Wethersfield, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes



Parish History
Wethersfield St Mary Magdalene and St Mary the Virgin is an Ancient Parish in Essex.

The village has a long history and probably gets its name from a Viking invader named Wuthha or Wotha, whose "field" or clearing it was. Wethersfield is a village and a civil parish on the B1053 road in the Braintree district of the English county of Essex. It is near the River Pant. Fot local government purposes it is within the Braintree District.

MDPGA Wethersfield is a British Ministry of Defence facility in Essex, England. The facility is located to the immediate north of the village of Wethersfield; about 2 miles (3.2 km) north east of the village of Finchingfield, approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) north-northwest of Braintree; about 40 miles (64 km) northeast of London. Originally a military air station, the airfield and infastructure are now redundant and in disrepair. The original barracks area has now been converted to become the Headquarters and Training Centre of the Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency

Formerly known as RAF Wethersfield it opened in 1944, during World War II it was used by both the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Force. After the war it was closed in 1946. In 1951, Wethersfield was reopened as a result of the Cold War and used until 1970 as a front line United States Air Force Fighter Base.

Held as a reserve airfield until 1993, when it came under control of the Ministry of Defence Police.

Wethersfield was allocated by the RAF to the United States Army Air Force Ninth Air Force in August 1942. It was known as USAAF Station AAF-170 for security reasons during the war, and by which it was referred to instead of location. It's Station-ID was "WF".

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

Images for Wethersfield St Mary Magdalene, St Mary the Virgin Blackmore End, Wethersfield Congregational(later United Reformed) Church available.

Essex Online Parish Clerks (OPC)

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
Braintree 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.