Santon Downham, Suffolk Genealogy

England   Suffolk



Parish History
Santon Downham St Mary is an Ancient parish in the county of Suffolk.

It is situated in the village and this became the main settlement o fthe village which is on the edge of Thetford Forest and it forms the county border with Norfolk.

It is not to confused with neighbouring Santon, Norfolk which also has a parish and a tiny church reflecting it's status of a hamlet.

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.

Registration District:


 * Thetford 1837-1935
 * Newmarket 1935-

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

The Genealogical Society of Utah has no microfilm for this parish but deposited register from 1579-1976 are at the Suffolk Record Office.

Prior to 1837 the parish was in the diocese of Norwich;post 1837 it was transferred to the Diocese of Ely.

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
Thetford     http://www.workhouses.org.uk/index.html?Thetford/Thetford.shtml

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 Suffolk 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.