South Ockendon, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes



Parish History
South Ockendon, St Nicholas is an Ancient parish in Essex.

St Nicholas Church, South Ockendon has had many refurbishments over the centuries. Only the west wall survives from the 12th Century original. Much of the rest of the building dates from the 13th Century. In the 1650’s the wooden tower was destroyed by lightning. The current round tower is one of only a few in the country outside of Suffolk and Norfolk.

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.

South Ockendon is an ancient parish. It has been a village since before the Norman Invasion. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Wokenduna, supposedly named after a Saxon chief, Woken, whose tribe lived on a hill. Interestingly there are no hills in this rather flat part of Essex. Until the late 1940s, the village centered on The Village Green, with its Norman Church facing "The Royal Oak" a 17th century tavern. North, South and West Roads all converge on The Green.

The village has links with the founding of the United States as some of the Pilgrim Fathers who sailed to the new world in The Mayflower originated from the village.

In 1912, Mollands Farm to the south of the village was bought for use as a 'rehabilitation' facility for what are now termed 'disadvantaged' or 'educationally challenged' people. It gradually developed into a major mental hospital (known locally as The Colony) or as South Ockendon Psychiatric Hospital. The hospital closed about 1993 and was demolished in 1998 as an indirect result of the devastating "South Ockendon Report" which redefined the borders of bad management of mental patients and led to a nationwide re-appraisal of mental care in the UK. Redevelopment of the former hospital site soon followed. A major housing site comprising of 688 dwellings was completed in 2000. This is known as the Brandon Groves estate.

South Ockenden is a settlement and parish in the Thurrock borough and unitary district in Essex.

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 St Nicholas see also South Ockendon Congregational Church.

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
Orsett 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.