Ashingdon, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes



Parish History
An early 19th century discripton by Samuel A. Lewis is:

ASHINGDON (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union and hundred of Rochford, S. division of Essex, 2¼ miles (N. by W.) from Rochford; containing 119 inhabitants.

From: Lewis, Samuel A., A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848).

Ashingdon St Andrew is an Ancient parish in Essex.

The diocese of Chelmsford was created in 1914, prior to this Essex parishes were in the jurisdiction of the Bishops of London until 1845 when they transferred to the diocese of Rochester. The diocese of Chelmsford has 474 parishes and 600 churches and is the second largest region in the church of England outside London.

Ashingdon is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. It is located about 4 km (2 miles) north of Rochford and is 21 km (13 miles) southeast from the county town of Chelmsford. The village lies within Rochford District and the parliamentary constituency of Rayleigh.

Ashingdon has a Parish Council. It is a rural parish, one of 14 parishes in Rochford District. The Parish is approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Rochford and continues to the bank of the tidal River Crouch and the Parish includes the villages of Ashingdon and South Fambridge. Parts of Ashingdon Parish are within the village community of Hockley.

Ashingdon and South Fambridge have been in existence for more than one thousand years and both appear in The Domesday Book along with the Manor of Beckney within Ashingdon Parish.

It was the site of the Battle of Ashingdon on 18 October 1016 and the Parish Church which lies on one of the three hills was built 4 years after the battle, in 1020, by 'Canute the Great' of Denmark. It is called Ashingdon Minster. The first priest at Ashingdon was one of King Canute's personal priests, a young man named Stigand, who 46 years later was The Archbishop of Canterbury who crowned King Harold and officiated at the coronation of William The Conqueror (William I). The priest appears on The Bayeaux Tapestry with the comment "STIGANT ARChIEPS."

Ashingdon Parish was a centre of early aviation research from about 1908. Britain's first aerodrome was officially opened in February 1909 and it was used for developing and flying early fixed wing aeroplanes. Later, early seaplanes were made there. The European War (The First World War) stopped that work until the 1920s and 1930s when the aerodrome moved to Canewdon Road in Ashingdon and may have been at two locations in that road. Flying Fleas and many other types of aircraft were designed, developed, built, modified and flew there. Air shows took place there at the aerodrome when it was called Canute Air Park. Later, the aerodrome moved to Ashingdon Road, then to Dalys Road, Rochford, where it was still called "Ashingdon". Eventually, Southend Municipal Airport opened on the old Royal Flying Corps / RAF base and all flying moved to the new airport in the mid to late 1930s. Soon it reverted to RAF Rochford as a Battle of Britain RAF base, then it became a civil airport again, now called London Southend Airport.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, non conformist and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection

Online images are available Seax - Essex Archives Online From the Essex Record Office

Census records
Contributor: Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

Index for the Census may be searched at FamilySearch Historical Records

http://www.1881pubs.com/ for details of public houses in the 1881 census

Poor Law Unions
Rochford Poor Law Union, Essex

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Essex Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
Contributor: Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.