Little Baddow, Essex Genealogy

England Essex



Parish History
Little Baddow St Mary the Virgin is an Ancient Parish in the county of Essex. Other places in the parish include: Middle Mead.

The name Baddow comes from an Old English word meaning 'bad water', although this probably refers to the meadow area in Great Baddow as opposed to any water mass in Little Baddow. The village is positioned on one of the many elevated hills in Essex. The manor was once a possession of Robert the Bruce.Thomas Hooker who founded the Colony of Connecticut lived in the village as a child and was a school teacher there before going to Holland and then to New England. 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.

BADDOW, LITTLE (St. Mary), a parish, in the union and hundred of Chelmsford, S. division of Essex, 5 miles (E. N. E.) from Chelmsford; containing, with the hamlet of Middle Mead, 592 inhabitants. It is bounded on the north by the navigable river Chelmer, on which are two large flour-mills with convenient quays. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8. 2. 2.; patron and impropriator, Col. Strutt, who is also patron of the rectory, which is a sinecure valued at £7. 13. 4. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for £358, the vicarial for £197. 5. 6., and the rectorial for £126. 17.: the rectorial glebe comprises 40, and the vicarial 5, acres. The church is an ancient edifice, with a tower at the west end, and consists of a nave and chancel, in which latter is a stately monument of marble to Henry Mildmay, of Graces. Here is a place of worship for Independents. In 1717, Edmund Butler bequeathed 160 acres of land and 36 acres of woodland, for the clothing and education of children of this parish and that of Boreham; the whole is now let for £130 per annum; and to this income are added £11, the rent of two cottages, and £15. 1., annual dividends on three and a half per cent. stock.

From: 'Babcary - Badgeworth', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 124-128. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50773 Date accessed: 21 February 2011.

The village and civil parish are part of the Chelmsford 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 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
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
Chelmsford 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.