Broadwater, Sussex Genealogy

England   Sussex

Parish History
Broadwater is an Ancient Parish in the county of Sussex. Other places in the parish include: Worthing.

BROADWATER (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Preston (under Gilbert's act), hundred of Brightford, rape of Bramber, W. division of Sussex; containing, with the town of Worthing, 5345 inhabitants. This place, which is supposed to have derived its name from a broad expanse of water which formerly flowed from the sea to the south-east extremity of the village, is situated on the roads from London to Worthing, and from Brighton to Portsmouth; and is bounded on the south by the British Channel. The number of acres is estimated at 2650, of which about 150 are detached. The soil is rich and fertile, especially along the sea-shore, consisting of a deep rich loam, bearing luxuriant crops of wheat; the climate is mild and genial, being defended from the north and north-east winds by the range of the South Down hills, and myrtles and evergreens of all kinds flourish in perfection. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £36; net income, £602; patron and incumbent, the Rev. Peter Wood. The church is a spacious and venerable cruciform structure, partly in the Norman and early English styles, with a low central tower, and a turret at the south-west angle; the interior is 139 feet in length, and 90 feet in breadth along the transepts. The chancel is richly groined, and the arch leading into it from the nave is in the richest style of the later Norman; it is lighted by a handsome east window, and contains several canopied stalls finely sculptured, and, in a recess on the south side, a bench surmounted by a Norman arch. In the chancel is a superb monument to the memory of Thomas Lord De la Warre, who died in 1526; and on the east side of the south transept is a monument to Thomas, Lord De la Warre, who died in 1554, and was buried in the church. The whole of the interior has been recently restored, at an expense of £1200. There are two churches at Worthing, forming separate incumbencies. In the north of the parish is an eminence called Cissbury Hill, containing 20 acres, surrounded by a vallum, and supposed to have been originally a British encampment, subsequently adopted by the Romans, and lastly by the Saxons, from one of whose kings, Cissa, it is thought to derive its name.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 389-392. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50832 Date accessed: 05 May 2011.

See Worthing, Sussex for susequent parish formations for the town from this parish.

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
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Census records
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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
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
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