Petworth, Sussex Genealogy

England   Sussex     Sussex Parishes

Parish History
PETWORTH (St. Mary), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Rotherbridge, rape of Arundel, W. division of Sussex, 14 miles (N. E. by N.) from Chichester, and 49 (S. W. by S.) from London. The church, erected about the time of Henry VII., was nearly rebuilt under the direction of C. Barry, Esq. It now consists of a nave, chancel, and north and south aisles, with an ancient chapel dedicated to St. Thomas at the east end of the north aisle, in which some members of the family of Percy, earls of Northumberland, are buried. The tower surmounted by a beautiful spire 180 feet high, is at the east end of the south aisle. The interior of the church is exceedingly neat: the windows of the chancel of St. Thomas's chapel, and the south aisle, are of stained glass; and there is a splendid organ. Here are places of worship for Independents and Calvinists.

history and images

Petworth Sussex online Parish Clerks(OPC)

See also:

Petworth Wikipedia and A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 558-564. here

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.

See alsoPetworth Registration District For the civil registration history see Horsham registration district Certificates can be ordered from West Sussex Centralized Certificates Office Registration Service West Sussex Record Office County Hall Chichester PO19 1RN Phone: 01243 642122

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

Link to the FamilySearch Catalogue showing the film numbers in their collection

Court Records
Burchall, Michael J. Sussex Bastardy Register 1835-1839. An abstract of a volume of Quarter Session Records giving name, parish, occupation of father, sex of child, date of birth, remarks. Article in the magazine Sussex Family Historian, vol.1. #4, March 1974, pages 97-101, Family History Library Ref. 942.52 B2su

Poor Law Unions
Petworth Poor Law Union, Sussex

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