Archaeological evidence of settlement in the Northampton area dates back to the Bronze Age, Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods. It was also a key base after the Danish invasion. During the Middle Ages, the town rose to national significance with the establishment of Northampton Castle, which was an occasional royal residence and regularly hosted the Parliament of England, aided by the town’s central geographical location. The town is also the site of two medieval battles; the Battle of Northampton (1264) and the second in 1460.

Markets and fairs were a key element in the town’s economy in medieval times. Street names in the town give an indication of trades and market centres; Corn Hill, Malt Hill, Mercer Row, Gold Street, Sheep Street and Horse Market. Cloth and wool were very important but these industries declined. In the 13th century, Northampton had a large Jewish population centred around Gold Street.

In 1349, the Black Death pandemic killed more than half the population of Northampton. Only 20 years after the 1460 battle during the Wars of the Roses, the mayor said the town was “in great desolation and ruin”.

When the civil war broke out in 1642, the town willingly became the main Parliamentarian garrison for the south-east Midlands area. Over 4,000 pairs of leather shoes and 600 pairs of cavalry jack-boots for the Parliamentary armies were manufactured in Northampton during the Civil War, and a further 2,000 for Cromwell’s New Model Army in 1648. Until well into the 19th century, the shoe industry boomed in and around the town.

King Charles II took revenge on the town by ordering the destruction of its walls and partial demolition of its castle. The town centre was further destroyed by the Great Fire of Northampton in 1675. A Georgian town with new houses, shops and workshops eventually grew out of the old medieval town destroyed by the fire. In 1741 Edward Cave opened Marvel’s Mill, the world’s first cotton mill to be driven by a water wheel.

By the end of the 18th century, Northampton had become a major centre of footwear and leather manufacture. In 1801, the population was 7,020; it more than doubled to 15,351 in 1831, attributed to the fact that there was great demand for footwear caused by the Napoleonic Wars of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. A third of the adult males alone were shoemakers at the time.

The town’s shoemaking history is reflected in census data provided exclusively to us by leading website TheGenealogist.co.uk: shoemakers, and related trades such as tailor, shoemaker journeyman and shoe binder, dominate the 1841 census. By 1911, when the population has now risen to 92,000, shoe and bootmakers still dominate, although the mechanisa-tion of the trade is now shown by the large number of shoe/boot machinists.

TheGenealogist’s data also reveals common surnames in the town. In both 1841 and 1911 these included Dunkley, Adams, Clark/e, Ward, Cox, Harris, White and Allen. Thompson and Manning are also prominent in 1841, plus Faulkner in 1911.

In 1815, the Grand Union Canal reached the town, joining the River Nene, giving the town a direct link to the Midlands coalfields and to Birmingham, Manchester and London. The railway came in 1845.

Following World War I, the shoe industry was increasingly in decline, despite the town’s factories supplying over 23 million pairs of boots to the armed forces.

Northamptonshire Record Office is in the town and for details of local museums see here, which include Britain’s most important collection relating to the history of shoes.