Ormesby St Margaret with Scratby, Norfolk Genealogy

England Norfolk   Norfolk Parishes

Parish History
ORMSBY (St. Margaret), a parish, in the East and West Flegg incorporation, hundred of East Flegg, E. division of Norfolk, 5 miles (N. by W.) from Yarmouth. The living is a discharged vicarage, with that of St. Michael and that of Scratby. The Baptists and Wesleyans have places of worship.

Ormesby St Margaret with Scratby is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the Diocese of Norwich. The Ecclesiastical parish was created about 1600 from the Ancient parishes of Ormesby St Andrew Ancient Parish and Ormesby St Peter Ancient Parish. The parish includes Scratby and California.

California owes its name to the discovery of some 16th-century gold coins on the beach in 1848, at a time when the California gold rush had captured the attention of the world.

Thomas Webster (1631-1715), who was born in Ormesby St. Margaret and eventually settled in New Hampshire, was the great-great-grandfather of the prominent 19th Century American politician Daniel Webster.

Scratby Hall, the country house of John Ramey, was occupied by his daughter, the Dowager Countess of Home, until her death in 1814. The house was originally built by John Fisher, Esq. John Ramey, Esq., an attorney, then barrister, retired to Scratby Hall, where he died in 1796. From 1949 to the mid 1980's, the home and estate served as Duncan Hall School.

A Norman church stood on the site but extensive restoration in the 1860's has produced the present church.

Ormesby St Margaret should not be mistaken for the village of Ormesby St Michael, Norfolk which neighbours it to the west.

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.


 * Flegg 1837-1924
 * Yarmouth and Flegg 1925-1938
 * Acle 1938-1974
 * Norwich Outer
 * Norwich

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

Images of registers for this parish are published online in the Historic Documents on familysearch.org

A search of the Family History Library Catalogue indicates that the following Archdeacon's transcripts are on film but these have not yet been converted to digital images for publication

Archdeacons transcripts, 1600-1812 Church of England. Parish Church of Ormsby-St. Margaret Church of England. Parish Church of Scratby

Poor Law Unions
For more information on the history of the workhouse, see Peter Higginbotham's web site: www.workhouses.org.uk and http://www.workhouses.org.uk/index.html?Flegg/Flegg.shtml

Norfolk Poor Law Unions

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.

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

 * Ormesby St Margaret on GenUKI
 * Ormesby St Margaret on A Church Near You
 * Ormesby St Margaret on Norfolk Churches
 * Ormesby St Margaret Towermill on Norfolk Mills