Stanstead Abbots, Hertfordshire Genealogy

England   Hertfordshire Hertfordshire Parishes

Parish History
STANSTEAD, ABBOTS' (St. James), a parish, in the union of Ware, hundred of Braughin, county of Hertford, 2¾ miles (N. E. by E.) from Hoddesdon; containing 1017 inhabitants. The parish is bounded on the west by the navigable river Lea, on the north by the Ashe, and on the east and south-east by the navigable Stort; thus being nearly insulated. The Rye House here, noted for the plot laid in 1683 against the lives of Charles II., and James, Duke of York, was built in the reign of Henry VI., by Andrew Ogard; the only remains of the structure are an embattled gate-house of brick with a handsome stone doorway, long since converted into a workhouse. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £10; patron, W. K. Thomas, Esq.; impropriator, D. Hankin, Esq. The great tithes have been commuted for £301. 10.; and the vicarial for £92, with a glebe of 39 acres. The church, situated on an eminence one mile south-east from the village, was built in 1578, by Ralph Baesh. Almshouses for six widows were founded in 1636, by Sir Edward Baesh, who endowed them with lands and a rent-charge of £25, and also established a free grammar school with £20 per annum.

From: Lewis, Samuel A., A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848)

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

Census records
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Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Hertfordshire 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
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
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