Great Burstead, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex



Parish History
Burstead, Great (St. Mary Magdalene) is an Ancient Parish in Essex. A medieval church, mainly built in the 14th/15th centuries. It dates back to Norman times and the nave window dates back to this time. The tower &amp; steeple are 14th century and constructed of Kentish Ragstone.

The diocese of Chelmsford was created in 1914, prior to this Essex parishes were in the jurisdiction of the Bishops of London until 1845 when they transferred to the diocese of Rochester. The diocese of Chelmsford has 474 parishes and 600 churches and is the second largest region in the church of England outside London. BURSTEAD, GREAT (St. Mary Magdalene), a parish, in the union of Billericay, hundred of Barstable, S. division of Essex; comprising the markettown of Billericay, and containing 2168 inhabitants. This parish, which at the time of the Norman survey belonged to Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, is pleasantly situated on elevated ground, commanding a distant view of the river Thames, and comprises by measurement 3052 acres. The village had formerly a weekly market and an annual fair, granted by Henry III. to the abbot and brethren of Stratford Abbey. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £17. 6. 8.; patron, the Rev. Edward Evans; impropriator, Lord Petre. The great tithes have been commuted for £268. 10., and the vicarial for £177. 10. The church is an ancient and spacious structure, and a prominent feature in the landscape; it contains some very handsome monuments to members of the Tyrell family and others. There is an episcopal chapel at Billericay, which was once a chapel of ease, and endowed with a chantry for a priest. A school for boys is endowed with land, producing £60 per annum.

From: 'Burrough - Burton-Agnes', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 445-448. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50846 Date accessed: 03 February 2011.

Great Burstead is an urban settlement in Essex, England - it is contiguous with the town of Billericay.

By tradition, the origins of the church, St Mary Magdalene, at Great Burstead are linked to Saint Cedd. Cedd, a missionary monk and later Bishop of the East Saxons, was trained by the Celtic Saint Aidan at Lindisfarne. Cedd's original chapel at Bradwell-juxta-Mare can still be visited. It is understood that at first he set up his wayside preaching cross by a well near the road between Tilbury (another of his establishments) and Chelmsford, having converted Ebba, the Thane of Great Burstead. However, it is also reputed that the East Saxon King Sæberht (d 616) was buried nearby, a convert under the earlier Christian mission of Mellitus, the first Bishop of London. The area first having been settled by the East Saxons around 527 AD. Later, around 680 AD, the cross was replaced with a wooden building by the Thane, Edwy, perhaps dedicated by Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury.

Born in the area and later churchwarden at St Mary Magdalene was Christopher Martin who was one of the Pilgrims and a signer of the Mayflower Compact.

Great Burstead was part of the Barstable hundred, and in 1841 had a population of 884 spread over 3,620 acres (14.6 km2) of land.

The Great Burstead parish, abolished 1934, also covered Billericay.[3] The parish formed part of the Billericay Rural District from 1894 and Billericay Urban District from 1934. The district was renamed Basildon Urban District in 1955 and became part of the present-day Basildon district in 1974.

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

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
Billericay 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.