Husbands Bosworth
Description in 1871:
"BOSWORTH (Husbands), a village and a parish in Market-Harborough district, Leicester. The village stands adjacent to the rivers Welland and Avon, the Union canal, and the Northwestern railway, 1 mile E of Welford station, and 6 WSW of Market-Harborough; and has a post office under Rugby, and a fair on 16 Oct.-The parish comprises 3,870 acres. Real property, £7,830. Pop., 934. Houses, 211. The property is much subdivided. Bosworth Hall is an ancient mansion, the seat of the Turvilles. The Union canal passes through a tunnel in the parish, 1,170 yards long. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough. Value, £966. Patron, J. W. Lamb, Esq. The church is early English, with tower and spire; was rent by lightning to the extent of 36 feet, in 1755; but is now good. There are chapels for Baptists, Wesleyans, and Roman Catholics. An endowed school has £15; other charities £77. Spencer, bishop of Norwich in the time of Richard II., was rector."
John Marius Wilson's, "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales', 1870-72
- There was a cemetery of 1.5 acres with two chapels set aside here in 1858 under the control of the parish council's burial board.
- The parish was in the Market Harborough sub-district of the Market Harborough Registration District.
- The 1851 Census for Leicestershire has been indexed by the Leicestershire & Rutland Family History Society. The whole index is available on microfiche. The society has also published it in print.
- The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
Census
Year |
Piece No. |
| 1861 |
R.G. 9 / 2250 |
| 1891 |
R.G. 12 / 2492 |
- The Anglican parish church is dedicated to All Saints.
- The church was probably built in the 13th century.
- The church was thoroughly restored in 1861 and again in 1867.
- The church has a massive western tower with an octagonal broach spire.
- The church tower and spire were restored in 1895.
- The church seats 500.
- The Anglican parish register dates from 1567.
- The church is in the rural deanery of Gartree (first portion).
- A General Baptist chapel was founded here in 1793 and was rebuilt in 1807.
- A Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built here before 1848 and a new chapel built in 1912.
- Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
- The parish was in the Market Harborough sub-district of the Market Harborough Registration District.
Husbands Bosworth is a parish, a township and a large village in Leicestershire. It is about 95 miles north of London, 14 miles south of Leicester city, 7 miles east of Lutterworth and 6.5 miles southwest of Market Harborough. The parish covers 3,560 acres. A branch of the River Welland forms the southeast border of the parish, dividing it from Northamptonshire. The River Avon is on the north-west border and the Grand Union canal, which flows through a large tunnel here, borders to the west.
The village is large and at the intersection of two main roads; the A50 and the A427. If you are planning a visit:
- By automobile, it is probably easiest to take the M1 Motorway to Lutterworth at Roundabout #20 and turn east onto the A427. Follow that past North Kibworth and continue into Husbands Bosworth.
- The parish was largely used for grazing land.
- Brick-making was a large employer here.
- In the early 1900s, the village had steam-powered saw mills and a large lumber yard.
- A fair for horses and cattle was held here each 16 October.
- A hiring fair for workers and servants was held each September and January.
- In 1849, Roecliffe Hall was the residence of the dowager Lady HEYGATE.
- The national grid reference is SP 6484.
- You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, which has 2.5 inches to the mile scale.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
- This place was an ancient parish in Leicester county and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
- The parish is in the ancient Gartree Hundred in the southern division of the county.
- In 1648, Sir Roger SMITH left a bequest that gave 14 tons of coals to the poor each year.
- As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act reforms, this parish became part of the Market Harborough Poorlaw Union.
- Bastardy cases would be heard in the Market Harborough petty session hearings.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1841 |
953 |
| 1871 |
934 |
| 1881 |
831 |
| 1891 |
845 |
| 1901 |
741 |
| 1911 |
779 |
| 1921 |
732 |
| 1931 |
713 |
- The parish had a National School founded in 1724 by John BRYAN. The building was erected in 1858.
- There was an Infants School built 1860.
- There was also a Catholic School by 1881.
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[Last updated: 13-November-2011 - Louis R. Mills]
