Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk Genealogy

England   Norfolk   Norfolk Parishes

Parish History
BURNHAM-THORPE (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Docking, hundred of Brothercross, W. division of Norfolk, 1½ mile (E. by S.) from BurnhamWestgate.

Burnham Thorpe All Saints is an Ancient parish in the Diocese of Norwich.

Burnham Thorpe is a small village and civil parish on the River Burn and near the coast of Norfolk in the United Kingdom. It is famous for being the birthplace of Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, victor at the Battle of Trafalgar and one of Britain's greatest heroes. At the time of his birth, Nelson's father, Edmund Nelson, was rector of the church in Burnham Thorpe.

The house in which Nelson was born was demolished soon after his father's death, though the rectory that replaced it and the church at which his father preached can still be seen. The site of the former rectory is marked by a roadside plaque. For local government purposes the civil parish is part of the King's 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.

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

Norfolk Record Office reference PD 571

Parish registers Microfilm copies of original records in the Norfolk Record Office, Norwich. Norfolk Record Office no.: PD571/22.

Baptisms, 1559-1661, marriages, 1559-1650, burials, 1559-1649; baptisms &amp; burials, 1662-1812, marriages, 1652-1754; baptisms, 1813-1892, marriages, 1754-1811, banns, 1754-1823; marriages, 1813-1837; marriages, 1837-1925; burials, 1813-1901. FHL BRITISH Film 1565791 Items 27 - 33 Banns, 1823-1913. FHL BRITISH Film 2147146 Item 11

Archdeacons transcripts, 1725-1812

Baptisms and burials 1725-1812 Marriages 1725-1811 FHL BRITISH Film 1526789 Item 18

Census records

 * 1891 Census Village Index: Transcribed by Pat Greetham

Poor Law Unions
Docking Poor Law Union, Norfolk

Parish poor law records, 1707-1792 Microfilm copy of original records in the Norfolk Record Office, Norwich, England.

Norfolk Record Office no.: PD 571/18

Overseers' accounts, 1707-1792 FHL BRITISH Film 1702277 Item 13

Churchwardens' accounts and rates of Burnham-Thorpe, 1788-1826 Microreproduction of original records at the Norfolk Record Office, Norwich. Norfolk Record Office nos.: PD571/17.

Rates, which are taxes, are determined by property valuation, therefore church, poor and highway rates generally list owners and occupiers of properties. In some cases, they are listed alphabetically by surname.

Churchwardens' accounts and rates, 1788-1826 (not complete for all years). FHL BRITISH Film 2186443 Item 11

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.

Tax Records

 * 1597 Subsidy Taxes: Transcribed by Geoff Lowe and housed by Norfolk Transcription Archives

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

 * Burnham Thorpe on GenUKI