Layer Breton, Essex Genealogy

England Essex  Essex Parishes



Parish History
Layer Breton St Mary the Virgin is an ancient Parish in Essex.

St Mary's was constructed by the village firm of Huttons and consecrated on 16th November 1923. Built in remembrance of James Round of Birch Hall (a local landowner and Privy Councillor) by his relations and friends, it replaced the old Layer Breton Church. This stood opposite Layer Breton Hall until being demolished in 1915 because it was unsafe.

The church forms part of the united benefice of Layer de la Haye and Layer Breton with Birch and Layer Marney in the Witham deanery of the Diocese of Chelmsford.

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.

LAYER-BRETON, a parish, in the union of Lexden and Winstree, hundred of Winstree, N. division of Essex, 6 miles (E. by S.) from Kelvedon; containing 290 inhabitants. It comprises by measurement 933 acres, of which 803 are arable, 90 pasture, and 40 heath. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £7; net income, £288; patron, the Rev. R. W. Sutton. There are places of worship for the Society of Friends and Independents.

From: Samuel A. Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 40-42. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51098 Date accessed: 11 February 2011.

The parish registers commence from 1749; some Bishop's transcripts start as early as 1629 to 1630 but skip to the year 1749 when they commence once again.

Layer Breton is a village and a civil parish in the Colchester borough, in the county of Essex, England.

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 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
Lexden and Winstree 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.