RUSHDEN is a large parish and flourishing town, 1 mile south from Higham Ferrers, with a station on the Wellingborough and Higham Ferrers section of the Midland railway, about 2 miles east from Irchester station on the main line of the Midland railway, 2½ south from Higham Ferrers and 2 miles east from Ditchford stations on the Northampton and Peterborough section of the North Western railway, in the Eastern division of the county, hundred of Higham Ferrers, petty sessional division, union and county court district of Wellingborough, rural deanery of Higham Ferrers (first portion), archdeaconry of Oakham and diocese of Peterborough.  The town, which has greatly extended within the last few years (1884-94), is lighted with gas, and is governed by a Local Board of Health of 9 members, created by an order of the Northamptonshire County Council, confirmed by Local Government Order, No. 26,690, dated March 25^th, 1891.  The church of St. Mary the Virgin, formerly collegiate, is an edifice in the Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular styles, consisting of a choir, nave, aisles, transepts, north, south and western porches and a fine tower and crocketed spire nearly 200 feet high, and containing a peal of 6 bells and a clock: between the piers of the transepts are arches filled with pierced tracery of varied character: there is also some carved screen-work and in the chancel three Early English sedilia and piscina: the church retains some ancient stained glass, a carved seat and other relics of ancient art: on the north wall of the chancel is a fine marble monument to John Ekins, of Rushden, ob. 1677; here also in a recess is the recumbent effigy, in plate armour, of Sir Goddard Pemberton kt. ob. 1616: at the east end of the chancel are kneeling effigies of Robert Pemberton, ob. 1608, and Mary, his wife, ob. 1609, the former in plate armour and the latter in a loose robe with tight-fitting bodice; below these, on the north side, are figures of four sons, and on the south side those of their daughters: a mural tablet in the chancel is inscribed to Elizabeth, wife of John Ekins, ob. 1663; here also is an inscribed brass to Frederick Maitland Sartoris, d. 1883: the stained east window, restored about 1874, is a memorial to Mrs. Isabella Macnaghten, d. 1871: the church was thoroughly restored in 1874-5, at a cost of about £4,700, and subsequently re-seated at a further cost of £500, and a new organ erected, costing about £500.  The register of baptisms dates from the year 1598; marriages and burials, 1559.  The living is a rectory, net yearly value £227, with 315 acres of glebe and residence, in the gift of Elliot F. Barker esq. Of Whitby, and held since 1891 by the Rev. Charles James Gordon M.A. of Pembroke College, Cambridge; the rectory house was built in the years 1870-1.  A Church of England service is held in the Infants’ schoolroom, Higham hill.  The Wesleyan chapel, built in 1872 as a temperance hall, at a cost of £400, will seat about 250 persons: there is another Wesleyan chapel, erected in 1873, and two Baptist chapels, with sunday schools, erected in 1884, at a cost of £400, will seat about 250 persons: there is another Wesleyan chapel, erected in 1873, and two Baptist chapels, with sunday schools, erected in 1884, at a cost of £1,000, and holding about 400 children.  Charities: Maye’s charity of £25 yearly, derived from land left in 1631 by William Maye, of Rushden, is distributed on May-day; Latham’s charity of £3, derived from property in the occupation of Mr. G. F. Baker, of Barnwell mills, near Oundle, left in 1619 by the Rev. Nicholas Latham, vicar of Barnwell, is distributed in sums of 10s. Each to six persons who have been unfortunate; and there is also a charity called “Bull money” of £3 yearly, derived from land in the village occupied by Mr. T. Sanders, and distributed in money.  There are four almshouses, erected in 1883 by his parents, to the memory of Frederick Maitland Sartoris, and supported by them.  The Rushden Club and Reading Room, opened about 1875, has 150 members.  The Conservative Club, erected in 1888, has a lecture hall, reading and other rooms, and about 300 members.  The Working Men’s Club, erected in 1891, has a concert room, reading room, and about 400 members.  There are two banks, the Northamptonshire Union Bank Limited and the Capital and Counties Bank Limited, both in High street.  The inhabitants are chiefly employed in boot and shoe making, a steadily increasing trade.  Rushden Hall, the seat of Mrs. Sartoris, is a handsome mansion in the Elizabethan style, close to the village and surrounded by extensive and well-wooded pleasure grounds.  H.M. the Queen is lady of the manor.  The principal landowners are Herbert Sartoris esq. J.P. of Weekley, and Messrs. S. Mason, T. Sanders, Kew and Hall, G. Denton, G. H. Skinner, Mrs. Manton and the rector.  The soil varies from a strong clay to a light sandy land; the subsoil, clay, gravel and limestone.  The chief crops are wheat, barley and beans.  The area is 3,590 acres; rateable value, £19,053; the population in 1891 was 7,443.

Parish Clerk, William Packwood

POST, M. O. & T. O., S. B & Annuity & Insurance Office.  (Railway Sub Office.  Letters should have R.S.O. Northants added). - Charles Hewitt, postmaster.  Letters arrive by mail cart from Wellingborough at 5.30 & from Higham Ferrers at 11.30 a.m.; dispatched at 5.30 & 10.15 a.m. & 5.45 & 8 p.m.; on Sundays letters arrive at 5.30 a.m.; dispatched at 9.30 a.m.

LOCAL BOARD

Board room, Vestry Hall.

Board day, Thursday, fortnightly, at 6.30 p.m.

Clerk, George Stewart Mason, High Street

Treasurer, Joseph Wykes Ashdowne, Northamptonshire Union Bank

Medical Officer of Health, Charles Richard Owen L.R.C.P. Edin. Highfield house

Surveyor and Inspector of Nuisances, W. Pare, Irchester road

Collector, John Sargeant, Park road

Police Station, Alfred Onan, inspector in charge, & 3 constables.

SCHOOLS:-

A School Board of 5 members was formed Mar. 9, 1877, & increased to 7 in 1889; James Heygate, Wellingborough, clerk to the board; George Bayes, Rushden, attendance officer.

National (mixed), built in 1870, at a cost of £1,100, on land given by the late F. U. Sartoris esq. & enlarged in 1881 & 1888, for 457 children; average attendance, 420; there is a master’s house; Alfred G. C. Vann, master

Infants’, High street, for 172 children; average attendance, 166; Miss Jennie Hilda Ward, mistress

Infants’, North street, built in 1883, for 77 children; average attendance, 34; Mrs. Jane Abbott, mistress; Divine service is occasionally held in this school

Infants’, built in 1877, for 118 children; average attendance, 93; Mrs. Emma Barratt, mistress

Board (mixed), Alfred street, built in 1880, with master’s residence, at a cost of about £3,000, enlarged in 1887, at an additional outlay of £700, & again, 1892, at a cost of about £1,000, for 250 boys & 240 girls; average attendance, 500; Walter Wood, master; Miss Sarah E. Wright, mistress

CONVEYANCE – The London & North Western Railway Co.’s ’bus meets all trains at Higham Ferrers station & runs to the Wheatsheaf hotel, & a ’bus from the Feathers inn meets all trains at Irchester station daily

CARRIERS to WELLINGBOROUGH – William Adams & Alfred Marriott, daily