Docking, Norfolk Genealogy

England Norfolk  Norfolk Parishes

Parish History
DOCKING (St. Mary), a parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Smithdon, W. division of Norfolk, 11 miles (N. N. W.) from Rougha. There are places of worship for Wesleyans andPrimitive Methodists.

Docking St Mary the Virgin is an Ancient Parish in the Diocese of Norwich. Other places in the parish include: Summerfield and Southmere.

Docking was known as "Dry Docking" as far back as the time of James I, due to the lack of drinking water there. Its largest manors were Southmere and Docking. The chancel was built shortly before the Black Death of 1349, and the 80 foot tower in about 1415. The oldest of its five bells dates to 1622, made by John Draper. The clock was added in 1902 for the coronation of Edward VII. The most famous member of the Church was Henry Walpole, baptised in the ancient font at Docking Church in 1558. He witnessed the execution of the Jesuit priest Edmund Campion in 1581 and went into exile in France, becoming a Jesuit himself. He returned to England and was captured, and tortured in the Tower of London for 16 years before being hung, drawn, and quartered in 1595. He was canonized in 1970.

RAF Docking was a RAF Station of the Second World War a few miles from Bircham Newton in Norfolk.

It was a satellite airfield for the RAF Coastal Command station at RAF Bircham Newton and was mostly used for overflow from there.

Docking is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk and contains the highest point in North West Norfolk. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk.

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

Docking Union Workhouse registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

Norfolk Record Office reference PD 483

Parish registers for Docking Microfilm copy of original in the Norfolk Record Office, Central Library in Norwich, Norfolk, England.

Baptisms, 1813-1866. FHL BRITISH Film 1951630 Items 16 - 18 Baptisms, 1866-1895. Marriages, 1813-1910. Burials, 1813-1864 (title board gives wrong dates, i.e., 1864-1891). FHL BRITISH Film 1951631 Items 1 - 6

Archdeacons transcripts, 1725-1812

Baptisms and burials 1725-1812 Marriages 1725-1811 FHL BRITISH Film 1526809 Item 15

Census records
Index for the Census may be searched at FamilySearch Historical Records


 * 1891 Census Surname Index:Transcribed by Pat Greetham
 * 1891 Census Docking Workhouse Surnames Index: Transcribed by Pat Greetham
 * 1891 Census Docking Workhouse Surnames Index: Transcribed by Pat Greetham

Poor Law Unions
Docking Poor Law Union, Norfolk

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Norfolk Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Tax Records
1664 Hearth Taxes: Transcribed by Marg Keable and housed on Norfolk Transcription Archives

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

 * Docking on GenUKI