Hempstead (near North Walsham), Norfolk Genealogy

Guide to Hempstead (near North Walsham), Norfolk ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
HEMPSTEAD (St. Andrew), a parish, in the hundred of Happing, E. division of Norfolk, 3½ miles (N. E.) from Stalham. Hempstead St Andrew (with Eccles or Eccles next the Sea) is an Ancient Parish in the Waxham deanery of the Diocese of Norwich.

It was anciently known as Hempstede.

It is consolidated with Eccles by the Sea in some records, and is known as Hempstead with Eccles. Also known as Hempstead near Stalham.

This parish should not be confused with Hempstead (near Holt), Norfolk or parishes in Essex. Nor should it be confused with Eccles which is about 8 miles northwest of Diss. The church was constructed sometime prior to the end of the 14th century, dedicated to St Andrew. The building still retains almost all of its original architecture, including its completely unrestored, uneven top beam. The real significance of the church comes from the rare quality of the painting on the rood screen. The screen consists of two ranges of eight panels each, the panels arranged in pairs. In February 1982, a thief armed with a screwdriver removed one the priceless painted boards of the rood screen. On it was an image of St Eligius. The panel has never been recovered.

Find Neighboring Parishes
Use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map
 * Type the name of the parish in the search bar
 * Click on the location pin on the map
 * Choose Options from the pop up box
 * Click "List Contiguous Parishes" to find the neighboring parishes

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.
 * 1837-1869 Tunstead
 * 1870-1938 Smallburgh
 * 1939-1974 North Walsham

Church Records
The Church of England (Anglican) became the official state religion in 1534, with the reigning monarch as its Supreme Governor. Non-Conformist refers to all other religious denominations that are not the official state religion.

Church of England
Due to the increasing access of online records: Hover over the collection's title for more information Other Websites These databases have incomplete parish coverage.
 * Individual parish coverage for databases in this table are inconsistent and should be verified
 * Dates in the following table are approximate
 * Joiner Marriage Index - Norfolk ($)
 * The Genealogist Parish Registers - Norfolk ($)
 * Norfolk Transcription Archive
 * UK Websites for Parish Records - Links to online genealogical records
 * Online Genealogical Index - Links to online genealogical records

Non-Conformists (All other Religions)

 * 1717 England & Wales, Roman Catholics, 1717 at FindMyPast ($), index and images (coverage may vary)

Monumental inscriptions

 * England Norfolk Monumental Inscriptions - FamilySearch Historical Records

Poor Law Unions

 * Norfolk Poor Law Unions
 * Tunstead and Happing at Smallburgh Workhouse

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

Websites

 * Norfolk: Hempstead near Stalham on GenUKI
 * Eccles by the Sea on GenUKI
 * British History Online
 * Hempstead Norfolk Churches website