Over the last thirty years or so, Northamptonshire Family History Society has been recording the memorial inscriptions in our county churches and churchyards. So far over 225 booklets have been published and more are in the pipeline. 

Northamptonshire has just over 300 ancient parishes thus there are still a number of parishes to record.

memorials

The booklets

Members and volunteers of the Northamptonshire Family History Society record the surviving headstones and memorials (but do not include burial plots where there is no memorial).  We generally include details of any earlier recordings as many are for memorials which no longer survive or where the inscription has eroded.

What is included in the booklets?

The full inscription (or as much as is legible) is included in the booklets along with a plan of the interior and the churchyard.  The names are also indexed.

The inscriptions may record additional details that are not always recorded in burial registers such as age or family relationships.   They may include names of persons who are not actually buried in that grave such as a soldier dying overseas, a loved one who has emigrated or record children who died in their infancy.

Where to purchase them

 

The booklets are available from our stall on Parish Chest.

https://www.parishchest.com/monumental-inscriptions-2491.php

headstone

Other publications

 

A Short Guide to Researching your Local and Family History at Northamptonshire Record Office

Aimed mainly at new users to the Northamptonshire Record Office (although regular visitors will also find it of interest), this booklet will tell you all you need to know about the rich variety of sources that are available, how to access them and how to make the most of your visit.

It covers a variety of topics from births, marriages and deaths, wills and probate, maps, the parish chest to estate and family collections as well as a comprehensive guide to finding your way around (revised and updated 2022). Price £2.50 plus p/p – available from Parish Chest

Other booklets available include a range of nonconformist records along with transcriptions of registers and other records relating to some of the Poor Law Unions in this county. 

For a more detailed list, please visit our website www.northants-fhs.org

Researching at NRO
This article was contributed by Angela Malin from Northamptonshire Family History Society.
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