundred (1750), Cleyley and Towcester hundreds (1772), and combined Land & Window Tax for Daventry (1776 & 1779) and Wellingborough (1782). The collection also includes a 1625 Subsidy list for the north and eastern parishes and the 1698 Poll Tax for Huxloe, Rothwell, and Corby hundreds, listing heads of households.
Northamptonshire Memorial Inscriptions
Years covered: 1404–2022
Records added: 8,421
Transcribed by the Northamptonshire Family History Society, these records cover 38 cemeteries, churchyards, and memorial sites. Each entry provides the full inscription text, dedication, monument type, birth and death years, and age at death.
Lincolnshire, Workhouse Guardians’ Minutes
Years covered: 1863–1902
Records added: 5,133
These detailed minutes from seven Lincolnshire unions, Boston, Bourne, Caistor, Gainsborough, Grantham, Holbeach, and Lincoln, record decisions about pauper admissions, outdoor relief payments, settlement disputes, apprenticeships, marriage notices, and bastardy cases. Each entry typically includes names, residences, dates, and often rates paid or biographical details.
Newspapers
The British Newspaper Archive, source for FMP newspapers, added three new titles: World and his Wife (1904-1908), Telescope (1824-1825), and Cycle Record (1888-1890). Updates were to 12 existing publications, notably the Edinburgh Evening News (80,500 pages from 2001-2004), Peterborough Advertiser (43,092 pages from 1989-2005), and Wakefield Express (29,860 pages from 1986-1991). The earliest starts in 1849.