Rockingham County, New Hampshire Genealogy

United States &gt; New Hampshire &gt; Rockingham County

County Courthouse
119 North Road County Complex Brentwood, NH 03833

History

 * First settled by Europeans moving north from the Plymouth Colony as early as 1623.
 * Named for Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, who had been Prime Minister in 1765-1766.
 * The government was tightly linked to Massachusetts until 1679. The counties of New Hampshire were not introduced until 1769.

Parent County

 * Created 19 March 1771 from Colonial Lands and old Norfolk County, Massachusetts. It was originally claimed by Massaschusetts. Eventually the portion that is in Massachusetts was absorbed.

Boundary Changes

 * Merrimack County was set off in 1823.

Populated Places
City:


 * Portsmouth

Towns:

Villages:

Neighboring Counties
Hillsborough | Merrimack | Strafford | York County, Maine | Essex County, Massachusetts

Civil War

 * History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire and Representative Citizens, by Charles A. Hazlett - Chapter 34, Hampton - Soldiers of 1861-65

Newspapers
Newspaperarchive.com ($) has historical newspapers available on-line. Their database has Portsmouth newspapers (1898-2007) and the Lowell Sun (Lowell, MA 1878-1977) that covered local news on Rockingham County residents as well as residents from surrounding counties.

Web Sites

 * The Rockingham County NHGenWeb Project, an member of The NHGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Rockingham County
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Rockingham County (backup site)
 * Family History Library catalog for Rockingham County
 * Rockingham County, New Hampshire Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)