East Donyland, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes



Parish History
East Donyland St Lawrence is an Ancient parish in Essex, forming part of the country boundary with Suffolk.

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.

The medieval church of ST. LAURENCE, demolished c. 1840, stood on the east side of the Fingringhoe road, just north of East Donyland Hall. It comprised a small nave and chancel, of the same width but with separate roofs, a west porch and a small bellcote. In 1815 it was said to hold only c. 80 people; in 1831, 200. It may have been 12th-century in origin, but was remodelled if not rebuilt in the 13th century. The rood loft was recorded in 1514. A south, or possibly a north, porch needed repair in 1707, and was replaced by the west porch during the 18th century. The bellcote was probably built in the same century, replacing a more substantial turret which held 3 bells in 1547. The church was replaced in 1837-8 by an octagonal building of white brick, c. ½ mile east of the old church on the outskirts of the growing village of Rowhedge. The building, designed by W. Mason of Ipswich, was described in 1934 as 'a preposterous imitation of the chapter house of York Minster' and in 1937 as the ugliest parish church in England, but by the later 20th century was well suited to altered patterns of worship. The plaster ceiling was replaced by a wooden one in 1872. A new altar, altar rails, pulpit, lectern, choir seats, and panelling were given to celebrate the church's centenary in 1937. The interior was re-ordered in 1969 when the floor was replaced, the pews re- arranged, the 14th-century font from St. Martin's, Colchester, placed in the centre of the nave, and the organ moved to the west gallery. The area under the gallery was walled off to pro- vide vestries, and the pulpit was placed against the new wall, at the west end of the church. A large classical altarpiece from a redundant church was erected behind the altar, cutting off the small chancel. Brasses to Mary Gray (d. 1627), formerly wife of Edward Jobson, and to her son by her first marriage, Nicholas Marshall (d. 1621), were re-erected in the 19th-century church, as was a marble wall monument to Nicholas's wife Eliza- beth Marshall (d. 1613), showing her seated under an arch. The Hanoverian royal arms on the gallery may also be from the old church. The church has one bell of c. 1900 in a brick turret over the north door. Of the three bells in the medieval church in 1547, one was stolen in 1567, and another had presumably been lost by the time the small 18th-century bellcote was built. The remaining bell was apparently stolen c. 1834. The church plate is modern. A new graveyard was made at the 19th- century church, but the graveyard at the site of the old church remained in use, and a new cemetery adjoining it on the east was opened between 1923 and 1936. (fn. 41) An oak gate was erected at the entrance to the old graveyard in 1949.

From: 'East Donyland: Church', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 10: Lexden Hundred (Part) including Dedham, Earls Colne and Wivenhoe (2001), pp. 195-197. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15229&amp;amp;strquery=east donyland Date accessed: 12 February 2011.

The village and civil parish is for administrive purposes part of Colchester 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

Census records
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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
Lexden and Winstree Poor Law Union, Essex

No records of vestry government survive. Two overseers of the poor were recorded in 1655 but only one in 1737. There was a surveyor of the highways in 1608. In 1650 the inhabitants were presented at quarter sessions for failing to maintain their roads. In 1642 the poor seafarers of East Donyland needed help to maintain their poor. A poor rate in 1737 raised £22 15s., but the overseer spent £23 9s. 6d. In 1776 expenditure on the poor was £82 11s., but between 1783 and 1785 it aver- aged only £47 3s. 4d. In the earlier 19th century expenditure per head of population was in most years the lowest in the hundred. Total expendi- ture reached £269, roughly 12s. 8d. per head of population in 1813, but fell to £231 or c. 10s. 3d. a head in 1815. The number of people relieved declined in the same period from 32 to 26. Expenditure rose fairly steadily to £383 14s. or 14s. a head in 1819 before falling to £212 10s. or 7s. 6d. a head in 1821. It rose slightly in the 1820s and early 1830s, reaching £403 or 11s. 8d. a head in 1833. Daniel Bayley of Newmarket (Cambs.) in 1754 surrendered to the churchwardens and overseers for the use of the poor a house which was apparently used as pauper housing until it was sold in 1838.

From: 'East Donyland: Local government', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 10: Lexden Hundred (Part) including Dedham, Earls Colne and Wivenhoe (2001), pp. 194-195. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15228&amp;amp;strquery=east donyland Date accessed: 12 February 2011.

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
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
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