Wells next the Sea, Norfolk Genealogy

England   Norfolk   Norfolk Parishes

Parish History
WELLS (St. Peter), a sea-port town and parish, in the union of Walsingham, hundred of North Greenhoe, W. division of Norfolk, 33 miles (N. W. by N.) from Norwich. The Society of Friends, the Independents, Primitive Methodists, and Wesleyans have places of worship.

Wells next-the-the Sea St Nicholas is an Ancient Parish in the Walsingham deanery of the Diocese of Norwich.

The mideval church was lost in a fire in 1879 St Nicholas is the market town replacement.

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.


 * Walsingham 1837-1938
 * Fakenham 1939-1974

The Register Office, Fakenham Connect, Oak Street, Fakenham, NR21 9SR. Tel: 01328 850111. E-mail: registration.fakenham@norfolk.gov.uk

Church records
parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

Norfolk Record Office reference PD 679 /1-30, 33,37-38

Known Issues

During the 1999 microfilming of the burial register for the year 1894 pages 158 &amp; 159 were omitted by the microfilming and 16 burials are not available between January and August 1894.

It is necessary for you to approach the original records for this period:

Norfolk Record Office The Archive Centre Martineau Lane Norwich NR1 2DQ

Telephone: 01603 222599 Fax: 01603 761885 E-mail: norfrec@norfolk.gov.uk

This office does provide a research service for those unable to visit personally (fee payable).

Courtesy of Wells Local Family History Group: Transcriptions of Parish and Census Records available by request.

Non-Conformist churches
Our Lady Star of the Sea (Roman Catholic) http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/wellsrc/wellsrc.htm Norfolk Churches website for images and description

Census records
http://www.btinternet.com/~e.c.apling/1891Census/Wells.htm transcript of 1891 census

Poor Law Unions
http://www.workhouses.org.uk/index.html?Walsingham/Walsingham.shtml

Walsingham Union was incorporated under the terms of the 1834 Act, and the union workhouse was built at Great Snoring, but not completed until 1838. The Walsingham Union Workhouse at Great Snoring was opened in 1838. It was situated close to the boundary between the parishes of Great Snoring and Thursford and was sometimes known as Thursford Workhouse. Poor Law Unions were abolished in 1930 and the responsibilities of Walsingham Union Board of Guardians were taken over by Norfolk County Council Guardians' Committee No. 7. From 1930 the former Workhouse became known as Walsingham Public Assistance Institution. On 26 and 27 June 1934 the remaining thirty inmates (including two infants but no children) were transferred to West Beckham and Gressenhall Institutions and Walsingham Institution officially closed on 30 June 1934. The building was subsequently adapted for use as a smallpox hospital. By 1976 the building was derelict and was demolished in the early 1990s. Acquisition Received by the Norfolk Record Office on 26 February 1982 (C/GP 19/192-198) and on unknown dates.

Copies C/GP19/1-6, 131, 133-135, 137, 141, 143-146, 148, 150-151, 173-181 are on microfilm. RelatedMaterial For records of Guardians Committee No. 7 (including the administration of Red House Children's Home in Little Snoring and the boarding-out of children), see C/GC 7. See Public Assistance Sub-Committee minutes, 11 July 1934 and 12 September 1934, C/C 10/455. The records of the County Architect's Department include plans of the alterations for use as a smallpox hospital dated February 1937, see C/AR 1/29-31. The one inch to one mile Ordnance Survey Map of 1954 designates the building 'smallpox hospital'.

Norfolk Poor Law Unions

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Norfolk 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
http://www.achurchnearyou.com/wells-next-the-sea-st-nicholas/ for information about the parish

http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/wellscofe/wellscofe.htm Norfolk Churches website.