Rye, Sussex Genealogy

England   Sussex     Sussex Parishes

Parish History
RYE (St. Mary), a cinque-port, borough, market-town, and parish, having separate jurisdiction, and the head of a union, locally in the hundred of Gostrow, rape of Hastings, E. division of Sussex, 63 miles (S. E. by E.) from London. This place, which belonged originally to the monastery of Feschamp, in Normandy, was at an early date, together with Winchelsea, annexed to the cinque-ports of England, in the charters granted to which these two towns are invariably styled "ancient towns." The church is a spacious cruciform structure, partly Norman and partly in the early English style, with a central tower, in which is a clock of peculiar mechanical construction, said to have been taken from the Spanish Armada, and given to the town by Queen Elizabeth. The east window is in the later English style, of large dimensions and of elegant design, and has been embellished with some stained glass. A monastery of friars of the order of St. Augustine was founded a short time before the Dissolution; the principal remains have been converted into a storehouse.

A history of the Parish church is available from Sussex Parish churches Rye St Mary

The Parish church of St Mary has been designated as a grade I listed building British listed building

The church, begun in the 12th century, has a famous 16th century clock with an 18-foot pendulum. Instead of striking the hour, a pair of gilded cherubs strike the quarters. Inside the church are stained glass windows from the firm of William Morris.



Rye Harbor Holy Spirit was a chapelry within this parish created in 1850 Rye Harbor

Rye Sussex Online Parish Clerks (OPC)

Other places of worship include

Augustinian Friary Baptist Church Bethel Chapel Congregational Independent Chapel Former Augustine Chapel Former Baptist Church Former Carmelite Chapel Former Chapel Bridge Street Former Congregational Church Kingdom Hall Jehovahs Witnesses Methodist Church 1852-1939-1945 see Sussex Online Parish Clerks (OPC) Methodist Church dates from 1900 Sussex Online Parish Clerks (OPC) includes IGI Batch Rye Cemetery St Anthony of Padua (Roman Catholic) Sussex Online Parish Clerks (OPC)

See list of places of worship in Rother

See also Rye East Sussex Wikipedia

A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 719-725. here

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.

From 1837 this parish was within Rye Registration district, from 1935 this was incorporated into Battle Registration district Certiificates may be obtained from East Sussex County Council The Register Office Town Hall Grove Road Eastbourne BN21 4UG Phone: 01323 464780 Fax: 01323 431386 Email:eastbourne.registrar@eastsussex.gov.uk

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

Rye Sussex Parish Online Clerks(OPC)

Link to the FamilySearch Catalogue showing the film numbers in their collection

The East and West Sussex Record offices also have deposited Parish Registers.

East Sussex Record Office Website information

West Sussex Record Office Website information

Census records
The 1851 census of England and Wales attempted to identify religious places of worship in addition to the household survey census returns.

Occupations
Rye Apprentices 1602-1645. A list of apprentices giving date, name, master, trade and reference. Article to be found in Sussex Family Historian vol.6, Sept 1974, pages 164-169, Family History Library Ref. 942.52 B2su

Rye Apprentices 1602-1645 Part 2, A list of apprentices giving date, name of Apprentice, name of Master, Trade and Reference. in Sussex Family Historian vol.7, Dec. 1974 pages 192-195, Family History Library Ref. 942.25 B2su

Poor Law Unions
Rye Poor Law Union, Sussex

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Sussex 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