Australia, South Australia, Census, 1841 - FamilySearch Historical Records

England Essex

Description of the Collection
This collection consists of parish registers from the county of Essex for the years 1503-1997. Various parishes from Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and Kent are also included.

Record Description
In its most basic sense, a parish register is a record of religious ordinances performed in the Church of England. Beginning in 1538, every parish priest was required to write down certain information about every baptism (officially termed “christening” in Anglican use), marriage, and burial that took place in his parish over the course of each year. He was then supposed to bind these pages into a single volume, thereby annually producing a comprehensive history of his ministerial efforts. After 1754, a new law required that marriages be recorded in a separate book, and banns—public proclamations of a couple’s intent to marry—were to be recorded in yet another book. Starting in 1812, pre-printed registers were introduced, and separate registers were then kept for baptisms, marriages, and burials. It should also be noted that many parish records were not kept during the Interregnum, 1649-1660, due to temporary changes in the hierarchy of the Church of England.

Due to this long and relatively stable tradition, parish registers are central to English genealogical research as they are often one of the only sources for finding families and individuals in England before the start of civil registration in 1837.

Sample Images
The images below are examples of the records contained within this collection. To see images of the entire collection, visit the collection browse page. Click on each thumbnail to view a larger version of the image

For help reading these records, see the For Help Reading These Records section

Information in these Records
The following lists indicate potential information given in each type of record. It must be remembered that every record may not provide all the listed information, as the system for keeping parish records changed considerably over the centuries after 1538. It must also be noted that individual parishes often developed record-keeping traditions unique to themselves.

Location Description
One of the 39 historic counties of England, Essex is a coastal county located in the region of East Anglia, with the River Thames forming its southern border. The Greater London metropolis covers much of the south and west of the modern county. For a list of parishes which historically made up this county, see the Essex Parishes page.

How Do I Search the Collection?
Before beginning a search in these records, it is best to know the following information:
 * Full name of the individual in question
 * General location of the event
 * Date range for record

These pieces of information are the most likely to correctly identify the desired individual, though other information may be substituted if the name, location, and date are not all known.

Search the Index to the Collection
1. Visit the initial collection page. 2. Enter the requested information into the search box to search the index to the collection. Searching in this way will return a list of possible matches. 3. Compare the individuals on the list with what is already known to find the correct family or person. This step may require examining multiple individuals before a match is located.
 * If the search returns no matches, see the I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking for, What Now? section below.

View Images of the Records
1. Visit the collection browse page. 2. Select the appropriate Name of County. 3. Select the appropriate Name of Parish. 4. Select the appropriate Event Type and Year Range to go to the images. 5. Compare the information found on the images with what is already known determine if a particular record relates to the correct person. This process may require examining multiple records before the correct person is located.
 * You may also select the Browse through images link on the initial collection page to reach the same browse page.
 * For a small fee, you may also view the images on the Essex Record Office website.

For Help Reading These Records
Many of the records in this collection may be written in Latin rather than English. For help with this language, see the Latin Genealogical Word List.

In addition, some of the records in this collection may be written in an old script that can be challenging to read. Refer to BYU’s Script Tutorial for assistance with reading the records.

I Found the Person I Was Looking for, What Now?

 * Make sure to fully transcribe and cite the index entry for future reference; see below for assistance in citing this collection.
 * Look at an image of the original record. The online index entry generally lists only the most basic identifying information for an individual; the original record may contain further information which was not included in the index. Save or print a copy of the image if possible.
 * Use the information which has been discovered to find more. For instance, use the age listed in the record to estimate a year of birth, if that is yet undetermined.
 * If in the appropriate period, use the information which has been discovered to find the individual in civil records. Particularly useful for research in nineteenth-century England are the England Census and the England Civil Registration records.
 * Continue to search the index to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives. Remember that family members often appear on an individual's vital records, such as in the role of witnesses to a marriage.

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * When looking for a person with a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which individual is correct. Use other information, such as place of birth, age, occupation, or names of parents, to determine which candidate is the correct person. If listed, a personal title may be a clue to property ownership or occupation, either of which might be noted in other records.
 * Check for variants of given names and surnames. An individual might appear under a different name in a record for a variety of reasons:
 * An individual might have been listed under a middle name, nickname, or abbreviation of their given name.
 * Spelling was not standardized for much of the period of this collection, so names were often spelled as they were pronounced. Pay attention to how the name should have been pronounced and try spelling variations that could have that pronunciation.
 * Some women returned to their maiden names after the death of their husbands.
 * Vary the search terms. For example, search by either the given name or surname to return broader list of results which can then be examined for matches. You might also try expanding the date range; this is especially useful in searching baptismal records, as it was not unusual for a child to be baptized weeks or even months after birth.
 * Search the records of nearby parishes. While it was uncommon for an individual in this period to move more than about 20 miles from their place of birth, smaller relocations were not uncommon. For this particular collection, this step may require finding records in the bordering English counties of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, Hertfordshire and Middlesex to the west, or Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south. If the individual lived in the southwestern portion of Essex, a thorough search of London records might be necessary. Note that marriages usually took place in the parish where the bride resided.
 * Some parish records might have been lost over time. If possible, use Bishop's Transcripts as a substitute. See the Essex Bishop's Transcripts page for more information.
 * The individual in question may not have records in the Church of England at all, but rather might have belonged to a nonconformist denomination. See England Nonconformist Church Records for more information on nonconformist records.
 * Look at the actual image of the record to verify the information found in the online description, if possible.

For additional help searching online collections see FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Citing this Collection
Citing sources correctly makes it easier to refer to information which has already been discovered; proper citations are therefore key to keeping track of genealogical research. Correct citations also allow others to check completed research by helping them find and examine records for themselves.

Below are the proper citations to use for this collection as well as for individual records and images within the collection:

Image Citation
Top of Page