England, Essex Parish Registers - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
This collection includes Church of England parish registers from the counties of Essex and Hertfordshire and dated from 1503 to 1997. The registers contain birth, marriage, and death records.

Church of England parish registers are the most reliable and accurate family history source until July 1837, when the government instituted the civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths. Information in parish registers and bishops’ transcripts can be verified against each other.

The FamilySearch Wiki contains detailed background on Church of England Parish Registers.

List of Parishes
Abberton

Abbess End

Abbess Roding

Albury

Aldham

Allhallows

Alphamstone

Althorne

Ardleigh

Ashdon

Ashen

Ashingdon

Aveley

Aythorpe Roding (Aythorp Roothing)

Bardfield Saling

Barking

Barkway

Barley

Barnston

Bartlow

Basildon

Beauchamp Roding

Belchamp Walter

Bentley

Berden

Berners Roding

Bexley

Billericay

Birch

Birchanger

Bishop's Stortford

Blackmore

Bobbingworth

Bocking

Boreham

Bovinger

Boxted

Bradwell

Bradwell On Sea

Braintree

Brentwood

Brightlingsea

Bromley

Broxted

Bulphan

Buttsbury

Canning Town

Castle Camps

Castle Hedingham

Chappel

Chelmsford

Chignall St James

Chigwell

Childerditch

Chipping Ongar

Chrishall

Clavering

Coggeshall

Colchester

Colne Engaine

Copford

Copford Green

Danbury

Debden

Dedham

Deptford

Dutch Village (Much Holland)

Earls Colne

East Ham

East Hanningfield

East Tilbury

Easthorpe

Eastwood

Eight Ash Green

Elmdon

Elsenham

Epping

Farnham

Feering

Felsted

Finchingfield

Fobbing

Fordham

Frating

Fryerning

Fyfield

Good Easter

Gravesend

Grays

Great Baddow

Great Bardfield

Great Braxted

Great Bromley

Great Burstead

Great Canfield

Great Chesterford

Great Dunmow

Great Easton

Great Hallingbury

Great Parndon

Great Sampford

Great Tey

Great Totham

Great Waltham

Great Warley

Great Wigborough

Great Yeldham

Greenstead

Greensted

Halstead

Harlow

Hartford End

Hatfield Broad Oak

Hatfield Peverel

Havering-atte-bower

Hawkwell

Hazeleigh

Hempstead

Henham

Heybridge

Heydon

High Easter

High Laver

High Ongar

High Roding

Hockley

Hornchurch

Horndon On The Hill

Hutton

Ickleton

Ingatestone

Ingrave

Inworth

Kelvedon

Laindon

Lambourne

Lambourne End

Langdon Hills

Langford

Langley

Layer De La Haye

Layer Marney

Leaden Roding

Lexden

Lindsell

Linton

Little Baddow

Little Bardfield

Little Bentley

Little Braxted

Little Burstead

Little Chesterford

Little Chishill

Little Dunmow

Little Easton

Little Ilford

Little Laver

Little Leighs

Little Sampford

Little Thurrock

Little Totham

Little Waltham

Little Wigborough

Little Yeldham

Littlebury

Loughton

Magdalen Laver

Maldon

Manuden

Margaret Roding

Margaretting

Marks Tey

Mashbury

Matching

Melbourn

Messing

Middleton

Moreton

Moulsham

Mount Bures

Mountnessing

Mucking

Mundon

Nazeing

Newport

North Weald Bassett

Orsett

Oxen End

Pebmarsh

Peldon

Pleshey

Prittlewell

Purleigh

Radwinter

Radwinter End

Rainham

Rawreth

Rayleigh

Rettendon

Rickling

Rivenhall

Rivenhall End

Rochford

Romford

Roxwell

Roydon

Royston

Runwell

Saffron Walden

Sandon

Sawbridgeworth

Shalford

Sheering

Shelley

Shellow Bowells

Shenfield

Sible Hedingham

South Benfleet

South Hanningfield

South Hornchurch

South Ockendon

South Weald

Southminster

Springfield

St Lawrence

St Osyth

Stanford Rivers

Stanford-le-hope

Stansted Mountfitchet

Stanway

Stapleford Tawney

Stebbing

Steeple

Steeple Bumpstead

Stisted

Stock

Stone

Stratford

Sudbury

Takeley

Terling

Thaxted

Theydon Bois

Theydon Garnon

Theydon Mount

Thorley

Tilbury

Tillingham

Tilty

Tolleshunt D'arcy

Toppesfield

Ugley

Wakes Colne

Waltham Abbey

Walthamstow

Wanstead

West Bergholt

West Ham

West Hanningfield

West Horndon

West Thurrock

West Tilbury

Wethersfield

White Colne

White Roding

White Roothing

Wickford

Wickham Bishops

Widdington

Willingale

Wimbish

Witham

Wivenhoe

Woodford

Woodford Bridge

Woodham Ferrers

Woodham Walter

Woolwich

Wormingford

Wrabness

Writtle

Record Content
Baptism records may contain the following information:


 * Baptism date
 * Name of the child
 * Sex of the child
 * Legitimacy of the child
 * Marital status of the parents
 * Social class of the parents
 * Name of the father and often mother’s given name
 * May list the residence of the parents, especially after 1812

Marriage records may contain the following information:


 * Marriage date
 * Name of the bride and groom
 * Age of the bride and groom
 * May list names of parents or other relatives
 * Residence of the bride and groom[[Image:England Church of England Parish Register
 * Marital status of individuals and couples
 * May list the dates that the marriage was announced (also called “banns published”). This normally took place on three separate occasions prior to the marriage and gave anyone with a valid reason a chance to object to the marriage.
 * After 1754, the full names of witnesses are also given.
 * After 1837, the full names of the fathers are given.
 * May note if a spouse is single or widowed at the time of the marriage.

Death records may contain the following information:


 * Burial date
 * Name of the deceased. If the deceased is a child, the father’s name might be given. If the deceased is a married woman, the husband’s name might be given.
 * Age of the person
 * Residence of the deceased
 * May give the sex of the deceased
 * Residence of the deceased

How to Use the Record
To search for a person in a Church of England parish register, it would be helpful if you knew the following information:


 * Where the person lived and the corresponding parish
 * When the person lived; if you do not know the time period, you must estimate it from what you know of more recent generations.

Search the Collection
To search the collection using the index:

Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the ancestors in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line video at FamilySearch Search Tips.

Unable to Find your Ancestor?
If possible, you may want to search both the parish registers and the bishops’ transcripts since one is a handwritten copy of the other and might contain differences. Signatures in the records might be used to identify a particular individual by the handwriting style. Knowing the occupation might also provide you the opportunity to find other records about your ancestor. Also consider searching records in nearby localities (Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, Herfordshire and Middlesex to the west, and London and Kent to the south).

General Information About These Records
Parish registers are one of the best sources for identifying individuals and connecting them to parents, spouses, and other generations. In July 1837, the government instituted the civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths. However, parish registers continue to play an important role because they are often more readily available than civil registers. Bishops’ transcripts are a backup source for parish registers that are missing or illegible.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached Wiki article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Related Websites

 * Essex Record Office
 * Online maps of Essex
 * Online histories of Essex
 * England and Wales History Links
 * England and Wales Historic Maps

Related Wiki Articles

 * Church of England Parish Registers
 * England Church Records
 * What information can I find in Church of England records?
 * Essex
 * England

Citations for This Collection
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information (often called citing your sources). This will help people find the record again and evaluate the reliability of the source. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records. Citations are available for the collection as a whole and each record or image individually.

Collection citation: Record citation (or citation for the index entry):