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James Atkins of Northamptonshire
Born 1802, died 2/4/1884 aged 82 years
Galanthus “Atkinsii”, Cyclamen “Atkinsii”
James Atkins was born at Warkworth Northants but the parish birth records were believed destroyed by a fire at Marston Manor in 1920.
Presumably Atkins decided to seek his fortune in his County Town prior to 1830 as a seedsman and nurseryman supplying the thriving local market. Northampton was contained within the circuit of its Norman town wall line, enclosing about 245 acres, until 1800 that makes its subsequent boom expansion easy to track. On 20/9/1675 the town was destroyed by fire and was subsequently rebuilt with widened streets during the following century. In 1815 a canal link was constructed from the river Nene to the Grand Junction canal with daily connections to Liverpool and Manchester from local wharves, paving the way for expansion.
Market days in the market square, one of the largest in the country, were on Monday, Friday with the principal one on Saturday for cattle. Additional fairs were held regularly on separate days including large cheese fairs and special cattle fairs. (See the Becket Walk)
Population growth from 7020 in 1804 was 8342 by 1814, 10793 in 1821, 15354 in 1834 and 21230 by 1841, sometime after which Atkins moves out of town. Northampton was clearly the place to be for any up and coming entrepreneur.
Snowdrops at Warkworth
Warkworth Church
Wall feature Warkworth churchyard
Canons Ashby House