Peterborough, Northamptonshire : Historical writing

Descriptive gazetteer entries

These other entries in our collection of descriptive gazetteers are also about Peterborough. You may be able to find further references to Peterborough in the descriptive gazetteers by doing a full-text search here.

Place Type of entry Source
MINSTER-CLOSE-PRECINCTS an extra-parochial place Imperial
Nassaburgh hundred Bartholomew
NASSABURGH a liberty Imperial
Peterborough parliamentary and municipal borough Bartholomew
PETERBOROUGH a city, a parish, a sub-district, and a district Imperial
PETERBOROUGH, or Nassaburgh a hundred Imperial

Travel writing

This website includes the complete texts of books describing journeys around Britain, written between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries. Selecting one of the links below will take you to the first reference to Peterborough within the selected text. This will not always be a description of a visit: travellers often mention places other than where they are, for example as a basis for comparison.

Traveller Section No. of Refs.
Daniel Defoe Letter 7, Part 2: East Midlands 13
William Camden Huntingdon and Northampton 12
John Byng A Tour in the Midlands, 1789: Biggleswade to Newark 7
George Borrow Introduction; Norfolk to Chester 4
Celia Fiennes 1698 Tour: Cambridge to Lichfield 3
Arthur Young 1791 Tour from Birmingham to Suffolk 3
William Camden The Division of Britaine 2
Daniel Defoe Letter 1, Part 3: Norfolk and Cambridgeshire 2
William Camden Durham, Lancashire and Westmorland 1
William Cobbett Sept. 12th to 27th, 1826: Malmsbury to Worcestershire 1
Daniel Defoe Preface to Second Volume 1
Daniel Defoe Appendix to the second volume 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 10: Lancashire, Westmorland and Cumberland 1
Celia Fiennes 1697 Tour: London to Yorkshire 1
George Head The Peak District 1
Thomas Pennant June 26-July 3: Cheshire to the East Riding 1

This website includes two large libraries, of historical travel writing and of entries from nineteenth century gazetteers describing places. We have text from these sources available for these places near your location:

Place Mentioned in Travel Writing Mentioned in Historical Gazetteer
Eastfield 0 2
Botolphbridge 0 1
Longthorpe 1 2
Fletton 0 2
Newark 0 1
Dogsthorpe 0 2
Woodston 0 2
Stanground 0 3
Walton 0 2
Orton Longueville 2 4
Paston 0 2
Gunthorpe 0 2
Milton Park 0 2
Orton Waterville 2 3
Werrington 0 2
Marholm 0 2
Alwalton 0 2
Eye 0 2
Castor 10 2
Farcet 0 2

Names from historical writing

The following appear as names for Peterborough. Follow the links for what the author actually said:

Name Author Source
MEDDESWELL William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
MEDELHAMSTED William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
MEDESHAMSTED William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
MEDESWELHAMSTED William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
MEDESWELL William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
MINSTER CLOSE PRECINCTS John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
NASSABURGH John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
PETERBORO John Byng The Torrington Diaries: Containing the tours through England And Wales of the Hon. John Byng (Later Fifth Viscount Torrington) between the years 1781 and 1794 (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1938).
Daniel Defoe A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain, divided into circuits or journies (London: JM Dent and Co, 1927).
PETERBOROUGH John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
PETERBOROUGH OR NASSABURGH John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
PETERBOROWE William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
PETERBRO Daniel Defoe A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain, divided into circuits or journies (London: JM Dent and Co, 1927).
PETERBURGH William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
PETRIBURGUS William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
PETROPOLIS William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).

NB: These variant names come from our collections of historical travel writing and descriptive gazetteers:

  • The above links take you to the first reference to this particular version of the name within a book of travel writing, or to the relevant gazetteer entry.
  • Some names may derive from research by antiquarian writers such as William Camden and Thomas Pennant into the Roman, Saxon and medieval names of places. Their claims are not always supported by modern place-name researchers.
  • References by travel writers to the place using its "normal" name are not included. Descriptive gazetteer entries are included only if the name does not appear anywhere else.