Whissonsett, Norfolk Genealogy

England   Norfolk

Parish History
Whissonsett St Mary is an Ancient parish in the Diocese of Norwich.

1086 The Domesday Book records "Witcingkeseta" is held by Ralph, son of Walter, of Roger Bigod.

The only building in Whissonsett dating from the time of the Normans is St. Mary's Church which was built of flint with freestone dressings c. 1250.

The church contains large image niches, one in the nave and two in the chancel either side of the east window. The one in the nave contains the large head of a Saxon cross, unearthed in the graveyard by the Grave diggers in 1902. It is at least a thousand years old.

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.


 * Mitford 1837-1938
 * East Dereham 1938-1974

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

Norfolk Record Office reference PD 633

Images of this parish are available online in Family Search historic records (fomerly Record Search). The images for volume PD633/ 4 which are way pointed 1774-1799 await engineering as they are incomplete from the year 1791 and require reloading. The microfilm of the original volume for this period contains some duplicate images in order to achieve best image capture. Please contact FamilySearch for assistance if your search includes the years 1792-1799.

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.

Poor Law Unions
Mitford and Launditch   http://www.institutions.org.uk/workhouses/england/norf/mitford_and_launditch_workhouse.htm

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
http://www.whissonsett.com/church.htm St Mary church website

http://www.upperwensum.co.uk/ Upper Wensum benefice website

http://www.whissonsett.churchnorfolk.com/ church information

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51397 British History online

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tinstaafl/ for transcripts of registers

http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-220510-church-of-st-mary-whissonsett British Listed buildings

http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/whissonsett/whissonsett.htm Norfolk Churches website