Ipswich St Matthew, Suffolk Genealogy

England   Suffolk     Parishes   Ipswich Borough    Ipswich St Matthew

Parish History
St. Matthew's Church, at the west end of the town, stands in a large burial ground, and is a plain, unassuming structure, consisting of a nave, chancel, side aisles, tower, and south porch. It was re-pewed about 1840, and was enlarged in 1813 by the extension of the south aisle. A further enlargement is in contemplation. The font is ancient, and has a finely carved cover,.....  The parish increased its population from 1206 in 1801 to 3458 in 1841; but in 1851 it had increased to 5086 souls. It contains 647 acres of land, extending about 1 1/2mile westward. It anciently contained four other churches or chapels, viz., All Saints, the site of which is unknown; St. George's, of which some remains may be seen in a barn in St. George's street; St. Mildred, which was converted into the Town Hall, as already noticed; and St. Mary's Chapel, which stood at the north-west corner of Lady lane, and was famous for an image of the Blessed Virgin, called by the numerous pilgrims who visited it, "Our Lady of Ipswich;" but after the Reformation, it was taken to London, and there publicly burnt. The site of this chapel is covered with modern buildings. St. Matthew's, or the West Gate, was rebuilt in the time of Henry VI., and was for a long period used as the Borough Goal, but was demolished many years ago. The parish contains several handsome modern suburbs and neat mansions, and its chief landowners are R. D. Alexander, J. Orford, C. Kersey, and Robert Mumford, Esqrs.

Resources
If you live in Suffolk you will have access to a variety of resources at local archives and libraries; however, for those who live further afield, one can access microfilm and online records at Family History Centers. Refer to  and  in the Family History Library Catalog for available records.

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
Parish Registers began in the 1500's. They can be viewed at the Suffolk Record Office. There are Bishop Transcripts and Parish Registers that have been filmed for most parishes in the County. See the Suffolk Church Records article for further details.

Census records
Refer to the Suffolk Census wiki article for general details about the census.

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