Danbury, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex



Parish History
Danbury St John the Baptist is an Ancient parish in Essex. The church of St John the Baptist is the oldest building in the village.

In medieval times Danbury developed from two manors, St Cleres/Herons and Runsell. Traces of both still exist. There was also a small part of a third, now extinct, manor of Gibcracks.

Danbury Danbury Church is dedicated to St John the Baptist. It dates mainly from the 14th Century; some parts date from the 12th and 13th Centuries.

An interesting feature of Danbury Church is the wooden effigies of three recumbent knights, one in the south aisle and two in the north aisle. These carvings date from the end of the 13th Century.

By the early 1600's, records of who they represent had already been lost and since then a number of suggestions to their identity have been put forward. It is now thought most likely that they cover the tombs of members of the St Clere family who held two of the major estates in Danbury throughout the 13th Century.

The church also contains some memorial slabs to the Mildmays. Sir Walter Mildmay was the founder of Emmanuel College, Cambridge and built Danbury Place in 1589. The original building has disappeared but another was built to succeed it in 1832. This is in a Tudor style in red brick. It was acquired by the Church of England in 1845 and became the residence of the Bishop of Rochester. From then on it became known as Danbury Palace.

DANBURY (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union and hundred of Chelmsford, S. division of Essex, 5½ miles (E. by S.) from Chelmsford; containing, with the hamlet of Runsell, and part of that of Bicknacre, 1189 inhabitants. The name is contracted from Danesbury, signifying the town or castle of the Danes. On the summit of Danbury Hill is an ancient encampment, about 680 yards in circumference; the glacis-on the south side is still nearly 30 feet deep, and the lines may be distinctly traced on the other sides. The parish comprises 2624 acres, of which 300 are common or waste: it occupies an elevated situation, commanding fine views, and the general scenery is varied; the soil, though in some parts light and gravelly, is in others of the richest quality. An estate partly in this parish and partly in the parish of Sandon has just been purchased for the residence of the Bishop of Rochester, in lieu of the palace at Bromley, Kent, which is not now within the limits of the see: the cost was £24,700. A fair is held on the 29th of May. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £20, and in the gift of Sir B. W. Bridges, Bart.: the tithes have been commuted for £569, and the glebe contains 22 acres, with a glebe-house. In 1402, the body of the church, and part of the chancel, were destroyed by lightning; and in Feb. 1750, the upper part of the spire was struck down by a like cause. The interior contains many ancient and interesting monuments, and in the walls are several niches, in two of which are effigies of Knights Templars, curiously carved in wood. From the summit of the tower is a remarkably fine panoramic view. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

From: 'Dalton - Darfield', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 4-8. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50913&amp;amp;strquery=danbury Date accessed: 20 February 2011.

The village and civil parish are part of Chelmsford Borough for local government purposes.

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 St John the Baptist See also Danbury Congregational later United Reform Church

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
Chelmsford 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.