Coltishall, Norfolk Genealogy

England Norfolk  Norfolk Parishes

Parish History
COLTISHALL (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union of Aylsham, hundred of South Erpingham, E. division of Norfolk, 7 miles (N. N. E.) from Norwich.

Coltishall St John the Baptist is an Ancient parish in the diocese of Norwich.

The mediaeval thatched roof church of St John the Baptist reflects the earlier wealth of a small town and despite the closure of RAF Coltishall the large village today still has the life of a settlement with a thriving community. The lat mediaeval addition of a tower does not conceal the much earlier church.

Coltishall is a village and civil parish on the River Bure, west of Wroxham, which for local government purposes is part of the district of Broadland.

Coltishall was a place of note even when the Domesday Book was compiled. For 250 years it was a centre of the malting industry. Many Norfolk wherries (trading ships) were built here.

Between 1779 and 1912, it was possible to navigate the River Bure all the way to Aylsham, but now the limit of navigation for powered craft is just south of Coltishall. The nearby RAF Coltishall played an important role during World War II, and afterwards, but was finally closed in December 2006. The site is now home to HMPrison Bure.

Horstead watermill on the Coltishall-Horstead river border was one of the most photographed mills in the county until it burned down in 1963.

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 598

Parish registers of Coltishall, 1558-1902 Microreproduction of original records at the Norfolk Record Office, Norwich. Norfolk Record Office nos.: PD598/1-5, 7-10, 14-17.

General registers of marriages and baptisms, 1558-1812, and burials, 1558-1725. FHL BRITISH Film 2149814 Items 18 - 19 General register burials (contd.), 1725-1812; Baptisms, 1813-1901; Marriages and banns, 1754-1812 (includes one set of banns for 1818 in the pages for 1759); Marriages, 1813-1901; Burials, 1813-1902; Banns, 1823-1901. Note that the baptism and burials for 1813-1814 contain an unusual amount of detail. FHL BRITISH Film 2149815 Items 1 - 12

Archdeacons transcripts

Microfilm copies of original records in the Norfolk Record Office, Central Library, Norwich, Norfolk, England. Early entries in latin.

Baptisms and burials 1600-1610-1623-1633, 1666-1721, 1764-1812 Marriages 1602-1610, 1628-1630, 1684-1721, 1764-1812 FHL BRITISH Film 1526780 Item 1

Poor Law Unions
Aylsham Poor Law Union

Norfolk Poor Law Unions

Parish poor law records, 1818-1827 Norfolk Record Office no.: PD 598/43

Overseers' account book, including rates &amp; assessments, 1818-1827 FHL BRITISH Film 1702279 Item 2

See Also

England Norfolk Poor Law Union Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)

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

 * Norfolk: Coltishall on GenUKI