Upminster, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes



Parish History
Upminster St Laurence is an Ancient Parish in the county of Essex. Other places in the parish include: Corbetstye, Hackton, Harton, and Corbets Tey.

The place name Upminster is first recorded in 1062 as Upmynstre and is recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as Upmunstra. It is formed from Old English upp and mynster, meaning the large church on high ground. The high ground of the parish church being in relation to the valley of the River Ingrebourne and the Upminster Bridge over the river shares the name. An alternative explanation suggests the upp could refer to the relationship to a church at Barking or Tilbury.

Upminster formed an ancient parish of 3,369 acres (1,363 ha) in the Chafford hundred of Essex. The parish vestry had meetings in the church until 1798, when they moved to the Bell Inn. The parish was divided into North and South wards by the Hornchurch to Cranham road. In 1836 the vestry lost control of poor relief, with Upminster becoming part of the Romford Poor Law Union and in 1875 the parish became part of Romford rural sanitary district. Following the Local Government Act 1894, the sanitary district became Romford Rural District and a parish council was formed of nine members, increasing to twelve by 1913 as the population had doubled. The parish council acquired the Clock House building on St Mary's Lane for use as offices in 1924. The parish formed part of the London Traffic Area from 1924 and the London Passenger Transport Area from 1933. In 1934 the parish council was abolished and Upminster was combined with other parishes to form part of Hornchurch Urban District. In 1965 the urban district was abolished and its former area was combined with that of Municipal Borough of Romford; and since then has formed part of the London Borough of Havering in Greater London.

Contributor: Please add a separate and linked page for each of the churches in the area.

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

Essex Online Parish Clerks (OPC)

Congregational Chapel Station Rd Baptisms 1801-1837: ERO

[originally at Upminster Hill rebuilt 1911 in Station Road now Trinity United Reformed Church]

Methodist Chapel Station Rd built circa 1910

St Joseph (Roman Catholic) Champion Rd Formed 1923

St Laurence Corbets Tey Rd Baptisms 1543-1908 Marriages 1568-1931 Burials 1543-1897: ERO

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
Romford 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.