Christchurch, Hampshire Genealogy

The town now known as Christchurch has existed since 650 and was was originally known as Twynham, from "tweon eam", meaning (the settlement) between two rivers. It was not until the construction of the priory in 1094 that the town became known as Christchurch.

Parish History
CHRISTCHURCH (Holy Trinity), a borough, sea-port, market-town, and parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Christchurch, Ringwood and S. divisions of the county of Southampton, 21½ miles (S. W. by W.) from Southampton, and 100 (S. W. by W.) from London. .

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

To find the names of the neighboring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.

Records are also available at the Hampshire Archives and Local Studies.

Genealogy from Periodicals
Kiff, Cathryn A. W. My Father's Family - 140 Years in Christchurch. Photos and family names and history of William Ford Tilley and Sarah Elizabeth Alford, and their descendants. Photo of 23 Douglas Avenue home, also of Kings Ave, 1940 with Ted's delivery van, with his brother Cecil and Brian Wright's small boy between them. Other names, Wright, Mabey, Lane, Brown Rayner, Sandell, Craig, D'Angibau, Lawrence, Evans, Jenkins, Lane. Article in The Hamshire Family Historian, vol. 30 no.3, pages 173-177, FHL Ref 942.27 B2h

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Hampshire 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