Amberley, Sussex Genealogy

England   Sussex



Parish History
Amberley St Michael is an Ancient Parish in the county of Sussex. Houghton, Sussex is a chapelry of Amberley.

Other places in the parish include: Houghton and Rackham.

AMBERLEY, a parish, in the hundred of West Easwrith, rape of Arundel, W. division of Sussex,5 miles (N. N. E.) from Arundel; containing, with Rackham hamlet, 722 inhabitants. The bishops of Chichester had a residence here, erected at the close of the fourteenth century by Bishop Rede, and which is said to have been plundered and dismantled in the parliamentary war by the army under Waller: the gateway is perfect, and, with other remains, has a bold and striking appearance in the views of the surrounding district.The parish comprises by measurement 2878 acres, and is bounded on the west by the river Arun: the village occupies an elevated situation on a sandstone rock; and towards the south rises a range of steep downs, above which is a large knoll called Amberley Mount. The living is a vicarage, with that of Houghton united, valued in the king's books at £7. 5. 7½.; net income, £166;patron and appropriator, the Bishop. The tithes were commuted in 1813 for 117 acres of land in this parish,and 16 in that of Angmering. The church has a naveof Norman, and a chancel of early English, architecture,separated by a Norman arch much enriched.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 49-53. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50754 Date accessed: 08 May 2011.

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
West Sussex Record Office has deposited parish Registers Bap 1559-1660, 1673-1978 Marr 1560-1654, 1690-1977 Bur 1560-1654, 1707-1993

Bishop's Transcripts 1571-1858

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
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.

Poor Law Unions
East Preston Poor Law Union, Sussex

Sutton (East Preston) 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

Web sites
Contributor: Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.