Needham's of Nottingham

Needham's of Nottingham

Although Needham’s have lived in Nottinghamshire since the 16^th century, it’s clear that it wasn’t until the second half of the 17^th century that we have the first Needham family centred on Nottingham. This page looks at the information available and discusses the Origins and development of Needham’s in Nottingham

Baptisms

The earliest baptism is of Isabell daughter of Edward at St. Mary’s in June 1601. There was a second baptism in 1609 but it wasn’t until 1681 that the third Needham was baptised. The numbers increase noticeably from that period with the numbers more than doubling for every 50-year period until the general register came into being in 1837

Year	no.
1600/1649	2
1650/1699	9
1700/1749	23
1750/1799	62
1800/1837	118

Burials

Year	No.	child	%
1600/1649	2
1650/1699	7	5	71%
1700/1749	19	8	42%
1750/1799	50	33	66%
1800/1850.	96	56	58%

The number of burials almost duplicates the baptism records. The first recorded burial was in 1641 when Elizabeth Needam was buried. Looking at the records one thing hits you that is the high number of infant deaths with in general over 50% of deaths being of children, usually under 2 years of age

Marriage

Year	No.
1550/1599	1
1600/1649	2
1650/1699	8
1700/1749	12
1750/1799	31
1800/1850.	57

The first marriage was Rychard Needam who married Margart Wyllfford in 1586; in fact this is the first record of a Needham in Nottingham. From here on the marriages grow being about half the baptism rate.  This must mean that Needham’s from outside the city were married in the cities churches

Families

	Total	City	%
1600/1649
1650/1699	2	0	0
1700/1749	5	2	40%
1750/1799	22	4	18%
1800/1850	40	9	23%

The number of Needham family units grew significantly from the second half of the 17^th century. But this was mainly on the back of the head of the household coming into the city looking for work. It is difficult to identify the birth place of the head of the household but what is clear it wasn’t Nottingham city as less than 40% of the head of households have been identified as being born in the city to date

Census Returns

In the first year of the census, 1841, 73% of the population of Needham’s in Nottingham were born in the county. Surprisingly, his remained constant throughout the century. Even more interesting throughout the 19th century less than 65% of the Needham’s were born in the city

Year	Total	Non  Shire	Non City	Shire	%	City	%
1841	79	21		58	73%
1851	88	23	13	65	74%	52	59%
1861	90	22	16	68	76%	52	58%
1901	216	54	23	162	75%	139	64%

Although the proportion born in the city did increase by 6% from 1841 to 1901. There was clearly a huge influx of people looking for work. The majority were employed in the knitwear or lace industry.