Sompting, Sussex Genealogy

England   Sussex     Sussex Parishes

Parish History
SOMPTING, a parish, in the union of Steyning, hundred of Brightford, rape of Bramber, W. division of Sussex, 4 miles (W. by N.) from Shoreham. The church is a cruciform structure, principally in the early English style, with a tower at the west end, and contains a private chapel and an oratory, the latter of which is now used as a baptistery; the edifice was enlarged and repaired in 1828, and again in 1838. An hospital dedicated to the Virgin Mary and St. Anthony was founded at Cokeham, at an early period, by William Bernchius.

Sompting is a village and civil parish in the Adur district of West Sussex. Sompting Wikipedia

Sompting St Mary is an Ancient Parish which included Cokeham. The Church of the Blessed Virgin Sompting Wikipedia is unique in England in a Saxon tower with a four sided pyramid style Rhenish helm. The history of the church is available at Sussex Parish Churches Sompting St Mary

The Parish Church of St Mary Church Lane Sompting has been designated as a grade I listed building British listed building

Sompting Sussex Online Parish Clerks (OPC)

St Peter the Apostle's Church, a modern brick building in the Lower Cokeham area of Sompting, is within the parish. It was consecrated in 1966 and serves as a multi-purpose church hall as well as a place of worship.

St Paulinus (Roman Catholic) see List of demolished worship places in West Sussex This church was registered for marriages from 1941 until demolition in 1973 and Sussex Online Parish Clerks ( OPC)

See also list of places of worship in Adur Wikipedia

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.

From 1837 this parish was in the Steyning Registration District until the 1935 reorganisation of registration services Certificates can be ordered from West Sussex Centralised Certificates Office Registration Service West Sussex Record Office County Hall Chichester PO19 1RN Phone: 01243 642122

Church records
parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

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.

Link to the Family History Library Catalogue showing the film numbers in their collection

Census records
FamilySearch Centres offer free access to images of the England and Wales Census through FHC Portal Computers here have access to the Family History Centre Portal page which gives free access to premium family history software and websites that generally charge for subscriptions.

to locate local Family History Centres in UK

to locate outside UK. Many archives and local history collections in public libraries in England and Wales offer online census searches and also hold microfilm or fiche census returns.

The 1851 census of England and Wales attempted to identify religious places of worship in addition to the household survey census returns.

Prior to the 1911 census the household schedule was destroyed and only the enumerator's schedule survives.

The 1911 census of England and Wales was taken on the night of Sunday 2 April 1911 and in addition to households and institutions such as prisons and workhouses, canal boats merchant ships and naval vessels it attempted to include homeless persons. The schedule was completed by an individual and for the first time both this record and the enumerator's schedule were preserved. Two forms of boycott of the census by women are possible due to frustration at government failure to grant women the universal right to vote in parliamentary and local elections. The schedule either records a protest by failure to complete the form in respect of the women in the household or women are absent due to organisation of groups of women staying away from home for the whole night. Research estimates that several thousand women are not found by census search. 

Poor Law Unions
Steyning Poor Law Union, Sussex

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Sussex 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