Great Bentley, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes



Parish History
Great Bentley St Mary is an Ancient parish in the county of Essex.

The village is mentioned as far back as the Doomsday Book and at that time it was situated amongst large wooded areas. The clearing of these woods began in 1135. In its early days the village was named Benetlea, then Much Bentley and later still Great Bentley. The first part of the name, Bent, is thought to refer to a type of grass, and the later part, lea, probably derives from the word ley, meaning land sown with grass, which suggests a direct reference to the green. Great Bentley did have a port at Flag Creek which was used to import and export goods. Queen Elizabeth I once visited Lord Darcy’s residence, St Osyth priory. It is believed she may have arrived at Harwich accompanied by her courtiers and rode via Horsley Cross, Little Bentley then onto Great Bentley Green before finishing her journey to St Osyth. Great Bentley owes much of its growth to the coming of the railway in 1886, with the railway station being named Bentley Green before being changed to its present title of Great Bentley in 1877.

Great Bentley is a village and civil parish which for local government purposes is in the Tendring district of North East Essex, England, located midway between the towns of Colchester and Clacton-on-Sea. It is home to the largest village green in the country, at a size of 43 acres (170,000 m2) and has won 'Village of the Year' several times.

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
Tendring 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.