Colchester St Botolph, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes



Parish History
Colchester St Botolph was one of twelve parishes created within the walls of this township. St Botolph is an Ancient Parish and former Priory church in the town.

The Augustinian priory of St. Botolph, generally known as "St. Botolph's Priory", was also established in the 11th century. This adopted the Augustinian Order in around 1200 and became the mother church of the order in Britain. At the Dissolution the priory church of St. Botolph became the parish church. It was also used by the Corporation on civic occasions until the English Civil War. In 1650 the church was described as burnt and ruined after the Siege of Colchester, and it has been left in ruins. Until the construction of a new church in 1837, parishioners attended All Saints church instead, although burials continued in the churchyard.

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.

Here are the twelve ancient parishes comprising Colchester Township:


 * All Saints- 1708
 * St. Botolph - 1560
 * St. Giles - 1593
 * St. James - 1609
 * St. Leonard, or the Hythe - 1542
 * St. Mary Magdalen - 1708
 * St. Mary-at-the-Walls - 1559
 * St. Martin - 1622
 * St. Nicholas - 1541
 * St. Peter - 1611; FHL has Bts only
 * St. Runwald - 1598
 * the Holy Trinity - 1696

In addition, the following five parishes and chapels are found without the walls, but lying within Colchester Parish boundaries; they were:


 * Bere-Church- 1664
 * Greenstead -1576; FHL has Bts only from 1800
 * Lexden - 1560
 * MileEnd - 1800
 * Stanway All Saints - 1845

Here is an 1848 historical perspective by the topographer, Samuel A. Lewis.

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, non conformist 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
Colchester 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.