In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Wellingborough like this:
WELLINGBOROUGH, a town, a parish, a sub-district, and a district, in Northamptonshire. The town stands on a declivity near the river Nen, and near the intersection of the Midland railway and the Northampton and Peterborough railway, 10 miles NE by E of Northampton; takes its name from chalybeate springs, which were used by Charles I., and are still of great note; was extensively destroyed by fire in 1738; is a seat of petty sessions and county courts, and a polling place; publishes a weekly newspaper; carries on a considerable trade in corn, shoe-making, boot-making, and the smelting of iron ore; comprises four principal streets, diverging from a central market-square; presents a modern and pleasant appearance, recently much improved; and has a head post-office,‡ a r. ...
station with telegraph, two banking-offices, two chief inns, a police station, a recently-formed promenade, a corn exchange of 1861, built at a cost of £3,500, an ancient church restored in 1861, and surmounted by a lofty spire, another church of 1867, built at a cost of £4,500, two Independent chapels, four other dissenting chapels, a public cemetery, a literary institute, with an extensive library, an endowed grammar-school with £87 a year, another endowed school with £55, national and British schools, a workhouse built at a cost of £5,000, a town-estate £800, some general charities, a weekly market on Wednesday, and three annual fairs. Pop. in 1861, 6,067. Houses, 1,279.
The parish comprises 4,490 acres. Real property, £19,828; of which £200 are in gasworks. Pop. in 1851, 5,297; in 1861, 6,382. Houses, 1,312. The increase of pop. arose from the extension of the shoe manufacture, and from the erection of a smelting furnace. Hatton Hall is the chief residence. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Peterborough. Value, £400.* Patron, Q. Vivian, Esq.—The sub-district contains nine parishes. Acres, 17,865. Pop., 10,885. Houses, 2,306.—The district includes also Earls-Barton and Higham-Ferrers subdistricts, and comprises 55,505 acres. Poor rates in 1863, £11,742. Pop. in 1851, 21,367; in 1861, 24,224. Houses, 5,199. Marriages in 1863, 174; births, 970,-of which 38 were illegitimate; deaths, 583,-of which 264 were at ages under 5 years, and 12 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 1,969; births, 8,298; deaths, 5,070. The places of worship, in 1851, were 27 of the Church of England, with 8,486 sittings; 8 of Independents, with 2,655 s.; 12 of Baptists, with 2,374 s.; 2 of Quakers, with 500 s.: 15 of Wesleyans, with 2,904 s.; 2 of Primitive Methodists, with 110 s.; 1 undefined, with 150 s.; and 2 of Latter Day Saints, with 50 s. The schools were 24 public day-schools, with 1,513 scholars; 28 private day-schools, with 530 s.; 43 Sunday schools, with 4,151 s.: and 3 evening schools for adults, with 41 s.
Wellingborough through time
Click here for graphs and data of how Wellingborough has changed over two centuries. For statistics for historical units named after Wellingborough go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Wellingborough in Northamptonshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/532
Date accessed: 24th April 2024
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