Heacham, Norfolk Genealogy

England   Norfolk   Norfolk Parishes

Parish History
HEACHAM, a village and a parish in Docking district, Norfolk. The village stands on the coast, and on the Lynn and Hunstanton railway, 9 miles N by E of Castle-Rising.

Heacham St Mary an Ancient parish in the Diocese of Norwich.

The name of Heacham arises from its 12th century overlord Geoffrey de Hecham, and its river, the Hitch. Over the years the word and spelling have become Heacham meaning "The Home in the Thicket".

Heacham also has historic ties to Pocahontas, who married John Rolfe in 1614. The Rolfes are buried in the Heacham Church.

St Mary's church dates from 1230 and is Norman in design. In the cupola on the tower hangs a bell (circa 1100), the oldest in East Anglia, and the seventh-oldest in the country. The transepts have been lost as well as 12 feet (3.7 m) from the east end, and the roof has been lowered.

The Oxford historian of science Robert Gunther is buried in the village.

Heacham is a village and civil parish for local government purposes it is in Kings Lynn and West Norfolk district.

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.


 * Docking 1837-1938
 * King's Lynn 1938-1974

Church records
parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

Norfolk Record Office reference PD 699

The Genealogical Society of Utah has no microfilm of the parish registers

Archdeacons transcripts, 1725-1812 Microfilm copies of original records in the Norfolk Record Office, Central Library, Norwich, Norfolk, England. Early entries in Latin.

Baptisms and burials 1725-1812 Marriages 1725-1811 FHL BRITISH Film 1526810 Item 2

Census records
a.

Index for the Census may be searched at FamilySearch Historical Records

Poor Law Unions
Docking Poor Law Union, Norfolkl

Norfolk Poor Law Unions

The 1836 Pauper Exports from Kettlestone and Heacham have been transcribed on "The Ships List"

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.

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

 * Norfolk: Heacham on GenUKI