The Roman road "Watling Street" borders Leicestershire, north-west of Northants. The earliest Mapley in Leics. was a wagoner from Great Linford in Bucks., who had migrated north up Watling Street, settling in Great Bowden/Market Harborough in the late 1870's, close to the Northants. border.

Frederick Mapley, born in Great Linford, settled in Market Harborough in the late 1870's, with his family generations established there.

• The hundred Rolls, 1255, 1274-5 and 1279-80
• Leicestershire Censuses, 1841-1921