Petworth, Sussex Genealogy

England   Sussex     Sussex Parishes



Parish History
PETWORTH (St. Mary), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Rotherbridge, rape of Arundel, W. division of Sussex, 14 miles (N. E. by N.) from Chichester, and 49 (S. W. by S.) from London. The church, erected about the time of Henry VII., was nearly rebuilt under the direction of C. Barry, Esq. It now consists of a nave, chancel, and north and south aisles, with an ancient chapel dedicated to St. Thomas at the east end of the north aisle, in which some members of the family of Percy, earls of Northumberland, are buried. The tower surmounted by a beautiful spire 180 feet high, is at the east end of the south aisle. The interior of the church is exceedingly neat: the windows of the chancel of St. Thomas's chapel, and the south aisle, are of stained glass; and there is a splendid organ. Here are places of worship for Independents and Calvinists.

history and images

Petworth Sussex online Parish Clerks(OPC)

See also:

Petworth Wikipedia and A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 558-564. 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.

See alsoPetworth Registration District For the civil registration history see Horsham registration district Certificates can be ordered from West Sussex Centralised Certificates Office Registration Service West Sussex Record Office County Hall Chichester PO19 1RN Phone: 01243 642122

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

Link to the Family History Library Catalogue showing the film numbers in their collection

Census records
FamilySearch Centres offer free access to images of the England and Wales Census through FHC Portal Computers here have access to the Family History Centre Portal page which gives free access to premium family history software and websites that generally charge for subscriptions.

to locate local Family History Centres in UK

to locate outside UK.

Many archives and local history collections in public libraries in England and Wales offer online census searches and also hold microfilm or fiche census returns.

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

Prior to the 1911 census the household schedule was destroyed and only the enumerator's schedule survives.

The 1911 census of England and Wales was taken on the night of Sunday 2 April 1911 and in addition to households and institutions such as prisons and workhouses, canal boats merchant ships and naval vessels it attempted to include homeless persons. The schedule was completed by an individual and for the first time both this record and the enumerator's schedule were preserved. Two forms of boycott of the census by women are possible due to frustration at government failure to grant women the universal right to vote in parliamentary and local elections. The schedule either records a protest by failure to complete the form in respect of the women in the household or women are absent due to organisation of groups of women staying away from home for the whole night. Research estimates that several thousand women are not found by census search.

Court Records
Burchall, Michael J. Sussex Bastardy Register 1835-1839. An abstract of a volume of Quarter Session Records giving name, parish, occupation of father, sex of child, date of birth, remarks. Article in the magazine Sussex Family Historian, vol.1. #4, March 1974, pages 97-101, Family History Library Ref. 942.52 B2su

Poor Law Unions
Petworth 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