Wix, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes



Parish History
Wix is a village and civil parish which for local government purposes is in the Tendring district of Essex. It lies in a small valley about three km south of the Stour Estuary. The valley drains east towards Harwich. Formerly an important crossroads on the route to Harwich, it has now been bypassed by the A120 road.

Wix St Mary is an Ancient parish in the county of Essex.

The present church of St Mary stands on land originally occupied by Wix priory. The remaining arches of the priory form part of one wall of the church.

The church, dedicated to Saint Mary, has a detached belfry which stands in the churchyard and contains one bell. In 1961 the then owner of Wix Abbey Farm, was ploughing in the church which was overgrown when he struck a large piece of dressed limestone with further investigation revealed a large stone coffin with a skeleton inside. Archaeologists were called in and dated the coffin to circa 1140, due to the decorative cross on the lid having Saxon influences.The skeleton is very likely that of Alexander de Wix, a founder of Wix Priory, which occupied the church grounds until the 12th century. This coffin is now on show, or was until recently on display in Colchester castle. An almost identical but slightly smaller coffin from the same site can be found in the bellhouse, in the churchyard.

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 includes parish registers, Bishop's transcripts and online transcripts images.

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.