Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk Genealogy

Guide to Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
An ancient borough, the capital of the Western Division of Suffolk, and of the Franchise or Liberty of St. Edmund, and one of the most pleasing and interesting market towns in England, is seated in the centre of a richly cultivated country, upon a bold acclivity, skirted on the north and east by the river Lark and one of its tributary streams, which unite in the grounds of the once splendid Abbey, of which here are still extensive and beautiful remains. The streets are broad, well paved, and contain many handsome houses and public-buildings, and intersect each other at right angles. The town is so pleasantly situated, commands such extensive prospects, and the air is so salubrious, that it has been called the Montpellier of England. On all sides of it, within the distance of a few miles, are the beautiful parks and mansions of some of the most wealthy nobility and gentry of the county. The Lark is navigable for small craft to Fornham, about a mile below the town, which is approached by excellent turnpike roads, and is distant 14 miles E. of Newmarket; 12 miles S. of Thetford; 26 miles N.W. by W. of Ipswich; 16 miles N. of Sudbury; 13 W.N.W. of Stowmarket; 29 miles E.N.E. of Cambridge; 43 miles S.W. by S. of Norwich; 42 miles S. by E. of Lynn; and 71 miles N.E. of London... William White, 1844 Gazetteer of Suffolk, page 602 to 662


 * Bury St Edmunds St James
 * Bury St Edmunds St John
 * Bury St Edmunds St Mary

Find Neighboring Parishes
Use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map
 * Type the name of the parish in the search bar
 * Click on the location pin on the map
 * Choose Options from the pop up box
 * Click "List Contiguous Parishes" to find the neighboring parishes

Civil Registration
Bury St Edmunds is in Bury St Edmunds district. To search an index of Bury St Edmunds district records go to FreeBMD. The Suffolk Civil Registration article tells more about these records.

Church records
The Church of England (Anglican) became the official state religion in 1534, with the reigning monarch as its Supreme Governor. Non-Conformist refers to all other religious denominations that are not the official state religion.

Church of England
Due to the increasing access of online records: Hover over the collection's title for more information Other Websites These databases have incomplete parish coverage.
 * Individual parish coverage for databases in this table are inconsistent and should be verified
 * Dates in the following table are approximate
 * Joiner Marriage Index - Suffolk ($)
 * The Genealogist Parish Registers - Suffolk ($)
 * UK Websites for Parish Records - Links to online genealogical records
 * Online Genealogical Index - Links to online genealogical records

Non-Conformists (All other Religions)

 * 1717 England & Wales, Roman Catholics, 1717 at FindMyPast ($), index and images (coverage may vary)

Newspapers
The Bury and Norwich Postis available online from 1801 to 1900. The British Newspaper Archive provides images and transcripts of the Newspaper. Also available is the Ipswich Journal from from 1748 to 1900. Also another run of the Ipswich Journal from 1720 to 1800.

Probate Records
Prior to 1858 the primary court that had jurisdiction over Bury St Edmunds was the Archdeaconry of Sudbury; however, a person’s will or administration may have been probated in nearby courts or even in London. After 1858 it was in Ipswich District. Refer to the Suffolk Probate Records article for further details.

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

Websites

 * Local archives and libraries
 * Family History Centres