Toppesfield, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes



Parish History
Toppesfield St Margaret of Antioch is an Ancient Parish in Essex. The derivation of the name 'Toppesfield' is assumed to be an agglomeration of the phrase 'Top of the Field' meaning it is located on a rise.

Toppesfield sits atop a small and shallow hill. This means that all roads lead downhill from its centre (a covered water pump). This also results in Toppesfield church tower being easily visible from other villages more than 10 miles distant.

Toppesfield is situated in north Essex, which has considerably hillier terrain than most other areas of Essex. 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.

TOPPESFIELD (St. Margaret), a parish, in the union of Halstead, hundred of Hinckford, N. division of Essex, 8 miles (N. W.) from Halstead; containing 1073 inhabitants. It comprises by admeasurement 3220 acres, of which about 2870 are arable, 300 pasture, and 50 woodland. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £26; it is in the patronage of the Crown, and the tithes have been commuted for £1100, with a glebe of 20 acres. The church has a modern tower of brick, the original one of stone having been burnt down in 1700: under an arch in the south wall of the chancel is a very ancient tomb, and there are several interesting monuments in the church. The Independents have a place of worship.

From: Samuel A. Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 372-377. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51349&amp;amp;strquery=toppesfield Date accessed: 17 February 2011.

For administrative purposes the village and civil parish are part of the Braintree district of Essex County Council.

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, non conformist 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

Essex Online Parish Clerks (OPC)

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
Halstead 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.